Automatic Dog and Cat feeders
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HI was wondering if anybody has used the automatic feeders for cat’s and dog’s for Hedgehogs. Am going away and have got a few visitors needing food , have looked at them but they need to be put in a cat proof box, can use one of them for water and leave it outside the box but not the food one so don’ know if it will be too tall to fit in box thx
Hi scoobysue
Automatic feeders have been discussed on the forum before – I think at that time they weren’t very successful, but designs may have changed since then. The best thing to do is ask a neighbour to feed and provide water for the hogs when you go away – it may get them interested in the hogs as well.
Hi scoobysue
It was quite old – some of the really old ones were deleted when they revamped things.
Sorry to hear it’s not possible to get neighbours to help – I know it isn’t always possible. It’s probably worth trying the feeder before you go. It could be useful to others on Hedgehog Street if it works. Sometimes it takes hogs a while to get used to things, too. But the perceived wisdom is that, as what we offer the hogs is supposed to be supplementary, hopefully the hogs would be able to find wild food for a short period of time. Water could be more of a problem, even if left in the shade. Hopefully what we just had was the last of that really hot weather (although that might be wishful thinking!). But it might be useful to know if the hogs do take to the water ‘feeder’. That should, of course, be left in the shade, too – although I’d be slightly worried about it getting algae in it (if left for several days) if the weather got really hot again.
But it looks as if you might have to be the ‘experimenter’ to see if the hogs take to the feeders. Let us know how you get on with them.
Automatic feeders are quite a useful invention of mankind. If you don’t have time, work a lot, are away from home, and have no one to ask for help, an automatic feeder will come in handy.
Hi CalePerry
Does that mean that you have used automatic feeders for offering food to hedgehogs and that they took to them ok?
Hi all i did go away and leave the hogs for 2 weeks, i didn’t get the automatic feeders, i just put as much food in the feeder tub , and when i came back it was all gone. So the first night i came home i filled it up and fresh water and the hogs never held it against me as they all came back so all is good .
Hi scoobysue
Really glad to hear the hogs didn’t hold it against you! Good old hogs! Glad that the perceived wisdom turned out to be right for you and the hogs there. Hope you had a good holiday as well.
Hi CalePerry
I noticed it looked as if you had posted again, but it hasn’t appeared here – possibly because you used links(?) which the Captcha thing doesn’t always like. But you might like to try again? It would be useful to know if hedgehogs will take easily to those automatic feeders, if you have that information.
That’s an interesting question about using automatic feeders for hedgehogs. When I had to leave town for a few days, I faced a similar dilemma with my pets. Maybe try setting it up outside the box for food and inside for water, adjusting as needed for height. Hope this helps ease your planning while you’re away!
I found that CatAdorn had some clever solutions for automatic feeders that might work well for your hedgehogs too—they’re designed to be reliable and sturdy.
I’ve been using the Petlibro Automatic Pet food dispenser outside for a few months now. Most recently for 2 weeks whilst on holiday. It has multiple settings to adjust the portion size and from experience I’ve been giving around 2 heaped tablespoons twice per night with the tank lasting 15 days. I regularly see 4 hogs on my Ring camera taking turns to eat at various times through the night.
I have waterproofed it by sealing all the joins with electrical tape and use clear tape at the front so I can still see the ‘tank empty’ light when it starts flashing.
It was a bit pricey at £60 but I’d hate to see the little ones go hungry if I’m away, particularly over winter when they are still around most of the time down here in the South West.Does anyone have experience of how well autofeeders cope with slugs?
My garden has lots of slugs ranging from the tiny (1cm long) to the huge (10cm long, 1cm diameter) and on damp nights they are all over the food dishes inside the “feeding hut”, all over the hut interior, and they block the hut occupancy sensors. I’m worried that the slugs would block, or “slime glue”, the mechanism of an autofeeder. Any thoughts/views based on experience would be welcome!
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