The following is a copy of a post by Yve on the old Forum (a copy of which I kept because I thought it had some useful advice.). Hope you don’t mind Yve.
‘Posted by: Yve Wed 21 Dec 2016 21:12:00
I have asked Gill, who runs Hedgehog Bottom Rescue, if I could copy her f/b post showing her frustration of people feeding hedgehogs the wrong food. For anybody not familiar with Hedgehog Bottom, take a look at her web page. In my opinion one of the best, if not the best, for information on Hedgehogs:
“It’s coming up to Christmas when everyone is supposed to be full of the joys etc but I have just been reading several other pages that have made me completely and utterly depressed.
Why, WHY do people feel they have to feed complete and utter rubbish to wild animals? WHAT exactly is the thinking behind it? or maybe they just can’t be bothered to think.
Would you feed your child on slugs? No? So why give a hedgehog boiled eggs?
Would you feed your child on earthworms? No? So why give a hedgehog chocolate digestives?
Would you feed your child on caterpillars? No? So why give a hedgehog fairy cakes and weetabix and all the other complete and utter rubbish that they really do not need and would never find in the wild.
Huge piles of mealworms, sunflower hearts, crushed peanuts are not good for them, they are positively bad! They are too high in phosphorus and leech the calcium from teeth and bones, if you don’t believe it, go do some research like the rescues have.
Why do people feel the need to provide a varied diet? They don’t want a varied diet, they don’t need a varied diet. They just want nutritious food. Nutritious food is hedgehog or dog/cat food. It has everything they need in it unlike all the other junk people are putting out and then arguing with the rescues about.
Yes there is all sorts of rubbish around the web about what to feed hogs. Yes hedgehogs will eat it but that doesn’t mean they should. PLEASE ignore all this misinformation. A basic balanced diet is all that is required.” ‘
