#hedgehog101

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CHE/Thermometer:

Thermostat:

Trimming nails can be frustrating for both hedgie and owner. First, it might be worth trying to trim while your hedgehog is standing upright, as it stresses them out to be on their back (because they're prey animals). Many have success in a shallow warm footbath, which will prevent them from balling up. Start slow and stay calm. If you only get one foot at a time, that's fine. Just revisit until you get them all and eventually your hog (and you) will be used to the process and you'll get them all at once. Always remember to reward with a bug treat at the end so they associate the experience with a reward!

These are the best videos I have found to describe ways on how to do it:

ℂ𝕌ℝ𝕀𝕆𝕌𝕊 𝔸𝔹𝕆𝕌𝕋 𝕀ℕ𝕊𝔼ℂ𝕋𝕊?

Here are the insects I feed & how I keep them. I've also included a graphic for where to purchase them online (I personally prefer RainbowMealworms), a graphic on what else to try if your hedgehog doesn't take to insects the first or even the second time, as well as a graphic with other insect options you can try that I may not have listed here:

*Information on BREEDING these insects & more ways on how to keep them can be located in the Guides*

ℂ𝔸ℝ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝔽𝕆ℝ 𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔼 𝕊𝕌ℙ𝔼ℝ𝕎𝕆ℝ𝕄𝕊/𝕄𝕆ℝ𝕀𝕆 𝕎𝕆ℝ𝕄𝕊:

Typically superworms will arrive in a container with some kind of substrate or in a bag with possibly some newspaper.

You can keep them room temperature. I personally try to find some place slightly darker to store them.

You will want to take a large container (I purchase them from the 99 cent only store) & dump Old Fashioned Oats into it (an inch to 2 inches is fine) Do NOT use quick oats. Just Old Fashioned oats will do. This will be your substrate & the worms will also use this for food.

I then separate the superworms from the bag or container they came in & put them in the new container with the oats in it.

I personally put a solid surface like a lid or something flat like that to put their water source on (you can put it directly on the oats, I just do this to try to limit molding)

For their water intake, you will use all the things you want to gut load them with. Most commonly used is romaine lettuce, carrots, or potatoes. Make sure to remove the old food & replace with new food at least every other day. Whatever you feed them for water intake is what your hedgie is going to get the nutrients of in 1-2 days time of the worms eating it.

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𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔼 𝕎𝔸𝕏 𝕎𝕆ℝ𝕄𝕊:

Wax worms are easy. I personally keep them in the container they come in & feed them off that way. Note that if you leave them room temperature they may pupate faster & these little guys turn into moths. If some do happen to pupate, hedgies can eat the pupae, too! But, to prevent them from turning so quickly you can place the container on the inside of the fridge DOOR. Anywhere in the fridge outside of the door will be too cold & risks killing them. In the door they will go dormant. So, they will no longer move. But, as long as they are not dark black, they are still alive & can be fed. I usually feed these off before they need any form of food, but they can be fed carrots & things similar to superworms if need be.

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𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔼 𝔹𝕊𝔽𝕃/ℙℍ𝕆𝔼ℕ𝕀𝕏 𝕎𝕆ℝ𝕄𝕊/ℂ𝔸𝕃ℂ𝕀 𝕎𝕆ℝ𝕄𝕊:

These ones are also quite easy. They should come in a container with everything you need. As such, you can keep them in the container they come in. These ones you'll want to keep room temperature. After while, if not fed off, they will turn into flies. So, be on the look out for that. These ones don't technically need to be fed or moved or put anywhere special. Just room temp in the container they came in. They also feed off of the substrate they come in so there's no need to add food, either.

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𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔼 𝔻𝕌𝔹𝕀𝔸𝕊:

Without having a colony & breeding them (which can be found in the guides on how to do) I only get enough to feed my hedgies for a week. Because I only get this amount, I keep these in the container they come in as well - room temperature. These I also typically feed off before the insects need to eat, but they can eat the same thing as superworms as well of needed.

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ℍ𝕆ℝℕ 𝕎𝕆ℝ𝕄𝕊:

Hedgehogs need a Ca:P(Calcium to Phosphorus) ratio of 2:1. Most insects are greater in Phosphorus than in Calcium, which is why we gut load them.

BSFL(Black Soldier Fly Larvae, Calci-Worms, Phoenix Worms) is the only insect that has the closest 2:1 ratio without gut loading, with a ratio of 2.5:1. Dubia roaches are the next healthiest after BSFL, with a ratio of 1:3. This is also why we don't recommend mealworms. Mealworms have the highest Phosphorus content of any of the insects, with a ratio of 1:17. See Nutritional Value For Insects for more insect ratios.

If hedgehogs aren't fed enough Calcium and to much Phosphorus it can lead to MBD(Metabolic Bone Disease). MBD is where the bones and teeth are soft, deformed, and easily fractured.

African Pygmy's need 202 – 206 mmol/L of calcium and 1.6 – 2.1 mmol/L of phosphorus. Their wild cousins, the European hedgehogs, need 3.1 mmol/L calcium and 1.5 mmol/L of phosphorus in their blood. -Exotic Animal Medicine, 2015

This is a video of a hedgehog with MBD.

KEEPING SUPERWORMS:

Typically superworms will arrive in a container with some kind of substrate or in a bag with possibly some newspaper.

You can keep them room temperature. I personally try to find some place slightly darker to store them.

You will want to take a large container (I purchase them from the 99 cent only store) & dump Old Fashioned Oats into it (an inch to 2 inches is fine) Do NOT use quick oats. Just Old Fashioned oats will do. This will be your substrate & the worms will also use this for food.

I then separate the superworms from the bag or container they came in & put them in the new container with the oats in it.

I personally put a solid surface like a lid or something flat like that to put their water source on (you can put it directly on the oats, I just do this to try to limit molding)

For their water intake, you will use all the things you want to gut load them with. Most commonly used is romaine lettuce, carrots, or potatoes. Make sure to remove the old food & replace with new food at least every other day. Whatever you feed them for water intake is what your hedgie is going to get the nutrients of in 1-2 days time of the worms eating it.

BREEDING SUPERWORMS:

It's quite an annoying process, in my opinion. Not impossible, but annoying to say the least.

You will need the container of worms you set up above plus some kind of container with individual pods. Like a bead or tackle box. I got a tackle box from the 99 Cent Only Store.

You will also need 2 more containers identical to the first container you put together for the superworms. You can add the oats to both containers, but don't add the worms. One will be your beetle container & the other will be your rotation bin.

To start breeding you will need to look for the biggest superworms you have & put them in the individual tackle box pods so that they are completely isolated from other superworms. Do not feed them during this phase. Eventually you will see them curl into a C shape which means they have started the pupating process. Leave them completely alone during this process, but check in on them daily & eventually they will turn into a pupae. While they are a pupae, leave them in the tackle box pods & continue to leave them be until they darken & turn into beetles. This process of pupating & turning into a beetle can take quite some time.

Once they have turned into a beetle, remove them from the tackle box pods & place them in the beetle container.

Remember to also feed the Beetles the same as the superworms (if you give the worms romaine lettuce & carrots, also give some to the Beetles. They eat the same things)

After QUITE some time you can move the oats in the beetle bin & see itty bitty teeny tiny superworms on the bottom. When you see the babies, remove all of the beetles from the beetle bin to the rotation bin with oats on the bottom. Then combine your bigger superworms in with the baby superworms to make one worms container & use the now empty container to switch the beetles to again when new babies appear in the new beetle bin.