• diet🍴

☆ a hedgehog can easily get used to eating mealworms

Story!

when the place I got my hedgehog from they gave me cat food for him, so I gave him hedgehog diet food mixed with cat food to ease him into hedgehog food then I gave him normal hedgehog food when he was ready.

(pics of what I recommend and use down below)

Avoid:

CAT FOOD: I personally hate feeding my hedgehog cat food because it is way to big for their tiny mouths and I+ feel bad feeding my hedgehog that, just stick to buying hedgehog food as there is many options.

• Milk: Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and milk can cause diarrhea.

• Avocados: Toxic to hedgehogs.

• Raw eggs: Hedgehogs shouldn't eat raw eggs too often.

• Nuts and seeds: High in phosphorus, which can lead to bone problems.

• Hard foods: Can get stuck in a hedgehog's mouth.

• Human foods: Salty or sugary snacks should be avoided.

avoid food that is high in phosphorus, which can cause issues such as metabolic bone disease, this includes peanuts, mealworms and sunflower seeds.

☆Hedgehogs need calcium primarily to build and maintain strong bones

• Harmful nutrient imbalance:

Mealworms have a high phosphorus to calcium ratio, which can cause the hedgehog's body to draw calcium from its bones to balance the levels, leading to brittle bones and fractures. ⤵

Short - they take the calcium in their bones to thier body to have calcium

• Avoid feeding them:

Even in small quantities, mealworms are considered unhealthy for hedgehogs and should be avoided as a primary food source.

• Better alternatives:

If you want to feed insects to your hedgehog, choose options like crickets, dubia roaches, or specifically bred "calci worms" which have a more balanced calcium -to-phosphorus ratio. -> good thing

☆ lack of calcium can lead to a serious condition called Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) where their bodies start to leach calcium from their bones to maintain proper blood levels

Calci Worms are the larvae stage or grub of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) and roughly 50 times richer in calcium than meal worms

Egg Shells iin their diet. Egg Shells are natural calcium for your hedgehogs

Mealworms should not be a regular part of a hedgehog's diet and should be mixed with their regular hedgehog food in moderation.

Some safe veggies include asparagus, bell peppers, cucumbers, green beans, zucchinis, and radishes