How do you encourage hedgehogs in your garden.

Farmor15

Our hedgehog last year - likes cat food!

Aww lovely

Shinamae

A lady who runs a hedgehog rescue centre, told me that the hedgehogs really like Tesco chicken kitten biscuits…

I bought a packet of these but some of them contain milk. Would it be ok to just separate the purely chicken bits? I’m loathe to open the packet because, if I don’t I can at least donate it to someone with a kitten!

I am jealous of all those with hedgehogs.
I haven't seen one in my garden for years and then I disturbed a hibernating one (I was tidying a corner)
There are foxes and badgers here so perhaps that's why. I'm told badgers skin hedgehogs.

Important to provide them with a house that a badger can’t topple over.

Grammaretto

I am jealous of all those with hedgehogs.
I haven't seen one in my garden for years and then I disturbed a hibernating one (I was tidying a corner)
There are foxes and badgers here so perhaps that's why. I'm told badgers skin hedgehogs.

Skin hedgehogs?!! 😫

Mealworms aren't good for hedgehogs. Dried kitten food is best, preferably chicken. Sainsburys is good and not too expensive.

Badgers are hedgehogs only predators.
Shinamae

What's a safe house for a hedgehog look like
Maybee?

Ofcourse there could be hedgehogs living here but I just haven't seen them as they are nocturnal.

midgey

Apparently you shouldn’t give hedgehogs mealworms, I had thought that this was okay. Hopefully the blackbird had eaten them before the hedgehog appeared!

There is a different type of dried worm which are suitable for hedgehogs. They sell them in garden centres.

Grammaretto

Badgers are hedgehogs only predators.
Shinamae

What's a safe house for a hedgehog look like
Maybee?

Ofcourse there could be hedgehogs living here but I just haven't seen them as they are nocturnal.

By safe I mean making it so that a badger can’t turn it over when the hedgehog is hibernating. Also I’ve read that those twig like hedgehog houses are dangerous as the hedgehogs prickles can get stuck in them.

We don't see hedgehogs either, too many badgers.

We are lucky to have a hedgehog visiting our garden. We’ve captured it on a trail camera. Only seen one this year on the camera (though it might not be the same one, perhaps another visits at a different time of the night). Last year, the camera picked up two at the same time.
It’s quite easy for the hogs to move freely between all our gardens, as there are plenty of gaps between the various gardens for them to get through. Our neighbour puts out some dog food, but I just leave out plenty of water, and let them enjoy our numerous slugs and snails.
It’s such a pleasure knowing they’re about.

Hedgehogs should have mealworms only occasionally. Too many they develop metabolic bone disease which affects their mobility.

I bought some Purina kitten food today: the lady at the pet shop said it’s what someone comes in to buy for her hedgehogs .

I haven’t used hay up to now, although some was supplied with the ‘house’. The house is in the top corner of my garden, under and beyond bushes, so they just seem to be happy dragging dead leaves inside.