From what I understand, wild hedgehogs are more omnivores than insectvores. Insects are a big part of their diet, but not the only thing they eat. I'm not sure about an all-insect diet, but I do know you need to be careful not too give too many mealworms because they are very high in fat.
The dry cat food is very popular. Most people recommend a blend of at least three foods because it isn't designed for hedgehogs, and the variety increases the chance of covering all the hedgehog's needs. I think there are one or two hedgehog foods that are considered acceptable, but I don't know which ones they are.
We're still trying to figure out what exactly hedgehogs need nutritionally, so a lot of this is guess work and trial-and-error. High-quality cat foods with insects and other foods as supplements seems to work well, though.
I'm not really seeing how cat food is a good choice either, but I'm not totally read up as I don't own one and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there.
I feed my hedgies a mix of Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Adult Light and also Natural Balance Ultra Light Cat food, (both cat foods are high in protein and low in fat) mixed with a little bit of Sunseed Hedgehog Diet. ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16627 ) The hedgehog food SEEMS perfect but my girls aren't wild about it and always eat the cat food over the hedgie food. They DID really like the 8 in 1 Ulta Select Hedgehog food http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=17055 but I've been out of that for awhile. (However apparently they have a sale going on so I'm about to buy a couple of boxes!) I like to mix the hedgie food w/the cat food and then give them additional veggies and meats and freeze dried crickets, and occasionally meal worms.
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The dry cat food is very popular. Most people recommend a blend of at least three foods because it isn't designed for hedgehogs, and the variety increases the chance of covering all the hedgehog's needs. I think there are one or two hedgehog foods that are considered acceptable, but I don't know which ones they are.
We're still trying to figure out what exactly hedgehogs need nutritionally, so a lot of this is guess work and trial-and-error. High-quality cat foods with insects and other foods as supplements seems to work well, though.
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Explanation?
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Hope that helps!
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CS is AWESOME cat food, too!
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and then i supplement with fresh veggies, dried crickets and mealworms (fluker's brand) and organic chicken and turkey baby foods.
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