Hedgehog Fine Dining

Picture: The Daily What

When I first got Peggy she came with a ziplock bag of kitten kibble and I was told "She likes chicken flavour". This was not exactly helpful once she had depleted this bag and I went to the pet store for chicken flavour. Turns out many, many, many things are chicken flavour. After a bit of trial and error I found a dry food she really liked and would eat. The kitten food has small enough pieces for her to chew and has a fibre/protein/fat content that is almost ideal. The fat content is a bit high for her overall so I work to make sure she gets exercise every day to help burn off a bit of it. I don't feed her "hedgehog" food because I find she doesn't like it and for the price it isn't any better nutritionally for her.

Hedgehogs also need bugs in their diet. Awesome, I know! The protein and nutrients they get from meal worms, crickets and other creepy crawlies are essential and won't be found in cat food. You can get live bugs from pet stores that specialize in reptiles. Or you can be a baby like me and get cooked ones. I prefer the cooked kind because they won't wriggle away if she doesn't eat them immediately. Insects must be a supplement to her diet but don't over do it. They are candy to hedgehogs so keep it as a treat a few times a week. I love to feed her out of my hand so that she knows I am the source of all the tasty goodness in her day. Plus her nibbling is adorable.

Hedgehogs can also eat cooked egg, fruits and vegetables and some cooked, unseasoned meat. Peggy won't eat any of these so her treat selection is reduced to just bugs. But since she loves these she certainly isn't deprived by her dislike for actual chicken instead of chicken flavour.