# How many crickets and meals worms should l feed my hedgie?



## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

I feed my hedgehog bugs 3 times a week. I feed her live mealworms and zoomeds canned crickets. how many of each does anyone recommend to feed together. Because I just got the crickets and so far I've been doing 3 crickets and 2 mealworms every time I feed her bugs. Is that enough? And do I need to feed the two together every time or do crickets one day mealies other day and then both another day out of the 3 days I feed her bugs total? I know what I'm asking is not really necessary to ask and I should know how many to feed her in general but I wanna make sure she's getting the right amount of bugs.


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

Also the crickets are very tiny like the size of a pinkie nail


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Honestly, I'd feed more than that. But I'm a huge fan of feeding bugs daily because insects are a huge part of their natural diet. I don't think most people include them in their diet enough at all, especially in the US. 

You can do both every day, and you can do more of both as well. Crickets are low fat, so they're good for that - mealworms are higher in fat & you may need to limit them more if you do notice weight gain. But you could easily do 5-10 daily. 

And the nice part about one canned & one live? Different enrichment! You can let her dig for mealworms in a dig box while you have her out for cuddle time, if she's interested, or just let her chase them down. Canned crickets aren't going to run away & hide, so you can place them around her cage for her to forage for at night - I use pieces of cardboard eggshell to hide treats under, as well as dog/cat treat puzzle toys, silk aquarium plants, etc. 

And it's not an unnecessary question.  A lot of people get confused about how much "extras" hedgehogs should get in addition to their main diet, and often they're told that bugs should only be treats, so it's common to be unsure about it.


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

Thank so much for the help! I would feed her them everyday but she eats everything so I have a schedule. Monday I feed eggs, Tuesday I feed bugs, wensday I feed meat (usually chicken), then Friday I feed veggies, Saturday I feed bugs, and Sunday I feed fruits. I do it all in moderation though not in like huge amounts I just cut whatever food I'm giving usually I break off a small piece or cut the foot in half and cut it into many small pieces. But I think since you explained me I will feed 5 mealies and 5 crickets 3 times a week probably. I don't like to feed to many mealworms because sometimes she runs like crazy, other times she sleep all night and barley runs. But do you think I should just feed bugs every time I feed her along with the other treats?


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

Oops edit I didn't mean to write cut the foot in half i don't know where that came from I meant to write it lol


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sounds like you got lucky with such a non-picky hedgie! She sounds like my Bindi, who's nicknamed Goathog because she's also willing to eat most things. :lol: 

My preference would be insects daily, but your schedule sounds like it should work fine too, if you'd rather stick with that.  She's getting great variety in her diet, which is awesome! If you're hesitant to feed mealworms as often, you could stick with maybe crickets daily to hide around her cage & encourage movement/foraging, and then mealworms 3x/week.

Also I don't know if you've seen the sticky on insects, but don't forget there's a lot of other options for insects/invertebrates too, if you're interested!


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

Yea I think I'm gonna start feeding like 5 crickets daily. I also forgot to put Thursday I feed bugs. But thanks so much for all your help!


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

Ah I wish my hedgie wasn't so picky, you guys are so lucky! ^^ I'd love to this and feed more of a variety but mine is so fussy, doesn't even like kibble, just superworms lol. 

@lilysmommy, I feed my boy 1x Superworm every night to help maintain his weight. Sometimes I worry if it's not good for him so I'm glad you think it's fine for them to be gettings insects everynight . Do you think I could actually give him more than 1 per a night? Since they're much bigger than mealies I'm not sure? I'm still planning to add live wax worms and want to try some canned insects too, so feeding them all every night would be ok? I was thinking maybe wax worms in the morning to get him to eat more during the day(!). I've just morphed a few supers into beetles so want to try giving one to him but some are massive lol and I'm worried he will get scared haha! ><

Sorry to jump on the end of this thread but since talking about the same subject I thought good opportunity to ask  ~ if I should start my own thread just let me know ^^


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Insects, especially chitin-rich ones (hard exoskeletons) provide the much needed fibre cat foods lack. According to research, low fibre foods are actually a bigger problem since higher fibre intake seems to prevent obesity; and the natural fibre source for hedgehogs comes from the chitin in insect exoskeletons. 
It is extremely hard to 'overdose' on insects if you don't take the very fatty ones (like waxworms and dolas). I easily feed 30+ mealworms or 15+ supers in a night, plus other insects like dubia roaches, grasshoppers etc.
And then there's always insects living in my bioactive vivs, so they probably end up eating a bit more if they catch some of those as well.


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

Great, thanks for the insect info Draenog!

Oh wow, 30+ mealies and 15+ supers a night! I must be starving my boy giving him just one super a night >.<. He's a bit on the small side, since he doesn't really like any cat food kibble I offer him (unless it is wet mixed up with a cut up super!), he won't eat cat food dry and will only eat his hedgehog food dry which he's always eaten and that's actually high in fibre (13% ~ so is this perhaps a lot of fibre with the supers too if I increase to 2-5 a night?!) He only eats about 1-2 teaspoons of the hedgie food nowadays and the rest is cat food wet mixed and that has lower fibre) but the ingredients in the hedgie food is so poor, I'm desperate to get him off it, since he doesn't seem to like it all that much, but more so than cat food.

I actually read some older threads recently about your bioactive vivs and found it so interesting! Would love to do this one day but I'm a new owner and not very experienced so learning little by little, same with the raw diet. I'd prefer to give him insects and a raw diet but he won't eat anything else I offer ><


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## aegora (Jul 16, 2017)

I was able to score an awesome large bag of food grade freeze dried meal worms at ace hardware in the chicken feed section, and I hide a handfull in a digbox for my bugmuncher every week

Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk


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## Hogsmeade (May 31, 2013)

Be careful of the freeze dried options. I've read many posts that say that they have caused impactions in some hedgehogs. Canned is a better option and live is even better. Both of those can be found at a pet store.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Freeze dried meals lack an enzyme that is needed so this exoskeleton can be digested. Freeze dried mealworms have led to impacted digestive systems and bowel obstructions. I wouldn't feed more then one or two a week.


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

I just fed my hedgie 5 mealies and 7 crickets tonight with watermelon and she a had a little diarrhea so idk


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

Oh no, did you increase slowly if she isn't used to having that many maybe, or was it her first time having watermelon? My boy seems to get slight green stools sometimes from just adding one extra new cat kibble piece! It's taken me over a month so far to introduce a new dry food and I'm only half way there! ><. Are you changing you girl's kibble at the moment too, maybe all the changes is too much on her stomach? Or didn't you have another thread about her not pooping properly recently ~ maybe it's all connected?

I purchased wax worms today FINALLY so going to offer one to my boy tonight and see how it goes down ^^. He tried an 'alien' superworm last night for the first time and he went straight for it, didn't even see him chew it, was gone in seconds lol


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Yukidama's mama said:


> Great, thanks for the insect info Draenog!
> 
> Oh wow, 30+ mealies and 15+ supers a night! I must be starving my boy giving him just one super a night >.<. He's a bit on the small side, since he doesn't really like any cat food kibble I offer him (unless it is wet mixed up with a cut up super!), he won't eat cat food dry and will only eat his hedgehog food dry which he's always eaten and that's actually high in fibre (13% ~ so is this perhaps a lot of fibre with the supers too if I increase to 2-5 a night?!) He only eats about 1-2 teaspoons of the hedgie food nowadays and the rest is cat food wet mixed and that has lower fibre) but the ingredients in the hedgie food is so poor, I'm desperate to get him off it, since he doesn't seem to like it all that much, but more so than cat food.
> 
> I actually read some older threads recently about your bioactive vivs and found it so interesting! Would love to do this one day but I'm a new owner and not very experienced so learning little by little, same with the raw diet. I'd prefer to give him insects and a raw diet but he won't eat anything else I offer ><


Glad to hear you found them interesting!

Wax worms are quite fatty so I only give them to my thinnest hogs and others get them occasionally. Can you get dubia roaches over there? They're great feeders, nutrition-wise.


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

Yea she's had watermelon before and she ate all 7 crickets which I've given her 10 before and she was fine. And she only ate 3 of the 5 mealies I gave her. But she loves watermelon so much and I noticed she was eating a lot of her food at once and she ate like all of the crickets and watermelon at once because I guess she was extra hungry and it may have upset her stomach a little.


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

I think she just ate to fast because she was excited to eat that night for whatever reason and she had a little diarrhea. It wasn't bad it was just like really soft and a light brown. Not green or anything. But I gave her the watermelon tonight because she hasn't been drinking enough and I don't know why. And I'm about to transition her to new food in 3 days because the food she is on now isn't good from the breeder. But I'm gonna give her a foot bath later and she always poops when I bathe her and I'll see if her poops are ok now. I just canted figure out why she isn't drinking enough because I know the first few weeks I had her she would drink all of it or at least almost all. Now she drinking a little the past 3 or 4 nights. Is that normal? Her pee isn't bright yellow like I've seen it before because I've been giving her foods with water in them.


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

Also she is 3 months old starting tomorrow


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

Oh and I just noticed that last night she drank a little more then half the bowl! Yay!!


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## Hedgielovers12 (Jul 25, 2017)

I just bathed her and her poops are normal again yay


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

Draenog said:


> Glad to hear you found them interesting!
> 
> Wax worms are quite fatty so I only give them to my thinnest hogs and others get them occasionally. Can you get dubia roaches over there? They're great feeders, nutrition-wise.


I've actually just created a new post, since my boy has put on quite a lot of weight since increasing his insect intake a little ><. I went to a reptile and exotic animal convention last weekend and managed to get some dubia roaches!  I picked small size ones as the bigger ones creep me out a little especially the ones with wings haha! But to be honest I didn't realise how fast they were :shock: so I don't know how best to feed them? My boy is currently in a wired cage so I can't let them go freely in there as would definitely escape and I think they are too fast for him to catch as well lol. Would freezing them be ok and thawing them out as and when needed? I can't wait to upgrade his cage to a viv and attempt to do bioactive! ^^


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## hedgehoglover4321 (Jul 29, 2021)

dont feed more than 4 mealworms a week because its sorta like candy to them and can cause issues with their bones and teeth








Are Mealworms OK For Hedgehogs? (What You Must Know) | Pet Hedgehogs


You can feed hedgehogs mealworm but you must be very careful as mealworms can be harmful if fed too regularly as they can cause Metabolic Bone Disease, leading to the hedgehog having dental problems and weakening of their bones as the calcium is leached out by the phosphorous in the mealworms.




africanpygmyhedgehogs.com


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## hedgehoglover4321 (Jul 29, 2021)

Yukidama's mama said:


> Great, thanks for the insect info Draenog!
> 
> Oh wow, 30+ mealies and 15+ supers a night! I must be starving my boy giving him just one super a night >.<. He's a bit on the small side, since he doesn't really like any cat food kibble I offer him (unless it is wet mixed up with a cut up super!), he won't eat cat food dry and will only eat his hedgehog food dry which he's always eaten and that's actually high in fibre (13% ~ so is this perhaps a lot of fibre with the supers too if I increase to 2-5 a night?!) He only eats about 1-2 teaspoons of the hedgie food nowadays and the rest is cat food wet mixed and that has lower fibre) but the ingredients in the hedgie food is so poor, I'm desperate to get him off it, since he doesn't seem to like it all that much, but more so than cat food.
> 
> I actually read some older threads recently about your bioactive vivs and found it so interesting! Would love to do this one day but I'm a new owner and not very experienced so learning little by little, same with the raw diet. I'd prefer to give him insects and a raw diet but he won't eat anything else I offer ><


try to mix the cat food with the diet it might like that


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