Feeding Station
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Hi, I’m a newbie Champion & would like a bit of advice please. Since the summer I have a couple of hedgehogs who visit me every night. I have a couple of feeding stations made out of the usual plastic boxes, but have been wondering about making one large one out of wood (similar to my hedgehog houses) so I could fit a camera in to enable me to watch them feeding. My question is, do they prefer to ‘dine alone’ or are they quite happy to share the same station at the same time, I would put a couple of feeding bowls down along with the water dishes. I cannot believe how obsessed I’ve become in trying to watch them feeding and snuffling about the garden!
Hi Catwoman3
Welcome to the Forum!
Hogs are in general solitary animals and we are, in effect, encouraging them to behave in ways that are unnatural to them by feeding them together. But some will tolerate eating with others and some won’t. The males are more likely to biff and possibly roll up another male. Some females will tolerate some female hogs and not others, etc. So there is a bit of variation. The ones who seem to mind least eating close together are the hoglets.
But if you want to film multiple hogs eating I would recommend trying to film them outside. They are more likely to feel safe eating closer together if they have escape routes. Then you can spread bowls out a bit i.e. 2 or 3 feet so the hogs don’t have to get so close together, if they don’t want to. (I used to put some of the bowls near to bushes, etc., for the more timid ones). You are also more likely to capture more natural behaviour on video if it’s outside. All that is, of course, more of a problem if you have cats around!
But if you are going to build a wooden feed box in the hope that more than one hog will go in and eat together, I would have two entrances/exits, so that it’s less likely any particular hog gets trapped in by another, but with a ‘corridor’ to deter cats at each end.
It’s a good idea to leave sources of water out all day every day, in case a dehydrated hog is desperate for a drink. Including all winter.
I fear you my become even more obssessed as time goes on! Many of us seem to.
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