Oh my HOG! - Hedgehog food, RAW?

[LBF]

So, we have somehow acquired a African Pygmy Hedgehog! His owner is very ill and can no longer look after him :-( so he has come to live with us along with his vivarium and all other housing/blankets etc.

Now my real question is.. what should we be feeding him? He came with cat kibble and i believe most people recommend this but I really wish there was something more natural I could feed him. My dog is raw fed and although I'm not suggest I feed the hog raw I would like some other options if anyone has any ideas? (Hog has various grubs as treats)

If not then whats the best quality low fat, high protein cat food out there?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Naww I loved my hedgehog, we need pictures as they are just the cutest!
Sadly lost her last year but I'm sure I fed GoCat? I just looked at the selection of cat foods on offer and chose based on the low fat : high protein percentage, fed dry and wet. She would have meal worms as a treat but as they are very fatty did limit them. Also trialled lots of the other things that people said they like (such as eggs) but she never really liked other sorts of food.

My little Izzywizzy:

 

[Traveller59]

Don't know about pet hedgehogs, but I have 3 wild ones in my garden and I put meal worms out for them.
Love them, they're so cute.

 

[LBF]

Aww how cute is she!! I'm sorry to hear that you lost her last year How old was she?

Meet Herman or Ham as I like to call him!

I will go and have a look at the various cat feeds. We found some 'hedgehog food' in the garden centre (basically expensive cat food I think!) which he has devoured! He will be fighting my chickens for meal worms by the sounds of it. I've also heard they like live grub :S not sure how brave I am!

AlexHyde; Was your girl quite friendly? I am really struggling to get H to relax and un-curl around us.. I am handling everyday which has caused some serious ouchies! Previous owner has mentioned that he is generally very 'huffy' and grumpy but I would like to get him used to me.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Nawww so cute, I miss Izzy!
She was about 5 years old and had a tumour in the mouth which would have eventually stopped her eating (I gave her just wet food near the end), cancer is quite common in them I believe .

I bought her as a baby so she was fairly confident around me, and once I'd picked her up would uncurl very quickly and be off like a rocket, they are quick! She would huff and frown at us if feeling grumpy, and did generally not want cuddles but to explore instead lol. I think if you give it time and make sure any handling is done calmly and confidently he will get braver.

As for the meal worms, yes live ones were prefered

I'm so jealous I loved my little hedgehog and I'm sure Ham will give you lots of enjoyment.

x x

 

[Traveller59]

Oh he is adorable LBF.

Out of interest, are pygmy hedgehogs smaller than our native hedgehogs?

I just love watching ours on the lawn, its great entertainment. And really surprising how quick they can run.
Its costing a fortune in mealworms, but so worth it.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Yes they are at least half the size if not a little smaller, mine fit in the palm of my hand when she was a baby.
They came from crossing other types of hedgehog which are smaller anyway than our native ones. As such they cannot hibernate and if you let them get too cold they can go to sleep and not wake up again! I kept mine with a heat mat under her cage so she stayed warm. People have also bred them to get 'exotic' colours so you get far more varity than our wild ones. I had a ferret wheel for mine which she loved as they would naturally roam for miles in a night to look for food. Love hedgehogs they have such lovely little personalities

x x

 

[Traveller59]

Ahh, how lovely.

We are looking into setting up a cctv camera so we can watch them from the sofa.
At the moment they are not venturing out till about 10pm, but as soon as the birds stop singing, they venture out for their breakfast.