If you are planning to add strawberries to your Hedgehog, then hold on first! Is it a safe choice for your Hedgehogs? The answer is yes, strawberries are a safe choice for your Hedgehog but only on occasion not regularly! So mainly, it can not be a regular diet. However, along with a balanced diet, you can give strawberries as a special food. Your Hedgehog will get a chance to explore a new variety of tastes through it!
Table of Contents
What types of Strawberry can a Hedgehog Have?
So you already know strawberries are one of the few fruits that your Hedgehog can have. The Different types of strawberries you can give your spiny friend. Let’s unravel the advantages of various strawberry kinds.
| Types | Benefits |
|---|---|
| Albion | Protein, Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron |
| Alpine | Regulate blood pressure, detoxifies the body, is good for the liver, and vitamin C |
| Honeoye | Bright Glossy, Mouth watering flesh |
| Seascape | Good for heart health, regulates body sugar properly |
| Allstar | Best for disease resistance, promote healthy skin |
| Jewel | Good for skin,Vitamin A, reduces information, potassium |
| Earliglow | Exceptional flavor, full of vitamins, eco friendly |
| Ac Wendy | Low acid |
| Camarosa | Folate, Manganese, magnesium Potassium |
| Tristar | Excellent flavor, sweet aromatic , glossy |
| Ozark beauty | Honey sweet |
Chandler | Intense flavor |
It is difficult for Hedgehogs to digest the vegetables and for this reason, only 20% of plants should be in their diet. Similarly, the Hedgehog diet is mostly associated with their wild food habit. In the wild, they rarely eat any type of fruit. But the fruit that grows on bushes or vines like strawberries can be given to them occasionally. Similarly, you can go for the available strawberries and feed your Hedgehogs. Honeoye is usually the most popular strawberry variety among Hedgehogs and can be found easily.
Things should be kept in mind when choosing Strawberries
Your priority should be the organic one! If you’re feeding the packaged one, the label will inform you about the type of strawberry. Honeoye and Allstar have the most flavourful sweet taste that most Hedgehogs like. However, the mock Indian strawberry may not be liked by them. Besides the taste of the varieties like Earliglow and Tristar also goes well with Hedgehog’s tastebud.
Collecting strawberries from the bush is also a good option. But be careful about the bushes which are mostly in the local area. These types of bushes often come into contact with dogs or bird dropping. Also collecting the strawberries which are grown through chemicals is a big “No”! Any type of chemical pesticide or herbicide is also harmful to your Hedgehogs and can result in metaldehyde and foodborne poisoning. For the packaged one, the label will also show what type of processing the strawberries have gone through. Do check that out before buying the packaged strawberry.
How to Serve Strawberries to Hedgehogs?
After checking all the necessary things, it’s time to prepare the strawberries for your spiny friends. Here are the steps-
- The first step will be cleaning up the strawberries properly. For this, you can use baking soda. Soak the strawberries in baking soda mixed water for 20 minutes. This will help to wash away all the chemicals.
- Then wash the strawberries in clear water, you can also rub the strawberry surface with your finger.
- Cut the green part at the top of the strawberry.
- You want the Hedgehog to consume less cellulose and don’t face any digestive issues. To avoid any type of overloading, cut the strawberries into slices. According to the size of your Hedgehogs, feed the slices to them.
Bonus:
A large Hedgehog can eat ⅔ of the strawberries easily. However, give half-sized strawberry slices to your little Hedgehogs.
How often can I Give Strawberries to Hedgehogs?
Three times a month will be perfect! It also depends on your Hedgehog’s diet but certainly, you cannot give an excessive amount of strawberries. The dried strawberries are not allowed to give in anyway. Those types of strawberries consist of extra sweetness.
Benefits of Strawberries
The body structure of Hedgehogs is not meant to digest food like vegetables and fruits. However, you can feed strawberries safely. But remember, excessive strawberries are absolutely “No” for your Hedgehogs.
However, a moderate amount of strawberries can do wonders for your Hedgehog’s health. Wanna know all the benefits? Keep reading!
- Antioxidants: Antioxidants help to reduce the risk of heart disease in your mammal’s body. Besides, it prevents many other health difficulties.
- Vitamin B: Vitamin B helps to improve the bone health of your spiny pocket pet and maintain metabolic function properly. It also formats the muscles of the quill ball along with maintaining healthy tissue and cells.
- Vitamin C: It supports the bladder health of Hedgehogs and boosts the immune system.
- Low sugar: This is one of the vital reasons why you should go for strawberries. Hedgehogs like to taste sweet foods but excessive sweets can lead them to diabetes and other health problems. Strawberries contain moderate amounts of natural sugar which is good for your spiny pet.
- Minerals: Strawberry contains sodium, calcium, iron, potassium, protein, carbohydrates, and phosphorus. All of these ingredients remains in strawberry in a balanced way which is best for Hedgehogs!
- Dehydration: The amount of calories in strawberries is 23 and it contains around 92% of water. So undoubtedly it can manage the minor dehydration symptoms of your Hedgehogs.
Risk of Strawberries
As we have informed you earlier, vegetables cannot be digested by strawberries easily. So there are some inevitable risks and cons of consuming strawberries. Let me know in detail –
If you give excess strawberries to your Hedgehogs, they will face digestive difficulties. Moreover, you have to stick to the natural one, not the dried strawberries. That is too sweet for them. Let’s not forget, that you can only use strawberries as an occasional fruit. Strawberries cannot be used as a replacement for any other food. You must maintain a prime diet for your Hedgehogs.
Finally, strawberries contain cellulose and this is the thing that is hard to digest for your quill balls. This thing can lead to gastrointestinal issues for your Hedgehogs. So, keep strawberries in Hedgehog’s occasional food list.
Can I give processed Strawberries to Hedgehogs?
Not really. You know that there already are some drawbacks of organic strawberries if you do not give them in a balanced way. Moreover, processed strawberries contain more outer ingredients that are detrimental to your Hedgehog’s health. For example strawberry jelly contains additional sugar, syrup, flavor, fruit pectin, and sometimes citric acid. All these ingredients can lead to health difficulties for Hedgehog. So it’s better to stick with the natural strawberries.
Alternative of Strawberries
Blueberries, raspberries, steamed veggies like spinach, sprouts, Zucchini, and leafy greens can be given to hedgehogs as alternatives to strawberries. A small amount of corn and peas can be a great choice for introducing different tastes. But again, all of these can be given as a treat and occasionally. Here is an entire list of fruits that you give to Hedgehog alternative to strawberries-
| Types | Benefits |
|---|---|
| Banana | Potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C |
Apple | Potassium, calcium, nitrogen magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin B6 |
| Blueberries | Iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, vitamin K |
Honeydew | Flote, vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6, Vitamin A, vitamin K |
Kiwi | potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, and folate |
| Blueberries | Prevent heart disease |
| Watermelon | vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B5, copper |
| Cantaloupe | Niacin, iron, copper, zinc, calcium, choline |
Cherries | Protect heart, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E |
| Papaya | Vitamin C, vitamin B, iron, manganese, zinc |
| Mango | Zinc, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, selenium |
| Raspberries | Iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium |
Hedgehog’s diet contains different types of worms, eggs, and pink mice. Whenever you plan for a perfect staple diet, all fruits and veggies take the backseat and you should emphasize different types of insects and worms.
What can be the perfect diet for Hedgehogs?
The perfect diet of a hedgehog is associated with what they would prefer to eat if they stayed in the wild. The whole thing should be an ideal combination of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Adding supplements will enrich the diet to some extent but make sure the prime diet is nutritious enough. You should calculate and analyze the amount of vitamins, minerals, protein, and other minerals their prime diet contains.
Mealworms and cricket are some of the favorite foods of hedgehogs. You can further go for beetles, waxworms, millipedes, grasshoppers, hornworms, and maggots. If you cannot find them live, go for freeze-dried insects or canned insects.
Bonus:
Try to purchase the insects from a good shop. The outer insects contain bacteria, toxins, or parasites that will be harmful to your Hedgehog’s health.
Conclusion
Hope you have got all the guidelines about whether your Hedgehogs can have strawberries. You just need to maintain the amount and feed strawberries in a balanced way. Make sure, you are not giving much of it. So, without further due, time to make your Hedgehogs happy by introducing new delicious fruits!
FAQ
Can I give green strawberries to Hedgehogs?
Not at all! Hedgehogs like this smooth slightly sweet flavor of ripe strawberries. It will be a wise decision to stick with that.
My hedgehog doesn’t like to eat strawberries. What should I do?
Each of the Hedgehogs has an individual taste bud and food choices. If they don’t like to eat strawberries, don’t force them at all. You can gradually introduce a small amount of strawberries into their diet and find out if they are lining it or not.
Can I feed strawberries frequently to Hedgehogs?
Absolutely no! Don’t feed strawberries frequently to your Hedgehog. They can face extreme digestive issues through this. You certainly don’t want that!
Are strawberries a good choice in an emergency?
A moderate amount of strawberries is a good choice for your Hedgehogs. Give strawberries occasionally. They can explore new tastes. Besides, you can tackle any emergency through it.
Should I feed different fruits to my Hedgehog rather than strawberries?
You can go for different fruits in different months. One month you can feed them strawberries 3 times, the other month you can give them bananas. Through this process, you will also find out which fruit your hedgehogs actually like.
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