Hi both
Glad to hear there are hogs there, Laurabiding. It isn’t unusual for there to be some hogs who don’t hibernate – especially youngsters. They don’t seem to mind the cold too much as long as they can find enough food and water, so well done for keeping them fed and watered. Yes, non-hibernating hoglets will continue to grow throughout the winter as long as they can find enough food and water.
Re. calciworms. As the jury is still out about them, it’s best to avoid feeding them to the hogs and if there are some left under the bird feeders, to clear them up before nightfall, so the hogs don’t get too many. They don’t need any extra ‘treats’ on top of cat/dog/hog food.
Re. hog food. Yes it would be nice if it was regulated, but hogs, despite their popularity don’t seem to attract much funding and I imagine it would be a hugely expensive thing to do. So meanwhile the current advice is:
What should I feed hedgehogs?
Hedgehogs will relish any combination of meat-based wet dog or cat foods, or dry cat/kitten food, as these are high in the protein that they need. Just remember, they will be getting most of their food from insects and worms in the wild, and this food is only supplementary.
Place in a shallow dish and put in a sheltered area of your garden, or a feeding station (see below), around sunset. Splitting food over several sites may reduce aggression at food bowls. Don’t forget to offer water bowls too!
Specially made hedgehog foods both in dry and moist kibble varieties exist and can be bought from most local pet and garden stores. Please note that these specialist foods are not regulated or approved, and those resembling pet food with a high meat content are most suitable.
The above feeding information is from:
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hedgehogs/feed-hedgehogs/
So sticking to high meat content hog foods or cat/dog/kitten food seems to be the safest options.
The ideal thing would be for us all to make our gardens as wildlife friendly as possible, so that hogs can get the majority of their food from the wild.
I imagine more hogs will be emerging from hibernation soon. Especially the males who tend to go into and emerge from hibernation earlier. So happy hog watching, everyone!
p.s. laurabiding. Your post should still appear even if your profile is private. So if you want to keep your profile private you should be able to return it to ‘private’. It may be that the Captcha thing rejected your previous post for some reason.
