What to Feed a Hedgehog: The Ultimate Garden Feeding Guide
Spotting a hedgehog wandering through your garden at night can be a lovely surprise. If you’re lucky enough to have one visiting regularly, you might naturally start wondering whether you should leave something out for it to eat.
But what to feed a hedgehog isn’t always as obvious as you might think. While hedgehogs find much of their food naturally, providing supplementary food and fresh water can give visiting hedgehogs an additional source of nourishment, particularly when natural food is harder to find.
There are also several foods that should never be offered to hedgehogs, despite some of the traditional advice you may have heard.
From choosing suitable hedgehog food to knowing what to leave out at night, this guide covers everything you need to know about feeding the hedgehogs that visit your garden.
What Do Hedgehogs Eat in the Wild?
Before deciding what to put out for a visiting hedgehog, it helps to understand what these animals naturally eat.
Hedgehogs are opportunistic feeders with a varied natural diet. They spend much of the night searching through grass, leaves and vegetation for food and feed predominantly on invertebrates.
Beetles, caterpillars, earthworms and other invertebrates can all form part of a wild hedgehog's diet. This is one reason why wildlife-friendly gardens can be so valuable. Gardens containing plants, leaves, logs and less intensively managed areas can support many of the creatures that hedgehogs naturally feed on.
Food that we provide should therefore be viewed as supplementary feeding rather than a complete replacement for a hedgehog's natural diet.
The ultimate goal is to create a garden where hedgehogs can forage naturally while also having access to appropriate supplementary food and clean drinking water.
What to Feed a Hedgehog in Your Garden
If you're wondering what to feed a hedgehog that has started visiting your garden, one of the simplest options is a purpose-made hedgehog food.
Hedgehog food is specifically designed as a convenient supplementary food for garden hedgehogs. Depending on the product, it may be available as dry biscuits or another specialist formulation.
Another commonly recommended option is a suitable meat-based cat or dog food. Plain meat-based wet foods can be offered in small quantities, while some cat or kitten biscuits may also be suitable.
Whichever food you choose, supplementary feeding should complement the hedgehog's natural foraging rather than encourage complete dependence on food left out by people.
If you're purchasing specialist food, always check the manufacturer's ingredients and feeding instructions before putting it out.
Is Specialist Hedgehog Food Worth Buying?
For many garden owners, specialist hedgehog food is the most straightforward choice.
Rather than trying to work out which household foods are appropriate every evening, you can keep a supply of food specifically intended for visiting hedgehogs.
Dry hedgehog food can also be particularly convenient because it's easy to portion, store and place inside a feeding station.
If hedgehogs regularly visit your garden, creating a designated feeding area with specialist food and fresh water can become a simple part of maintaining a wildlife-friendly outdoor space.
A purpose-built feeding station can provide additional protection around the feeding area and help establish a consistent location for leaving food.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Cat Food?
Cat food is commonly offered as supplementary food to garden hedgehogs.
A suitable meat-based wet cat food can be provided in a shallow dish. Dry cat biscuits may also be used, provided they're appropriate and can be easily eaten.
If you regularly have hedgehogs visiting, however, you may prefer to purchase specialist hedgehog food rather than relying entirely on pet food.
It's also worth remembering that putting cat food outside can attract the neighbourhood cats themselves. A dedicated hedgehog feeding station with an appropriately sized entrance may help make the feeding area less accessible to larger animals.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Dog Food?
Suitable meat-based dog food can also be offered to hedgehogs as supplementary food.
As with cat food, keep things relatively simple and avoid assuming that every flavour or formulation is automatically appropriate for wildlife.
The texture matters too. If you're offering larger pieces of food, make sure they're manageable for a hedgehog to eat.
If you're unsure about a particular product, specialist hedgehog food provides a much simpler alternative.
Should You Leave Water Out for Hedgehogs?
Food is only half of the equation. Providing clean drinking water is one of the easiest ways to help wildlife visiting your garden.
Leave fresh water in a shallow, sturdy bowl that a hedgehog can easily access.
This can be particularly useful during periods of warm or dry weather when natural sources of water may become harder to find.
Check the water regularly, remove dirt or debris and replace it with fresh water as necessary.
If you're setting up a dedicated hedgehog feeding area, placing a water bowl nearby means visiting hedgehogs can easily access both food and water.
Can Hedgehogs Drink Milk?
No. Hedgehogs should be given fresh water rather than milk.
The traditional image of leaving a saucer of bread and milk outside for a hedgehog has persisted for years, but milk isn't an appropriate drink for them and can cause digestive problems.
If you've previously heard that hedgehogs should be given milk, replace it with a shallow bowl of clean, fresh water instead.
It's a small change that makes your garden feeding setup much more suitable for visiting hedgehogs.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Bread?
Bread and milk used to be a familiar combination offered to garden hedgehogs, but bread isn't a suitable choice for providing the nutrition they need.
Instead of filling a hedgehog up on bread, provide an appropriate supplementary food such as specialist hedgehog food or suitable meat-based cat or dog food.
This is a good example of why understanding what to feed a hedgehog is important. Something being readily available in your kitchen doesn't necessarily mean it's a good choice for wildlife.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Mealworms?
Mealworms are another food frequently associated with feeding garden wildlife, but they shouldn't form the main part of the food you provide to hedgehogs.
Although hedgehogs may readily eat them, regularly offering large quantities isn't recommended because mealworms have an unsuitable calcium-to-phosphorus balance.
If you want to support visiting hedgehogs, you're better off providing a more nutritionally appropriate supplementary food rather than leaving out bowls of mealworms.
What Foods Should You Avoid Feeding Hedgehogs?
Knowing what not to feed a hedgehog is just as important as knowing what you can safely leave outside.
Milk and bread are two of the best-known examples to avoid. You should also avoid treating hedgehogs like pets that can simply be given leftovers from your dinner.
Foods that are highly processed, salty, sugary, seasoned or otherwise designed for human consumption aren't an appropriate way to feed wild hedgehogs.
Don't assume that because a hedgehog appears willing to eat something, it must be good for it. Wild animals don't necessarily recognise whether a food has the right nutritional composition.
The simplest approach is to stick to appropriate supplementary foods and fresh water rather than experimenting with kitchen scraps.
When Should You Put Food Out for Hedgehogs?
Hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal, becoming active after dusk and spending the night travelling and searching for food.
For this reason, food can be put outside during the evening so that it's available when hedgehogs begin to emerge.
If you establish a regular feeding routine, you may eventually notice hedgehogs visiting at similar times each night.
Any uneaten food should be removed rather than being allowed to sit outside indefinitely. Clean feeding bowls regularly and keep the surrounding area as hygienic as possible.
Fresh food, clean bowls and clean water will create a much better feeding environment.
How Much Food Should You Give a Hedgehog?
It's easy to become enthusiastic when you first discover hedgehogs visiting your garden and start putting out large amounts of food.
However, supplementary feeding doesn't need to replace everything a hedgehog would naturally find while foraging.
Start with a modest amount and observe how much is being eaten. If large quantities are consistently left behind, you can reduce the portion.
Equally, remember that an empty bowl doesn't necessarily mean one hedgehog has eaten everything. Cats, foxes and other garden visitors may also investigate food left outdoors.
This is another reason why a dedicated feeding station can be useful.
Should You Feed Hedgehogs Every Night?
If hedgehogs regularly visit your garden, you can provide supplementary food consistently, particularly during periods when natural food may be more difficult to find.
However, your garden shouldn't become solely about the food bowl.
Supporting natural feeding opportunities is equally valuable. Planting wildlife-friendly vegetation, maintaining areas of leaf litter and creating habitats for insects and other invertebrates can help hedgehogs forage naturally.
Think of the food you provide as one part of a wider hedgehog-friendly garden.
Do Hedgehogs Need Feeding During Winter?
Hedgehogs typically hibernate during colder periods, but the timing of hibernation can vary depending on the individual animal and environmental conditions.
You may still see hedgehogs active during autumn as they prepare for hibernation, and some may remain active later than expected.
Food can therefore be particularly useful when hedgehogs are still actively visiting your garden.
Rather than relying solely on the calendar, pay attention to activity in your own garden. If food is being eaten and you know hedgehogs are still visiting, supplementary feeding can continue.
Fresh water should also remain available.
What About Baby Hedgehogs?
Seeing a particularly small hedgehog can make you want to immediately intervene, but not every young hedgehog needs rescuing.
If you find a very small hedgehog, particularly one that appears weak, injured, unwell or is out during the daytime, don't simply try to solve the problem by feeding it.
Contact a reputable wildlife rescue organisation or hedgehog specialist for advice. They can help you determine whether the animal needs assistance and what you should do next.
The needs of a hedgehog requiring rehabilitation are different from simply providing supplementary food for healthy wild hedgehogs visiting your garden.
How to Stop Cats Eating Hedgehog Food
One of the biggest frustrations when feeding hedgehogs is discovering that you've actually been providing a free evening meal for a local cat.
Cats are naturally attracted to many of the same meat-based foods that might be offered to hedgehogs.
A hedgehog feeding station can help solve this problem. These provide a more enclosed feeding area, often with an entrance designed to allow a hedgehog to access the food while making things more difficult for larger animals.
Positioning the food inside a sheltered feeding station also creates a dedicated location that visiting hedgehogs can become familiar with.
No setup will necessarily exclude every determined animal, but it can make your hedgehog feeding routine easier to manage.
Where Should You Put Hedgehog Food?
Choose a relatively quiet area of the garden where a hedgehog can approach without being constantly disturbed.
A location near shrubs, hedges or other natural cover can work well because hedgehogs often prefer travelling along sheltered edges rather than crossing completely exposed spaces.
Avoid positioning the feeding area next to a busy doorway, children's play area or somewhere pets regularly gather.
If you also have a hedgehog home in your garden, the feeding area can be positioned within the same general wildlife-friendly area, but don't put food inside the sleeping house itself.
Keeping feeding and nesting areas separate helps prevent leftover food from attracting unwanted visitors directly into a hedgehog's shelter.
How to Create a Hedgehog-Friendly Feeding Station
A good feeding station doesn't need to be complicated.
The aim is simply to create a sheltered location where food and water can be offered while providing some protection from larger animals and the weather.
Position your feeding station on stable ground in a quiet area of the garden. Place the food inside in a shallow, sturdy bowl and provide clean water nearby.
Keep the area clean and regularly remove old food.
If you're trying to encourage hedgehogs to visit for the first time, don't be discouraged if nothing happens immediately. Wildlife needs time to discover new food sources and become comfortable visiting an area.
Make the Rest of Your Garden Hedgehog Friendly
Understanding what to feed a hedgehog is useful, but feeding is only one way to support these much-loved garden visitors.
A truly hedgehog-friendly garden provides food, water, shelter and opportunities to move safely between habitats.
Consider creating natural areas where leaves and vegetation are allowed to accumulate. Log piles, shrubs and wildlife-friendly planting can provide habitat for the invertebrates hedgehogs naturally eat.
Providing a dedicated home for a hedgehog can also create an additional sheltered place for resting, nesting or hibernating.
Garden access is important too. Hedgehogs can travel considerable distances during the night, so small ground-level routes between neighbouring gardens can help them move around in search of food and shelter.
Take care when using strimmers, lawnmowers and other garden equipment, particularly around long grass, hedges and areas of vegetation where wildlife could be hiding.
Food, Water and Shelter: Creating a Garden Hedgehogs Will Love
So, what should you feed a hedgehog?
For healthy wild hedgehogs visiting your garden, appropriate specialist hedgehog food is one of the easiest options. Suitable meat-based cat or dog food can also be offered as supplementary food, alongside a reliable supply of clean, fresh water.
Just as importantly, avoid outdated feeding habits such as leaving out bread and milk, and don't rely on unsuitable treats or human leftovers.
Once you've got feeding right, you can go further by creating a complete hedgehog-friendly environment.
Combine a dedicated feeding area with natural vegetation, accessible water and a safe hedgehog home, and you'll be providing much more than an occasional meal. You'll be creating a garden where hedgehogs have greater opportunities to feed, shelter and explore.
Whether you're welcoming your first nighttime visitor or you've had hedgehogs returning to your garden for years, a few thoughtful changes can make your outdoor space a much more inviting place for them.
