Feeding and sleeping

[Paul]

Hi i have been feeding my 5 hedgehogs in my garden for 3yrs now untill i read somewhere that just mealworms is not good for them so i bought hedgehog food but they wont touch it any ideas guys can’t use cat food too many cats about.
Also i have a hedgehog house they sleep in it sometimes but not a lot and they dont hibernate in the house either am i doing something wrong your help will be appreciated thanks

[stef]

Hi Paul

It’s a case of perseverence I’m afraid. Mealworms are like sweets to hedgehogs and if you’ve gone cold turkey on them I’m afraid they’ll turn their noses up. Try putting a couple of mealworms under the good stuff, but really it’s just time and patience. You could also try wet food and mixing a few in with it
Hedgehogs in my experience rarely use the luxury hotel you’ve given them until it’s a few years old and doesn’t smell wrong anymore. A couple of things to note with them is to site them where they don’t get the prevailing weather and sun in the doorway. Also try putting dry hay/leaves near to the house but not in it as hogs prefer to build their own nests, and don’t put them too close to the food dishes. Hope that helps

[Wildlifehaven]

Hi, I would crunch up a small amount of mealworms sprinkled on top of the food they’ll get the smell of it and should eat up, gradually reducing the amount over a couple of days.

[Gikgiks01]

Hi…just discovered a hedgehog is using a house that’s been in the garden about a year now.
I’ve put food out but I’ve just seen it leave the house and completely ignore the food – it’s dried hedgehog food and a little cat food. Do they tend to go off foraging and shall I just persevere? Thanks

[Nic]

Lovely to hear a hog is using your hoghouse. I am guessing you are leaving the food near to the hoghouse. If that is so, I would try leaving it in another part of the garden. I tend to leave the hog food near the (human) house, so that I can watch them eating from inside, but they do have some bushes nearby that they can run into if they want. But, yes, the hog may have gone foraging. Ideally, the best thing for them is to find their own wild food, which is why improving the habitat for them is so important. Our feeding should only be supplementary, but is important, particularly just after hibernation, when the weather is hot, etc. The most important thing is to provide plenty of water.

If I were you, I would keep leaving some food out, even if only for a few hours each night.

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