Brambles Pet and Wildlife would like to ensure that members of the public are using only beneficial foods to feed wildlife, in particular hedgehogs.

Many people are still feeding inappropriate foods such as mealworms, peanuts and sunflower hearts to hedgehogs which have been linked to Metabolic Bone Disease due to high phosphorus levels and should be avoided.

Peanuts and seeds can also get lodged in-between teeth and cause dental issues which have been reported at wildlife rescue centres.

Brambles Managing Director and biological scientist Gail Tracey comments: “It’s great that people want to help but sometimes they are doing more harm than good.

"A good quality hedgehog food such as Brambles is all that’s required to supplement a hedgehog’s diet, along with fresh water."

Other foods to avoid feeding hedgehogs are foods with added sugars, honey and dried fruit (which has very high concentrations of sugar) due to dental and cardiovascular issues, and foods with high fat content over 15%, such as suet, which can lead to fatty liver disease.

Leading wildlife hospitals are trying to educate the public about what to feed and what not to feed hedgehogs, which is great, but we still need to do more to get the message across.

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www.bramblespaw.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/BramblesPAW/

Here’s a link to a video by Vale Wildlife re Metabolic Bone Disease in Hedgehogs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBjUhQN4STc&feature=youtu.be