# hedgehog eats hay?



## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

I recently got my pet hedgie not to long ago and i bought him a hay hut as a place to hide in. The other night though I had just finished spending time with him and put him in his cage when he decided to pull a piece of hay off and eat it.. is it ok for them to have hay? i can't find anything about this on the internet because people just say that hedgehog don't like hay but mine seems to..


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

They don't eat hay. When I got Litchi back then, there was lots of informating (breeder, fench language website, books) saying I should give hay. I did but Litchi never touched it and I remember Nancy telling me not to botter with hay.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

If he just pulled a tiny bit off and nibbled at it, I wouldn't worry too much. It's not going to hurt him, and there's no way that he's going to make an effort to eat a significant amount of it. A hedgie eating hay is like a human eating hay. Not gonna hurt you, but totally not a realistic food source or very nutritious.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

Actually Lizardgirl hay is very nutritious and a great source of food for herbavores (cows, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc). Not only does it keep their digestive systems flowing it also helps keep rodents teeth filed down so they don't get maloclusion. 

However, hedgehogs are not rodents or herbivores. Their teeth do not continuously grow and they don't just eat plants (and some fruits and veggies). Hay is not beneficial for them and can be a hazard. They can choke on it or get a serious eye injury by being poked by the hay. Not a good choice for hedgie homes. Plastic igloos are a better choice or even a shoe box with fleece strips.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Exactly. It's not nutritious for_ hedgehogs_, which is what I was talking about.


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

Thanks very much guys for clearing this up for me. I will take it out of his cage and put something else in instead. It wasn't just a one time thing he keeps doing it. i guess he just likes to nibble on it sometimes.. thanks though!


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