Supplementary food for hedgehogs

What is a hedgehog’s natural diet?

Hedgehogs’ natural diet mainly consists of earthworms, ground beetles, caterpillars, earwigs and millipedes.

Read how to increase hedgehogs’ natural food supply in your garden here.

During cold or dry periods, these creepy-crawlies become much scarcer in gardens, so hedgehogs will hugely benefit from a shallow dish of water and supplementary feeding at these times.

What can I feed hedgehogs?

Hedgehogs relish any combination of meat-based wet dog or cat foods, or dry cat/kitten food. Specially made hedgehog food is also widely available. Those resembling pet food with a high meat content are most suitable.

Just remember, they will be getting most of their food from insects and worms in the wild, and this food is only supplementary.

Can you feed hedgehogs bread and milk?

Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant, so please do not give them milk. Bread is low in energy and is fairly worthless to them.

Where do I place the hedgehog food?

Supplementary food can attract predators, so we don’t advise putting food inside of hedgehog homes. Instead, we recommend leaving food at least a couple of metres away from the hedgehog house.

Put the food in a shallow dish and place in a sheltered area of your garden, or a feeding station (see below), around sunset. Splitting food over several sites may reduce aggression at food bowls.

Don’t forget to offer water bowls too!

How can I stop cats and foxes eating it all?

Be aware that putting any food out will attract all sorts of wildlife, including predators.

To avoid the food being eaten by pets or foxes, you could make a feeding station that is difficult for anything larger than a hedgehog to access.

You could use a piece of piping, or build a shelter out of bricks and paving stones or get some inspriation from a nifty solution by Hedgehog Champions below.

Placing a shallow dish of water at the entrance, and/or a ‘brick maze’ inside a feeding station should also prevent cats getting to the food, as below.

Find more tips for keeping cats away here.

Should I clean my feeding station?

Hedgehogs are generally solitary animals. By putting out food, you are more likely to attract several hedgehogs. As they share food from the same feeding station, its possible that they could spread disease between one another. It could also be a risk that they spread disease to us, so to be extra safe, regularly clean your feeding bowls and do not wash them with your own plates and bowls.

For more hedgehog and disease advice visit the Garden Wildlife Health project website and download their helpful fact sheets.