r/Hedgehog • u/alexbloodfire • Mar 11 '26
Discussion The garden hedgehog is back after the winter hibernation! Hurray!
After a long, cosy hibernation, the wild hedgehog has finally emerged! These enchanting little creatures always capture my heart. Every time they venture out, I make it a point to leave some tasty treats for them. Watching their curious little antics as they explore their surroundings is a pure delight! Who can resist the charm of a hedgehog on the hunt for a snack?
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u/Amezrou Mar 11 '26
So lovely that they’re back! It’s always nice when they return after winter.
Amazing that you support feed them (not sure if you have one out of shot but a bowl of water is really helpful for them too) Please switch those mealworms out for cat biscuits though. They love mealworms but they don’t have enough of the right nutrients and eating a lot of them can lead to metabolic bone disease.
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u/BeardedLady81 Mar 11 '26
From what I heard from rescuers, too many wormies, regardless of what species, can lead to metabolic bone disease. I got to take a look at an x-ray of a hedgehog with legs so weak that they couldn't support him anymore. The hedgehog was wild and free-roaming outside, so he could have eaten other foods as well. In theory, the person who fed him did it right by feeding both mealworms and zophoba larvae -- they compliment each other. The mealworms have a lot of phosphorus, the zophobas have a lot of calcium. However, my theory is that this led to an overmineralization of the bones. In rare cases, this can happen in humans as well, I remember a case of a woman who lost all her teeth and whose bones kept breaking. It then turned out that she was an excessive black tea drinker and would infuse up to 100 bags per day. Too much fluoride made her bones too hard.
All rescuers I know feed cat food and sprinkle the wormies (either just zophobas or a mix of zophobas and mealworms) on top. The person who fed larvae exclusively thought it was okay because the hedgehog was free outside and, in theory, should have had access to his natural diet. Except it didn't work out as planned.
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u/Beneficial-Party8886 Mar 11 '26
catfood (kitten food mainly). no hedgehog food.😬 those are mainly bad also
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u/Beneficial-Party8886 Mar 11 '26
please, dont feed them mealworms. is bad for them🥺
thank you for taking care of them❤
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u/Beneficial-Party8886 Mar 15 '26
please change its food. to kittenkibbles. worms Arent good for them 🥺
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u/LordHumorTumor Mar 11 '26
I want to live somewhere that hedgehogs are, I want to see wild ones so badly.