Hedgehog diet

[PlattHillBadger]

Is it true that Hedgehogs cannot eat bread because they suffer an allergic reaction making their stomachs swell up, which can be fatal?

[Wild-Woman]

There's some real hedgehog experts that will answer your question in more depth but as I understand, bread and milk are no nos. Dog food/ cat food and water is by far better and obviously a garden full of natural foods even more so.

[Hedgehoggy]

Bread doesn't cause an allergic reaction, it has a knock-on effect. It is low in nutrition and high in bulk, swelling inside the hog’s tummy making him feel full, to the detriment of further foraging to fill up on the right food stuffs.

The old myth of feeding milk and bread to hedgehogs is potentially very harmful indeed. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant, and drinking milk can lead to diarrhoea, dehydration and death.

For suggestions of nutritional supplementary foods to feed hedgehogs, see here.