Since they can't digest the fruits and vegetables, they're not fully benefiting from these. Hedgehogs do not have a cecum which is the part of the body that digests cellulose. It's up to you, just check for the calcium phosphorus, and salt content first as well as making sure there are no choking hazards. Taking at look at whether or not hedgehogs can have shrimp, it has a 1:0 ratio which makes us nervous about raising calcium levels in the blood without the phosphorus to balance it out.

If it has zero phosphorus or calcium in it, like snow crab, then a little of that should be fine if they'll eat it as a treat. As mentioned above, hedgehogs thrive with protein rich foods, and fish is extremely high in protein and other essential nutrients so maybe the smell isn't such a bad thing IF there is a balanced calcium to phosphorus ratio! Before feeding anything, check the nutritional labels before, and remember, you are looking for a balanced ratio of Ca:P that is 1:1 or 2:1.

Can Hedgehogs Have Fish?īe warned, irregular odor in their stool is a common side effect of digesting fish. If you're needing something tasty to feed your hedgehog, a nice calci worm will do the trick, or maybe even a tiny taste of pumpkin every once in a while. Simply boiling some chicken or cooking up some egg white as a treat will do just fine and make sure to skip the seasoning. Human seasoned food is dangerous if it contains onions, garlic, and tons of salt. Nuts are choking hazards and not so healthy on the Ca:P scale, same goes for sunflower seeds. If you want to find out exactly why we say that about calcium and phosphorus – give this article on metabolic bone disease a read. We only know of one worm that is balanced in Ca:P, and that's the black soldier fly larvae – a nutritious calci worm. Speaking of insects though, you want to avoid feeding anything that is not balanced in calcium and phosphorus – so be careful of mealworms, crickets, and hornworms. Gut loading worms, means purchasing pet store bought feeder insects and feeding them fresh veggies, fruits 24 hours before feeding them live to your hedgehog. This is a process called gut-loading their worms. However, they do benefit if the insects being fed to them has ingested fruits and veggies. Also, even though they find and munch on berries in the wild, their digestive systems do not benefit from directly eating fruits and vegetables because of their lack of cecum. They are lactose intolerant, so feeding them dairy can harm their digestive system and give them painful gas. Hedgehogs are opportunistic carnivores that mainly eat their cat kibble and insects.

Do hedgehogs hibernate together