A hedgehogs diet is largely made up of protein and low-fat insects. But just because this is the bulk of what your hedgehog will eat it doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy a little variety. This is where we start to wonder about veggies… like carrots! Can hedgehogs eat carrots?
Hedgehogs can eat carrots. However, they can struggle to digest raw carrots as they can be too hard for them. Instead, try blanching carrots in boiling water then cooling them before feeding carrots to hedgehogs.
There are mixed ideas of whether you should feed carrots to your hedgehog or not. You are advised to avoid most starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, and carrots can be a little sweet and starchy.
Although, the biggest problem with carrots is actually how hard they are. When they are raw carrots are really tough to bite into and your hedgehog may struggle. For this reason, it is best to avoid feeding any raw carrot to your hedgehog.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Cooked Carrot?
So, we shouldn’t feed hedgehogs raw carrots but carrots aren’t actually a problem, are they? Not in terms of nutritional benefit and toxicity anyway! This is true which means if you want to feed your hedgehog a little cooked carrot then you can.
This is much softer for them to bite into and chew and it is also easier for you to cut up into small pieces for the hedgehog.
What Vegetables Can Hedgehogs Not Eat?
There are some types of vegetables that we would recommend you avoid feeding to your hedgehog. Their poor little stomachs and digestive systems can’t handle it! These are mostly the very starchy types of vegetables.
Corn
You should avoid offering corn to your hedgehog for one simple reason. It’s very difficult to eat and digest, even if you cook it first. The hard outer skins of the kernels are almost impossible for a hedgehog to deal with and there are far better options for a vegetable treat.
Potatoes
Potatoes are a little difficult for hedgehogs. You definitely shouldn’t feed your hedgehog any raw potato. This is because potato contains starch and solanine which is a toxin. You don’t want to end up poisoning your hedgehog inadvertently.
Celery
Celery is not a good type of food for hedgehogs. It has a high sodium content which isn’t good for your hedgehog and it is also an irritant and could irritate your hedgehog’s digestive system causing them pain and harm.
Allium Family Vegetables
Vegetables that come from the allium family are poisonous to many pets, including cats and dogs. They are also poisonous to hedgehogs too! So what are these vegetables? They are more commonly known as onions, shallots or garlic.
Avocados
Avocados are also not suitable for your hedgehog. This may be because of the high-fat content and oils in the meat of the avocado.
It isn’t well known the precise problem but they are thought to be toxic to hedgehogs so it is best to avoid them and give your hedgehog a different treat instead.
What Vegetables Can Hedgehogs Eat?
Some vegetables are good to give your hedgehog as a snack. They may not offer a huge amount in nutritional benefit but your hedgehog will like the variety and feeding them veggies is better than lots of high sugar fruits!
These are some of the vegetables you can feed your hedgehog occasionally:
Green Beans
You may want to lightly cook any green beans first and make sure you remove any hard stems and peel first. Chop them up into bite-sized pieces and offer these to your hedgehog.
Broccoli
Broccoli is another food you may want to cook lightly first. It can be very hard and difficult to bite into raw! As with most vegetables make sure you chop them into smaller pieces before giving them to your hedgehog to eat.
Spinach
Spinach is a good treat to give your hedgehog. It is low in sugar and fat and is surprisingly high in nutrition.
Lettuce
Your hedgehog may enjoy munching on a little lettuce every now and then. Give them a few chopped leaves but make sure you wash them first torrid them of any pesticides.
It would be even better if you could feed the hedgehog organic lettuce instead to ensure they don’t ingest any nasty chemicals.
What Is Best To Feed Hedgehogs?
Although it might be nice to feed your hedgehog some snacks every once in a while you need to ensure their base diet is one that is suitable for them and contains all the nutrition they need.
For this, you need to feed them a good quality hedgehog food. You can also supplement this a little with cat food which is far easier to get hold of.
Summary
Hedgehogs can eat carrots but only if you cook them first to soften them up. A raw carrot would be very difficult for a hedgehog to get its teeth into, never mind digest!
Be careful not to feed the hedgehog too much veg as part of their diet. They largely require insect protein to be healthy and happy.
