Calci worms?

[Anonymous]

Hi. I was looking for a potential food source for hedgehogs that a cat probably would not eat.
I have seen the local killer cat eating the hedgehog biscuits (and anything else) on the trail cam.

When searching for alternative hedgehog foods I have come across calci worms .Has anyone else used these? Are there potentially any dangers to sprinkling this around where the hedgehog(s) frequents?

I have read that Mealworms can be bad as the potassium can leach calcium out of the hedgehog.

Thoughts?

[Nic]

Hi Strider

As things stand not enough is known about calci-worms, so I wouldn’t feed them, especially on their own. There is potential concern that they might have too much calcium in them and could cause problems in that respect i.e. as with humans, kidney stones, heart problems etc. But the calcium levels can be quite a lot different depending on what the worms have been fed – sometimes, apparently literally rubbish. Also, nutritionally, they would be too limited if fed alone, even without those potential problems

Hogs are better off being offered cat, dog or meaty hog food. It sounds to me as if your best bet is to create a cat proof feeding box, which is possible. There are some ideas here: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/cat-proof-hedgehog-food/

Good luck. Hope one of those works, but if not, there are some other ideas people have tried. Let us know how you get on.

[IvanB]

Hi Strider,

We had an issue with local cats stealing the food for the hogs, so we built a feeding station.

A large plastic box, two holes, with each hole having a 90 degree 12.5cm pipe in (available from screwfix) – the hogs used it straight away so happily much away on the cat biscuits, and so far the cat has not figured it out.

[Author]

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