Hi Lyjema
Please read the following link on this Forum to find out why it is best to avoid mealworms, sunflower hearts and peanut granules
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/forums/topic/what-can-i-feed-visiting-wild-hedgehogs-that-is-good-for-them/
It is especially important at this time of year, because there are hoglets about and they can become a bit addicted, in particular, to mealworms and not want to eat anything else. They, of course, are most at risk of metabolic bone disease.
For more about metabolic bone disease see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ7Y3a4vgqU
But we warned, you might find the start of the video upsetting.
There are some hedgehog foods, apart from the Spikes one which cats do not like, for instance the Ark Wildlife Hedgehog Mix (mentioned in the above article), or ‘I Love Hedgehogs’, which looks to have similar ingredients. I have been using ‘I Love Hedgehogs’ for many years and most cats ignore it and the hedgehogs happily eat it and seem to be doing well on it. There are a very few mealworms in both of these foods and there is no need to add any more.
Any food we give them, though, should only be supplementary and they need to have plenty of opportunity to find wild food for themselves. Not only time-wise but also access to good habitat.
Please see:
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hedgehogs/helpful-garden-features/
Good Luck.
