Can Hedgehogs Eat Pinkies?

Several first-time hedgie owners look for ways to give their quill baby a treat. A regular visitor recently asked, “Can hedgehogs eat pinkies?” This is something that is hotly debated in the hedgehog groups. There are hedgie owners that are firmly for it or against it. For those first time hedgie owners that wonder about giving pinky mice to their hedgie, let's see what Quilly has to say about it.

Hey hedgie fans!

In case you’ve never seen my channel before, my name is Quilly. And I answer your questions about hedgehogs.

I do have to warn you that the content of this episode is very graphic and may not be appropriate for small children or anyone that is squeamish.

Recently, Mark from Arizona wrote and asked, “Can hedgehogs eat pinkies?”

The pinkies that he’s talking about is pinky mice. Pinkies are baby mice that are about the diameter of the pinky on your hand. You can often find them at pet shops that sell feeder insects and other protein for reptiles.

So can us hedgehogs eat pinkies? You bet we can! But like many other things, each hedgehog has their own preference.

In the video background, I thought I would share my reaction to my very first taste of pinkies. Yep, that’s me! I had great fun sniffing it out and hunting for it. And as you can tell, I REALLY enjoyed it!

But my human says that I can’t have them on a regular basis because there’s no sure way to know the nutritional value of anything that isn’t manufactured.

So pinkies might be bad for hedgehogs? Yes and No. Like with any good thing done in excess, it can become a bad thing.

Pinky mice have different diets depending on the breeder who raised the mice. Also, depending on when they are harvested, they may be high in fat. Fuzzies is what they call pinkies with peach fuzz fur beginning to grow. Thry can be as high as 15% fat!

Some people think feeding a hedgehog pinkies is harmful. If you don’t know the source of your pinkies, then it’s possible that your hedgie may be getting passed parasites from the pinkies. But eating healthy pinkies from a reliable source in moderation is not going to hurt your hedgie.

Is it morally wrong to feed pinkies to hedgehogs? That is something that each hedgie owner has to decide from their own perspective.

My human looks at it this way: in the wild, a hedgehog would eat other smaller mammals that it encountered. And humans themselves eat livestock mammals like cows, pigs, and chickens. And there are some that eat cute little lambs and deer too.

So, can hedgehogs eat pinkies? I say yes!

Should hedgehogs eat pinkies? It’s not absolutely necessary but could provide a great treat for them and can be mentally stimulating if turned into a hunting expedition.

Thanks for asking this question Mark so other hedgie owners can learn about feeding pinkies to their hedgehogs.

If you want to learn about hedgehogs, you can leave a comment below or write me on my website.

If you learned anything from this video, please comment, like, and subscribe.

Until next time….bye for now!

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