Hedgehogs have become trendy to own amongst small, exotic pet lovers. It’s hard not to fall in love with their cute faces and spiny bodies. Most people don’t know that hedgehogs are insectivores! While they might be small, they do eat meat, and a large part of their wild diet are insects. Hedgehogs have the unique ability to digest chitin from the exoskeletons of insects, and chitin is necessary for their nutrition!
Some people might be curious about the types of insects that hedgehogs eat. How about mealworms? While hedgehogs can definitely benefit from and safely eat mealworms, they should not be the only thing you feed your pet hedgehog. Want to learn more? Read on to learn about mealworms and hedgehogs.
Hedgehog Nutrition: What Do They Eat?
While some people think hedgehogs are herbivorous, that’s simply untrue. Hedgehogs, in particular, need animal proteins in their diets. Hedgehogs belong to a retired dietary class known as “insectivores.” Insectivores primarily get their nutrition from eating insects.
Though wild hedgehogs eat insects primarily, they gravitate to an omnivorous diet when given an array of foods to eat. Still, chitin is a required nutritional intake for hedgehogs. This is because hedgehogs utilize chitin as a fiber source.
As pets, their diet often consists of hedgehog kibble (preferred) or low-fat cat kibble (an alternative). This diet should be supplemented with insects such as crickets, waxworms, and mealworms. Hedgehogs should also be offered very small amounts of diced vegetables and fruits, hard-boiled eggs, pinkies (small, day-old mice), and other protein options such as cottage cheese.
Mealworms are definitely a suitable protein option for pet hedgehogs. Let’s explore mealworms in greater detail.
Hedgehogs & Mealworms
Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor. Though several factors play a role in the length of time a larva takes to pupate into an adult, they typically remain as mealworms for a period of around 30–45 days on average.
The nutritional yield of mealworms varies considerably based on their diet and health. However, on average, they have the following nutritional composition:
- Moisture: 62%
- Protein: 20%
- Fat: 13%
- Fiber: 2%
- Moisture: 5%
- Protein: 53%
- Fat: 28%
- Fiber: 2%
It bears repeating that a mealworm’s diet has a huge impact on their nutritional yield. Research has shown that, depending on their diet, their fat yield can be anywhere from approximately 18–35%, and a protein yield of anywhere from approximately 40–53%1.
Hedgehogs typically require a diet that consists of around 30–50% protein and around 10–20% fat (on a dry matter basis) 2. Mealworms are in line with a hedgehog’s nutritional requirements; however, they are considered nutritionally dense and as such, should be offered to your hedgehog in a rotation with other insects, and not just as the sole insect in their diet.
Risks of Feeding Mealworms
Though mealworms are safe for hedgehogs, overfeeding or inappropriately feeding them to your pet can definitely lead to issues. Here are some things to remain mindful of before you start giving your hedgehog mealworms.
Selection Bias
As pets, hedgehogs can quickly learn which foods offered to them are their favorites. If you play into this preference and continually offer your hedgehog mealworms (if they enjoy them most), you may end up with a pet who refuses to eat anything else. This can lead to health issues over time.
Improper Calcium to Phosphorus Ratio
Mealworms are very high in phosphorus and have very low calcium. It is important to note that minerals often interact with each other within an animal’s body. Calcium and phosphorus are two such minerals. Within the body, calcium binds to phosphorus. This means that if your hedgehog’s diet is high in phosphorus but too low in calcium, their body will try to correct this imbalance by releasing stored calcium (in their bones) to fix the issue. On a short-term basis, this isn’t an issue. However, if this pattern repeats over a prolonged period, it can lead to an issue known as metabolic bone disease.
This issue can be circumvented by dusting the mealworms you offer to your pet with calcium powder prior to offering it to them. In addition, ensuring that mealworms don’t constitute the bulk of your pet’s diet can also help greatly mitigate this issue. A reasonable calcium-to-phosphorus ratio for pet hedgehogs is 1.2-1.5:1; this means calcium should be 1.2 to 1.5 times as abundant as phosphorus in their diet.
How to Safely Feed Your Hedgehog Mealworms
The first key to feeding your hedgehog mealworms safely is to exercise moderation. Your hedgehog should have several insects in their diet, and their diet shouldn’t be composed solely of insects.
As mentioned above, it’s important to dust the mealworms you offer your pet with a calcium supplement. In addition, it’s important to gut load your insects before offering them to your pet. This can be done by offering them highly nutritious foods 12–48 hours before feeding them to your pet.
Final Thoughts
Mealworms may be a tasty treat for hedgehogs, but they shouldn’t be the only thing you offer to your pet. If your hedgehog turns their nose up to their food in favor of mealworms, they may eventually become ill from malnutrition.
However, as a tasty snack every so often, mealworms are perfectly safe and even healthy for hedgehogs! However, it is important to ensure you prepare them properly before offering them to your pet, as they definitely do not have a favorable calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.
- See Also: Can Hedgehogs Eat Grapes?
