Yes, hedgehogs can eat sweet potato, but it should be offered in small amounts as a treat, always cooked (boiled or steamed) and diced small to prevent choking, and without any added salt, spices, or sugar, as they primarily need an insect-based diet. Cooked sweet potato can be a good source of vitamins and help with digestion in small doses, but it's not a staple food.
Fresh fruits and vegetables can also be offered in small portions—sweet potato, leafy greens, or berries are safe choices. You can even use plain baby food (vegetable-based, without added sugar or onion) as a treat.
Never feed hedgehogs milk or bread – they're lactose intolerant, so milk and bread can disrupt their digestive system and cause diarrhoea. Check the hedgehog food and water bowls each day to top them up with fresh water and food, and remove any food that hasn't been eaten.
Avoid lettuce and celery, which are low in nutritional value. Do not feed avocados, as they are toxic to your hedgehog. Do not feed raw meats or raw eggs to your hedgehog. Hedgehogs are not able to digest milk.
Hedgehogs can eat a variety of foods, including insects (like mealworms and crickets), fruits (such as apples and berries), vegetables (like cooked carrots and peas), and lean meats (like chicken). Always introduce new foods gradually.
The most important invertebrates in their diet are worms, beetles, slugs, caterpillars, earwigs and millipedes. As well as these, they also eat a wide range of other insects. More infrequently, they will take advantage of carrion, frogs, baby rodents, baby birds, birds' eggs and fallen fruit.
Provide some fruits, such as apples, plums or pears, and nuts, such as unsalted peanuts or brazils. Leave out root vegetables like carrots, along with some cooked potato. If food isn't eaten overnight, remove anything that will go off and replace it with fresh offerings in the evening.
It's a good idea to put out food for hedgehogs all year round. In spring, it will be a boost for those emerging from hibernation, while in late summer and autumn it will help them build up those all-important fat reserves to survive the colder months.
Hedgehog - Threats to the Hedgehog
They're also pretty keen on cooked potato or even unsweetened muesli or Weetabix. If you have a problem with cats eating the food, place it under a brick shelter with a gap only big enough for the hedgehog to get through. It's best to leave out some water too, in a shallow dish that's easily accessible.
Hedgehogs are active during the night, so the best time to put out food is just after dusk, when they are starting to search for food. The Autumn and Winter months are the most important for them to find food to put on enough weight before hibernation, so always make sure you put out food at this time of year.
The intelligence of a hedgehog is to that of a hamster, they may learn certain behaviors through positive reinforcement or conditioning but only at a very basic level. Hedgehogs are known to be very communicative when it comes to their needs, and often make a low purring sound when they are happy or content.
Only solid bottom cages are suitable for hedgehogs, any wire bottom cages could trap their legs or rip off toenails. Provide a soft bedding free of dust, such as recycled paper pellets or if you use wood shavings use only kiln dried pine or aspen. Do not use cedar shavings as they could irritate your hedgehog's lungs.
Sweet potatoes are not usually planted the same way as are white potatoes. If a whole sweet potato is placed in the ground in early spring — when white potatoes are usually planted — the cold weather will inhibit its growth and it might rot.
Besides pet food, hedgehogs enjoy eating insects and fresh fruits and vegetables, so their diet can have a good amount of variety.
Don't feed your pet hedgehog starchy veg, such as potatoes and celery. Hedgies don't process vegetation so well. If you give them vegetables, make sure they're diced.
Hedgehogs will not usually eat and sleep in the same place so it's best not to offer food inside the home (except perhaps to tempt them in initially). Once there is a resident, move food away from the box so as not to attract predators or rival hedgehogs to the site.
Hedgehogs typically hibernate from autumn to spring (October - March), but this can vary depending on the temperature and food available.
Hedgehogs are considered the gardener's friend as they can help keep some of the garden pests under control. However whilst they can give us the pleasure of seeing them as they wander across our gardens late at night we can cause them a lot of problems with our gardening activities.
You could also, only leave food out for the hedgehogs whilst you are around to watch. That way you can scare the rats away from the food. (rats are much more sensitive to movement than hogs are, so it's easier than it sounds).
Where will my hedgehogs hibernate? Hedgehogs aren't fussy. A log pile, under your shed, in a compost heap or manmade hedgehog house can all provide a safe place for hedgehogs to nest in over winter.
They do sometimes return several times to feed during the night, especially if your garden is in the middle of a run of several gardens that they routinely visit.
Provide food. It's worth providing some hedgehog food even if you're not sure your garden is home to these prickly visitors. This is especially important in early autumn, when hedgehogs need to fatten up to get them through their long, cold winter hibernation. Try putting out tinned meaty dog or cat food.
The British Hedgehog Society recommends that in captivity adults should be fed a meat- based tinned dog or cat food mixed with unsweetened cereal (Weetabix, oats or bran). Complete dry cat biscuits are good for the teeth.
Make sure that these foods contain almost exclusively meat and, above all, no flour. Hedgehogs also eat minced meat, boiled eggs or scrambled eggs. In any case, avoid seasoning these foods. You can also feed oatmeal and bran.