Feeding
Feeding your Pygmy Hedgehogs is a subject of much debate. Hedgehogs are insectivores by nature and tend to be quite opportunist eating whatever they come across.
In captivity the main basis of their food should be a good quality dry cat food. When I say good quality food this should be a food in which the primary ingredients are meat based, either chicken or turkey and not cereal as many cheaper cat food are based on. The food also needs to be high in protein and low in fat, as hedgehogs tend to become over weight very quickly. The fat content should ideally be 10% or less. For this reason the “light” version of cat foods are more suitable.
Here at Animal Keeper we use Royal Canin Light as the main food source, as it is low fat and seems to be very palatable to the hog. All our hogs seem to be very happy on this. Some people offer tinned cat food, which provided it is a good quality should be fine, although it is messier than dry.
In addition to this your hogs should have access to other food stuffs in order to remain healthy. I would include mealworms as an essential addition to the diet. Our Hogs go mad for them and if given the chance would eat them to the exclusion of anything else, for this reason they are strictly limited to no more than 5 or 6 a day. If you are squeamish about feeding live food you can buy packs of dried mealworms which seem to be taken as avidly as live ones. Other insects can be offered such as crickets and the like although obviously live food does present problems if the live food escaped from the cage.
In addition to the above items I offer an insectivorous mix designed for insect eating birds, as I believe that replicates a more natural diet than the cat food (even though I believe that the Royal Canin is a more nutritious and balanced food source). I also offer cooked chicken and mince on a regular basis, which the hogs love and eat with relish. One point when feeding meat is that that it should always be cooked and never fed raw due to the risk of Salmonella infection. Some people recommend that hard boiled eggs should be offered however my hogs always refuse to eat them, again I never feed raw eggs which I believe wild hogs eat due to the risk of Salmonella in raw eggs.