Toxic ingredients for hedgehogs include onions, garlic, grapes, avocados, citrus, chocolate, dairy, raw meat/eggs, nuts/seeds, and sugary/salty foods, which can cause severe digestive upset, organ failure, or worse; also avoid pesticides, certain oils (tea tree, eucalyptus), and even some "safer" slug pellets in large amounts. Even apparently safe foods, like excessive mealworms or wild-caught insects, can pose risks.
Tea Tree oil/ Eucalyptus/Thieves - this includes: tea tree shampoo, tea tree oil, tea tree sprays and anything tea tree. Even Candles inhaled can harm your hedgehog! This can be fatal in as little as one dose or application. It causes renal, liver and complete organ failure.
Avoid giving mealworms, sunflower hearts, peanuts, crickets, and beetles. These all have poor calcium/phosphorus ratios and can become addictive, leading hedgehogs to ignore healthier options. Dairy products such as milk and cheese should also be avoided.
Vegetables Pet hedgehogs can eat: Courgette Green pepper Cucumber Broccoli Leafy greens Peas Corn Carrots Don't feed your pet hedgehog starchy veg, such as corn, potatoes and celery. Hedgies don't process vegetation so well. If you give them vegetables, make sure they're diced.
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.
For fruits, you can offer bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, papaya, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, apple, and watermelon. Some safe veggies include asparagus, bell pepper, cucumber, green beans, zucchini, and radishes. You can also offer small amounts of corn and peas on occasion.
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.
Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant.
This means you should never leave milk out for them – or bread (which isn't very nutritious to hedgehogs).
Generally, Hedgehogs are scared of humans so as long as you observe them from a distance, they pose no threat.
Hedgehogs love mealworms, but they're addictive and nutritionally unbalanced. Their high phosphorous and low calcium ratio leads to bone weakening (metabolic bone disease) if fed regularly. Many hedgehogs will gorge on mealworms and ignore healthier foods, causing rapid health decline.
The best food that you can leave out for hedgehogs is meat-based cat or dog food, specially made hedgehog food from a wildlife retailer, or crushed up cat biscuits. 'Human food' will upset their tummies and make a mess in your garden.
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.
What should I never feed a hedgehog? Foods that are toxic to hedgehogs...
Badgers are hedgehogs' main predators in the UK. They are the only animals strong enough to tackle a hedgehog's spiny defences. Hedgehogs and badgers share what's known as an asymmetric intraguild predation relationship.
Though hedgehogs love the taste, eating pumpkin can upset their digestive system and cause dehydration, which is life-threatening for hedgehogs in the wild. Every year, there are reports of pumpkins being dumped in forests, creating risks for wildlife.
Common conditions of pet hedgehogs include internal and external parasites, ringworm, cancer, pneumonia, gastrointestinal disease, and obesity. Signs of illness or disease are often vague and non-specific, such as lack of appetite and lethargy.
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.
Cute and low maintenance, African pygmy hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris) are kept in 40 000 American homes, but people handling them are at risk of contracting a number of zoonotic diseases, from ringworm and salmonellosis (the commonest) to arboviral encephalitis and herpesvirus infections.
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. Consumption of milk and milk-based foods may lead to diarrhea.
Be patient, some hedgehogs will visit the same gardens every night whilst others, especially males will roam further. So there will be some occasions when no Hedgehogs visit.
Domesticated hedgehogs should be fed a hedgehog pelleted diet every day. Depending on your hedgehog's weight and activity level, feed 3–4 teaspoons of hedgehog pellets per day. Since hedgehogs are nocturnal it's best to feed them at night.
Hedgehogs are not able to digest milk. Consumption of milk and milk-based foods may lead to diarrhea. Do not offer nuts, seeds, or hard foods such as raw carrots, as they may get stuck in the roof of the mouth (especially peanut halves).
They may also appreciate fresh vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, mashed potato, peas, sweetcorn, mashed swede. Some fruits are also suitable such as apple, apricot, banana, mango, melon, and strawberries.
Where you live and what hedgehogs eat in your area will determine what bait they are most likely to go for. They can have expensive tastes, preferring salmon above most things, but will also go for rabbit meat, eggs, mayonnaise, peanut butter, dairy, or anything fatty.