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Home Forums Champions’ chat WHAT TO FEED HEDGEHOGS 2018 Reply To: WHAT TO FEED HEDGEHOGS 2018

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Nic

Hi JMW

Personally, I would cut out the mealworms, especially at this time of year when there may be hoglets around, because they can more easily become addicted to them. Some of the hedgehog foods use calciworms instead of mealworms, so it might be worth trying them. Peanuts are also implicated in the adverse calcium/phosphorous ratio, as are sunflower hearts, so I would give them a miss too. They aren’t as bad as mealworms and ok in a properly balanced hedgehog mix, but in larger quantities either individually or combined are not a good idea.

I can sympathise with the cat problem, although, luckily not foxes, so far. There are all sorts of suggestions dotted around the forum on how to keep cats out of feeding stations. Some people use see through under bed plastic storage boxes, so they can still see the hogs. My choice would be to use a sheet of perspex, or the like, on bricks so that it is high enough for the hogs but too low for cats and foxes. It has the advantage that you can see them, but also some hogs just prefer eating out of doors and they seem to find that sort of arrangement ok. It also, of course, keeps the rain off! You will need to put bricks on top to weigh it down, especially with foxes.

If the hogs aren’t too keen on cat food, there are various hog foods around, some of which cats aren’t supposed to like. Although, I have found there is always one! I use ‘I Love Hedgehogs’ which has recently changed it’s recipe in line with the latest scientific knowledge. Most cats don’t eat it. It seems to go down well with the hogs here. I have been using it for years (even before the change in recipe) and the population visiting remained stable for many years, until recently, when I understand other people are also feeding. One of the hedgehogs, in particular, which I got to know, must have been 5 years old this year. I think Ark Wildlife do a similar hog food (also which cats aren’t supposed to like) but I don’t have any personal experience of that.

Good luck. I hope you manage to find some compromise that the hogs like and either the cats and foxes don’t, or you can deter them somehow.

Hedgehog