How to feed a hedgehog at home. Hedgehog food at home: how to feed a hedgehog

Before deciding to take home a prickly pet, learn how to keep and what to feed a hedgehog. These prickly babies are carnivorous mammals, but they will not refuse a piece of juicy fruit. How to make a menu for a hedgehog, we will tell in this article.

What to feed a home hedgehog?

How to feed a home hedgehog from the nursery

Not so long ago, hedgehogs began to be bred as pets. These animals turned out to be very easily tamed, contact and relatively unpretentious in keeping: you need a special cage and a wheel for running.

It is important to familiarize yourself with the features of their nutrition in advance. Unprepared people think that apples or mushrooms are enough, or ask if milk can be fed to the hedgehog. In reality, things are not so at all.

In the wild, the basis of the diet of prickly animals is:

• insects;
• slugs
• snails;
• mice;
• raw eggs;
• sometimes fruit and grass for digestion.

The task of the owner is to provide the pet with proper and balanced nutrition in accordance with its natural needs.

At home, you can give the following types of food:

• low-fat raw minced meat, after dousing it with boiling water;
• a mixture of bran, grated carrots and boiled unsalted meat;
• pieces of vegetables and fruits;
• lean boiled fish;
• cat food;
• live insects and slugs;
• insect powder;
• specialized food for domestic hedgehogs.

What to feed a hedgehog in winter? They usually hibernate and do not eat during this time. Never feed your pet from your table. Human food can be dangerous and lead to the death of a pet. The same applies to milk - it is contraindicated for adults. Offer water and diluted juices to drink.

How to feed a hedgehog at home if he previously lived in the forest

The only option to take a prickly pet from the forest is if you find a weakened or injured animal. Or these are babies left without a mother. Be sure to show the found animals to a specialist.

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved hedgehogs. Cartoon and fairy-tale images depicted cute animals with the same apple or mushroom on their prickly back and a kind, kind muzzle. Well, how can you not fall in love?

Quickly, my love was transferred to real animals: in the summer, relatives and friends, hearing panting in the bushes, ran there and brought me a prickly lump. Yes, I was glad to touch at least the thorns, although very often the animals turned around and allowed me to stroke my belly, looking at me with curiosity.

Sometimes hedgehogs came to our garden or garden, and once even a pregnant female came. She lived in the garden for a couple of weeks and left - apparently, the time has come for the birth of little hedgehogs. How I regretted not being able to see the tiny hedgehogs!

Time passed, and I began to think that I would like to be able to tickle the soft belly and touch the prickly back of the hedgehog at any time. Simply put, I wanted such a pet. But is it possible to take home a forest animal? Can a city apartment replace the bosom of nature? Of course not. So I sighed and continued to timidly dream.

I would have dreamed about it further, but somehow - by chance or not - I found out that for quite a long time there have been decorative breeds of hedgehogs that can live in captivity and, in fact, are bred for this. My dream has come true! My husband could not resist my begging eyes (and constant breaths of "I want a hedgehog") and ... So Busya appeared in our house.

Busya is a female African pygmy white-bellied hedgehog; she has large ears, white hair on her stomach, light spines and small dimensions, when compared with the forest hedgehogs familiar to all. To be honest, it almost completely changed my idea of ​​hedgehogs. Many things turned out to be completely different from what they had imagined before. And, perhaps, I should talk about some things and refute a couple of myths, so that if you suddenly also want to get such a pet, you can be fully armed.

Myth #1:"Hedgehogs need to be given milk/hedgehogs love milk."

No no and one more time no! This is a gross mistake, which, however, concerns not only hedgehogs. Any adult mammal does not need milk (especially the milk of another animal!), lactose is simply not digested in adults. Yes, it may well be that you have already given milk to the hedgehog, and he even drank it. But... some cats eat chips. In general, do not drink, please, hedgehogs with milk!

Myth #2:"Hedgehogs eat apples, mushrooms (And what else was there in the cartoons?) and wear them on thorns.

The rich imagination of Soviet writers and animators endowed hedgehogs with thrift and love for fruits, vegetables, mushrooms. In fact, hedgehogs deliberately do not string anything on thorns. And even more so - apples and mushrooms. If only because hedgehogs are predatory, or to be more precise, insectivorous animals. That is, for their food in nature, they are primarily looking for beetles and worms.

Myth #3:"Hedgehogs always hibernate."

Even in the wild, it may happen that the hedgehog does not gain the required mass by winter and simply cannot hibernate. And decorative breeds simply do not need this - just as there is no need to "sleep" the winter and cold. Moreover, if suddenly your pet, the same pygmy white-bellied hedgehog as mine, suddenly decided to "have a good sleep" - this is a reason to contact the veterinarian.

Myth #4:"Hedgehogs are very friendly, cute and smiling."

We owe this myth not only to cartoons and fairy tales, but also to the Internet - everywhere there are pictures and photographs with kind, kind muzzles blurring in smiles. Why, even in the description of the breed, one can often find references to the friendly nature of prickly animals. So, either I have a "defective copy", as we sometimes laugh, or, after all, friendliness is an individual quality of individuals, like people. My Busa, what is called "don't put your finger in your mouth." In the most literal sense.

Myth #5:"Hedgehogs are slow."

Here are the bastards! Hedgehogs move very fast. He turned away for a second or two, and the animal was already at the other end of the apartment.

To be honest, hedgehogs are quite unpretentious in their care, nothing complicated and supernatural is required from the owner. First, a hedgehog needs a cage. Big. In general, the more - the better, because the animal needs space. It is not allowed to keep more than one pet in one cage. The bottom must be covered with sawdust or wood filler. Not resinous! And, of course, you need to change the filler in a timely manner. I usually try to remove solid waste every day or two, and once a week and a half I completely change the filler and my cage tray.

In the same cage there should be a wheel - for games and maintaining physical activity. Must be yes. My Busya rejected the wheel, it just annoyed her, so now she doesn’t have it. There should also be a drinking bowl with fresh water, which goes without saying, and a bowl of food. You can put pebbles - for grinding claws, hay and some rag pieces. And there must be a house. Ideally, of course, wooden, but in our case it is a shoe box with a cut-out "entrance".

In addition to playing with the wheel (again, if the pet accepts this wheel), the animal must walk - make a promenade around the apartment. Otherwise, it will be hard for you at night: the hedgehog will ask to get out of the cage - scratch, gnaw it and make all sorts of noise. But, interestingly, going out for a walk, pretty soon the hedgehog will hide in a secluded corner and fall asleep there. Moreover, it can squeeze even into rather narrow cracks! For example, my Buska can crawl under the door! Sometimes she walks with us like this for several days, and she really doesn’t like it when she is returned to the cage, and she immediately expresses her displeasure: she scratches, scratches, gnaws ... Thus, she has already managed to break her tooth once.

To be honest, I would have kept her on the "free pasture", if not for one "but": hedgehogs are not very clean. Where he shits, he goes there. And yet, after all, he sits in the most secluded corners, try to clean everything out of there. Hedgehogs also need to cut their claws. Although they should grind naturally, this does not always happen. And, of course, periodically the pet needs to be bathed. Although, I think you won't forget about it, because hedgehogs are, hmm... fragrant guys. Not in the best sense of the word. But not deadly - I even experienced a pregnant woman :-)

Separately about nutrition: I already wrote above that hedgehogs are insectivorous animals and even predators. In the wild, they feed on insects and small animals. Therefore, the basis of their diet should be precisely bugs / worms / cockroaches and other similar living creatures. But in the conditions of the city, this is not always feasible, therefore, in this case, you need to give meat (but not fatty!). Chicken, for example. We buy proven minced chicken, sometimes we make it ourselves or just give chicken fillet. You can also give meat baby food or quality (!!!) cat food. Periodically, you need to give fruits and vegetables, however, my Busya is far from always happy with such a treat. As soon as the opportunity falls, we immediately buy her bugs or cockroaches (brrr!).

If we talk about behavior and character ... then I risk bursting into tears. When we were just studying the nuances of keeping a hedgehog in the house, we read a lot about how the animals are very friendly, know the owner and trust him, allowing him to stroke himself and scratch his belly. My Busya also knows where her “friends” are: she doesn’t curl up into a ball, lowers her needles if we pick her up ... But she is very harmful! He likes to bite, and bites very painfully - he is able to bite through his finger until it bleeds. He snorts and puffs, constantly demanding to be let out of the cage and not to be touched again. In general, she, although domestic, often behaves worse than wild ones. And this makes me very upset.

But I don't regret anything! Even so harmful and prickly in every sense, she is such an embodiment of my dream. As a child, I could not even think that someday a hedgehog would run in my apartment. However, I must warn everyone: if you are going to get yourself such a pet, think ten times. And then ten more.

Much more can be said, but I do not want to turn this article into a Talmud. So if you have any questions - ask! I will answer with pleasure.

A hedgehog or a whole family of hedgehogs is a real joy for gardeners. Not only in terms of observing animals. Hedgehogs are helpers in the country in the fight against plant pests: snails, caterpillars, insects and their larvae.

You can make friends with hedgehogs and feed them little by little. It is important to know the products that are suitable for forest dwellers and which will be harmful to them.

Why hedgehogs come to people

Hedgehogs enter garden plots in search of prey. They are predators and hunt at night. It is in the evening that a hedgehog can catch the eye of a gardener. During the night, the forest animal collects and eats about two to three dozen insects and their larvae, worms, slugs.

As a real forest predator, protein food is most suitable for a hedgehog. Some herbal products can be given as supplements.

Approved Products

• insects: grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches;
• flour worms, larvae, garden snails, slugs;
• lean pieces of boiled chicken, turkey, rabbit, duck or veal;
• boiled offal: liver, heart, stomach, tongue, lungs;
• fresh vegetables: carrots, zucchini, cucumber, asparagus, spinach, green beans;
• berries: raspberries, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, blueberries;
• fruits: apple, apricot, pear, banana, watermelon, kiwi.

Prohibited Products

Hedgehogs do not like food from the table. When cooking meat and offal, it is forbidden to add salt and other seasonings. Some foods are dangerous and not suitable for hedgehogs.

Foods that should not be given to hedgehogs:

• milk, dairy products;
• dried fruits;
• nuts, seeds;
• bread, sausages, sweets;
• citrus fruits, pineapple, avocado, grapes.

Small hedgehogs can be fed canned meat purees for baby food. They should not contain additives from potatoes, corn, salt, sugar. They eat raw quail eggs and wet sachet food made for kittens well.

Some ready-made dry food for cats and dogs is also suitable for eating hedgehogs and hedgehogs. You need to check that the food is super premium, and the pieces are small, lean and easily chewed.

Can I eat milk

Previously, when asked what to feed a hedgehog, the first thing that came to mind was milk. But recent studies by zoologists have proven that milk is not suitable for forest animals.

Hedgehogs will willingly lap up milk, as a protein-rich product. But it is poorly absorbed in the body and can even cause severe indigestion and diarrhea. Milk and its derivatives are a dangerous product for hedgehogs.

What kind of fish can you give a hedgehog

Hedgehogs eat fish with pleasure, but you should not make it the main food. With the constant use of fish, hedgehogs develop anemia and beriberi. Fish are fed only as an additional product.

From fish, horse mackerel and mackerel are suitable for hedgehogs. Less useful for them are hake, pollock, haddock and river species. Fish for hedgehogs is boiled or cooked in a double boiler without salt and seasonings.

Hedgehog Feeding Precautions

The dishes in which food is served to hedgehogs should be washed regularly with laundry soap. Hands after contact with a hedgehog should be washed thoroughly.

For safety reasons, you need to control the interaction of children with wild animals. It is necessary to explain that it is better not to take hedgehogs in your hands and, moreover, not to bring them to your face. It is interesting and enough to observe the animals at a short distance.

Most of us are accustomed to close proximity to our feathered and four-legged friends. People willingly share shelter with parrots and canaries, cats and dogs, ferrets and decorative rodents.

There will be a place next to a person for hedgehogs - prickly small and agile forest dwellers, which, with proper care, care and affection, can become wonderful pets. But about everything in order, and, speaking about how to keep a hedgehog at home, first of all, you should find out where hedgehogs generally come from in the homes of modern animal lovers.

Acquisition issue

Catch hedgehog in a forest or a park is a simple matter. These funny animals fall into the hands of people thanks to their instinctive defensive strategy - not to run away, but to curl up in a ball and stick out their needles. This can scare away a forest predator, but not a person ... However, is it worth keeping a hedgehog caught in this way at home?

Another less extreme way to get a hedgehog is to buy from a breeder. Nowadays, in large cities of Russia, there are entire societies of hedgehog lovers. By purchasing a hedgehog from domesticated parents, the buyer can enlist the seller's guarantee about the good health of the animal, its positive heredity and human orientation. Hedgehogs, unlike most other wild animals, are quite easily adapted to life in captivity and quickly get used to people. Therefore, already the first generation of hedgehogs born from domesticated parents will know the person and trust him.

You should definitely not fall for the cheap offers of Bird Market sellers. Hedgehogs bought there often turn out to be terminally ill and potentially dangerous to people and other pets.

So, hedgehog at home. What will he need first? Of course, the shelter. It is not recommended to let the new tenant freely explore the apartment. The hedgehog can get tangled in the wires, climb into places where he can’t get out himself, injure himself or ruin valuables. Therefore, the hedgehog is best placed in a cage, preferably a metal or wooden one with a pull-out tray. The option with an aquarium can only be temporary, since the microclimate behind solid glass is detrimental to hedgehogs.

Straw or sawdust can be laid in the cage, there should also be plastic bowls with food and pneumatic drinkers. Hedgehogs do not eat mushrooms and apples at all, but meat and insects. Hedgehogs are carnivores. Therefore, the bulk of their diet should be raw chopped meat.

In nature, hedgehogs also willingly eat snails, caterpillars, all kinds of beetles and earthworms, so after a walk in the forest it is quite possible to treat your pet to its natural food. A good substitute for it can be, for example, a bloodworm. Someone is ready to feed their pets and mice, although there is no great need for this, because at home hedgehogs get everything they need from insects, meat, boiled liver, fresh fish. By getting a pet hedgehog, its owner can simultaneously acquire useful contacts and set up the process of supplying crickets and cockroaches for his pet.

However, a hedgehog will not refuse a carrot or an apple either, and rumors about the passionate love of hedgehogs for milk are by no means exaggerated. Bread soaked in milk can also be given to hedgehogs. It is advisable to clean the cage and feeding area daily to avoid dirt and unpleasant odors.

Anyone who decides to have a hedgehog in their home should know a few facts about the life of these cute, but not the easiest animals to keep at home:

Hedgehogs are predators, as mentioned above. Proper nutrition is the key to health and long life.

Hedgehogs are loners. When keeping more than one hedgehog at home, they should be placed in separate cages. The exceptions are young animals and heterosexual couples during the breeding season.

Hedgehogs breed in the spring, shortly after leaving hibernation, but in captivity it is not so easy to get offspring from them. To do this, you need to correctly choose the appropriate period and bring individuals of different sexes together. Hedgehogs are polygamous, “breaking up relationships” does not cause stress for them.

Hibernation is one of the most important points that the owner of the hedgehog and other types of hedgehogs should remember. Hedgehogs go into hibernation in the autumn after they have accumulated sufficient fat reserves. Therefore, during this period, the hedgehog must be intensively fed. The arrival of hibernation time (approximately the end of October - the beginning of November) is characterized by periods of lethargy and stupor, noticing which, the owner must provide his pet with a secluded place where the air temperature does not exceed 5 degrees Celsius (for example, on a loggia, in a barn, in an attic or in the garage).
Having piled a bunch of dry leaves, straw, hay, sawdust and rags, you can make a nest for the hedgehog in which he will sleep until spring. In warm weather, hedgehogs do not hibernate, but this has a detrimental effect on their health, and by spring, animals that do not hibernate often die. Hibernation is the most mysterious adaptive manifestation in hedgehogs, which under extreme conditions can last over 200 days!

The hedgehog is a nocturnal resident, and, unlike, for example, cats, they do not adapt to the regimen of their owners. While the owners are sleeping sweetly, the hedgehog is busy with his own business, and this is another reason not to let the hedgehog run freely around the house. At least at night.

The hedgehog is a small creature that we are used to seeing only in the forest. Now there is an opportunity to settle it in your apartment. It is unpretentious in care, but it is simply necessary to know a few rules for keeping a hedgehog at home.

Placing a hedgehog in an apartment

Hedgehogs are easily domesticated and get used to people. But this does not mean that they can be easily caught in a forest or park. It can bite and infect. Many people are interested in the issue of domestication of hedgehogs. Buying a small hedgehog is not so difficult. If his parents lived with people, he will quickly get used to the home environment.

The hedgehog is settled in a cage or box, at least 70 cm in size. The aquarium is unsuitable for living. Straw, sawdust, torn paper or sand must be placed in the cage. Place a jogging wheel and a water tank inside the cage. It is better to put a bowl of food at the time of feeding.

You can let the hedgehog choose its own place to live. But there is a risk that he will climb under the sofa or get lost in the wires. The life biorhythms of hedgehogs are different from human ones. They become active at the time when people fall asleep. Therefore, it will be problematic to see a hedgehog if it is not in a cage.

Hedgehogs are susceptible to low temperatures. They have no cure for colds or pneumonia. When choosing a place for a new pet, consider these factors. The cage must be placed away from drafts.

hedgehog care

To properly care for a hedgehog at home, you need to know a few of their features. To avoid an unpleasant smell, the cage should be cleaned every morning, replacing the bedding. Washing the feeder also takes place daily under hot water. After cleaning the cage and toilet, it is advisable to treat them with a deodorant “for cats”. The drinker is replenished as needed. Once every few months, the cage and feeder are treated with boiling water. In order to prevent all cell gaps must be lubricated with kerosene.

Hedgehogs love to walk around the apartment. But you can't leave them unattended. They are very curious. From a carpet or bedspread, they can make themselves a new bedding for the cage. They are also attracted to all objects with smells. They love to lick them. Don't be surprised by the foam at the mouth. It has no explanation, but after licking, they drool profusely and smear themselves with it.

Violation of the life cycle has a detrimental effect on the health of the animal. If he does not hibernate in winter, he will die in summer. Therefore, for the winter it is important to insulate the cage and leave it on the balcony or in the shed, where the temperature does not exceed 15˚ C. Put a lot of hay, straw in it, both around the walls and on the floor. From it the hedgehog will make a place for hibernation.

What to feed a home hedgehog?

In nature, hedgehogs eat insects. The same need to feed him at home. Crickets can be raised at home or you can buy hedgehog food at a pet store. A pet will not refuse raw meat. As a supplement, they give fruits and berries, a quail egg. The hedgehog's favorite treat is milk. But don't give him cow's milk, it's bad for them. Replace it with goat or sheep.

Remember that these cute animals are real gluttons, so limit their food. 50 g of food twice a day (morning and evening) is enough. Place a drinker next to the feeder. Enhanced nutrition should be before hibernation - the end of October-November. During this period, they accumulate fat reserves. Only then do they go to sleep.