[MaterialGworl]

Hey everyone. I've had my 3 mo Pierogi for three weeks now. I feed him Chicken Soup for the Soul Cat Food, dried mealworms; rehydrated, and canned meal and super worms. I've tried giving him canned snail, cricket, and pupae but so far he's only liked worms. I'm going to start farming mealworms soon, but my question is: is just mealworms and cat food going to be nutritional enough? Is the cat food brand I chose healthy enough? Thanks a bunch! Hedgehog tax below 👇💕 View attachment 96130

It depends, but overall no. Mealworms are very high in fat and are not good for overweight hedgehogs or for daily feeding. For example, I feed my hedgehog a decent amount of mealworms because she's skinny and extremely active and needs the extra fat. The problem with that is that mealworms have a terrible calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. To combat that, I feed her mealworms a "high calcium feed" (it costs like $7 on Amazon) to balance the calcium ratio. This is important because if your hedgehog eats more phosphorus than calcium, they can develop Metabolic Bone Disease over time and die

Buy some high calcium feed and put it in your mealworm container so that when they eat it, your hedgehog will eat them too and get the calcium they need.

Also there are other healthier insect options you can feed her. I feed my hedgie live black soldier fly larvae, silkworms, and beetles. Here's a chart that shows a variety of insects and their nutritional value: Feeder Insects: Nutrition Facts on Insects for Reptiles | moonvalleyreptiles.com

 

[MaterialGworl]

How many mealworms did you give her? Pepper also needs to gain some weight and i'm not too sure how many I should give him.

Hi! I feed her about 6-7 mealies ( plus however many black soldier fly larvae, beetles, and silkworms she decides she wants to eat lol) in the evening, she goes back to sleep, then she eats her staple diet throughout the night into the early morning.

 

[MaterialGworl]

So 6- 7 mealworms every day?

Yes. It seems to be working cuz she's gained 20 grams over the past 2 months. She almost weighs 300g now. Don't want her to gain too much too fast.