Hedgehogs and natural diet... Help?

[Deleted]

After Puff the hedgehogs recent passing from lots of cancer (originating in her liver) I'm trying to figure out a more natural diet for my hedgehogs. A lot of hedgehogs owner are working on weaning their hedgehogs off kibble and feeding them cooked meats, fruits, veggies, baby food, insects and frozen pinky mice instead. None of us really know how to balance it though or if we should try raw meats / commercial raw / freeze dried raw, etc.

Unfortunately no one knows exactly what hedgehogs need (there is VERY little research done) but here's what we know about hedgehog diet:

-NO corn/minimum grains
-30% protein, 10-15% fat and high fiber (ideally around 10%, this they can get from exoskeletons of bugs
-Are insectivores but also eat smalls mammals (bugs), fruits and veggies in the wild
-Are nocturnal, only eat in the night time throughout the night
-VERY prone too obesity on kibble diets
-not sure how long their digestion time is, longer than a ferrets for sure
-can't go longer than 24 hours without eating or will develop fatty list disease (fatal)
-can eat bones (people who feed pinkies say they eat the whole thing)
-should have food availible at all times


So what do you guys think? Any ideas?

My main question is how do I translate those dietary percentages to whole foods? How do I know how much protein/fat meats have? What about pinky mice?

The recommended diet now for hedgehogs is grain free cat food with those percentages. So what if I fed cat freeze dried raw or commercial raw that had similar percentages (or dog if the cat food has too high of protein?).

Too much protein is dangerous for liver and kidney function for these guys though so I don't know.

Any suggestions are appreciated! Me and some other members on the hedgehog forum are kind of just experimenting at this point - this is BRAND NEW to the hedgie world for sure!

Thanks

[Deleted]

Freeze dried raw is usually 85-95% meat, bones, and organs, with a small percentage of veggies depending on the brand. So maybe in small amounts/meals over the week? I guess it'd be not much different than a pinky mouse. Obviously an entire diet of freeze dried wouldn't work, but if you cannot get pinkies it seems like the next best thing.

I wonder if the hedgie will self regulate their eating habits. Like eat fruit when the need that, eat meat when they need protein, etc.
Maybe offer meals with each of the different options and see if he eats a variety?

Since they are mostly insectivores, seems like that should be the bulk of the diet What bugs do they eat in the wild?

[Sherry]

That's the thing, from what little I checked out. That bit about being insectivores has been discovered to be wrong
And it seems hedgies from different areas have developed to eat different diets, making it harder to know what to feed in the appropriate ratios .
One thing I do find curious though is the fact they can suffer from hepatic lipidosis, in the same time frame as an obligate carnivore! Not saying that's what they are by any means, but that maybe their digestive tract is faster than you think?
I wonder if you feed them based on present thinking along the line that raw fed dogs are getting(seems to include more cooked veg. matter), and alternate days of that, insects, with some fruit thrown in?

[melcab]

What do wild hedgehogs in the UK eat? Not exactly African Pygmy, but similar no? Do they have wild African Pygmy Hedgehogs IN Africa? I had one once but it was a loooong time ago and in the book I have it said cat kibble, mealworms and cottage cheese on occasion. Guess things haven't changed much.

[Deleted]

jackie - Any one I've ever spoken too has told me they can't stay healthy on eating mainly bugs. I have a feeling in the wild they maybe ate more fruits, veggies, small mammals and eggs and filled in the diet with bugs and grubs? There's so little research done, so there's no way to know for sure though. That's the problem with the raw diets, I think they have way too much protein for these guys

@sherry - I'm thinking you may be right about the fast digestive tracts. No one seems to know for sure unfortunately. What you've suggested sounds good. What people seem to be doing for the most part is feeding a small amount of kibble (10-20 pieces) + 1 tsp meats + 1 tsp veggie/fruit + 5-10 insects per night + a pinkie mouse once a week kind of thing. So maybe if I find a way to incorporate raw into there it would work.

@melcab - The UK hedgies have a completely different diet than these guys I'm told. I don't think you'll find wild hedgehogs in Africa anymore, but I could be wrong.

I think the MAIN issue is that the domesticating process has completely changed these guys. For example, hedgehogs in the wild hibernate and wake up from it and are fine, but if these guys are allowed to hibernate, they just never wake up again and die. I think their digestive/nutrition needs have changed a lot too in that process so it's super frustrating to figure out

I'm trying to get a holisitc section started on my hedgie forum and a lot of members seem to be on board, I just figured I'd ask you raw experts to see if any one had any thoughts.

Thanks for the suggestions! Hopefully we'll be able to figure some kind of more natural diet out for them, sadly we're basically just shooting in the dark it seems

[Sherry]

What do the zoos feed them? Not sure if we have any at the zoo here, but it might be worth a call to find out.

[Deleted]

Interesting idea, thanks!