@Logan4 it's 100g in a pouch. I couldn't be sure it's only one hedgehog as once he has eaten a bit he goes under the log store. A different hog could be coming back out! Although last night one hog spent ages at the bowl and ate nearly the whole lot.
My hog last night came back three times in an hour as I sat and watched it. The camera showed this one ( I think) around from 9pm till 5.30am. I do have two regulars at the moment , both babies but one bigger than the other. So it's quite possible it was one hog. On a programme I watched it stated a hog needs to fill its belly three times a night!
@emerb, if you're worried about over feeding, you could just put out half a pouch and then keep the rest in the fridge for the following night. That's what l do if l'm not sure if any hogs are going to turn up. Earlier this year when l had regular visitor(s), the first arrival would scoff the lot so if it was early enough l would put more out later in the evening before l went to bed. Unfortunately we have had no hedgehogs in the back garden for several weeks, and only one seen in the front garden about a fortnight ago. At least they're still around somewhere though !
@emerb i agree with @AnniD ,i put dry puppy food out and sometimes it would all be gone but if it's been raining they find natural food to eat. Sometimes i get 2 in the feeding station at the same time and the food is all over the place. I get 2 smallish ones and a big one. One night i think that they were altogether in there and the feeding station had been moved quite a bit.
I think it's unusual for hedgehogs to overeat @Big Blue Sky. This subject came up on the Hedgehog Street forum a few months back, and this was one of the replies from someone who runs a hedgehog rescue.
"I’m very well aware of what their feeding habits are having worked with these animals both in a rescue capacity and a research capacity for many years. Yes, the food put out for them is supplementary but given the ridiculous weather we are having these days often there is very little natural food for them to eat especially when that is coupled with gardeners spraying and poisoning every living thing in their garden. Often all that is left are slugs, slugs give them lungworm and lungworm kills.
Putting food out all year round allows the hogs to come and get it when they need it. This is especially important during the winter when many of them hibernate without enough reserves to take them right through the winter, they will come out to eat after using remaining energy to wake up. They are in dire straits if they have to walk huge distances trying to forage with no guarantee of any food at the end of it.
The programme recently, and the report in the papers about hogs being overweight was based on an observation of a single wildlife rescue with no research backing it up. Some hedgehogs were coming in early in the year larger than we would normally expect to see but they were not overweight, they were still able to fully curl. This is far more likely to be due to two warm winters where they did not hibernate at all but were able to carry on foraging."
That’s what I thought @AnniD - when I put out food for the hedgehogs they would always leave some food behind. So they seem to be managing their calories intake better than I do 🤔
I'm trying to feed up the young hog visiting at the moment so he / she has a chance through the winter. They have two feeding stations which they visit and currently leaving some every day which I bring in during daylight hours. I therefore agree with the view that they do not overeat (certainly not to a degree to cause any issues).
Talking about how much food they eat..... Last night had the camera on the food station, from 9pm till 6am had regular visits. The biggest hog, that I hadn't seen for over a week, came first and last thing to eat and drink. The other adult, again hadn't seen this one for some time, came first thing to eat, this is the adults regular pattern. The babies that seem to be out all night in the garden again visited either the food or water nearly every hour, but this time saw two of the same size eating together. This means the small baby was missing last night, hope it's ok. As there is still plenty of food left they must be just topping up each time ( I do see them rooting around in the garden and eating something they find) so my not using bug killers in the garden and letting nature work for itself means there is wild food for them.😁
A cute one this morning from my local rescue . Bradley is being treated for ringworm, because of it being round his legs as well as his back he has a bath instead of a shower. He "walks" in the bath rather than curling up, so the treatment reaches his legs. I just love his expression - "Am l done now ?"
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this is so sweet.
"I’m very well aware of what their feeding habits are having worked with these animals both in a rescue capacity and a research capacity for many years. Yes, the food put out for them is supplementary but given the ridiculous weather we are having these days often there is very little natural food for them to eat especially when that is coupled with gardeners spraying and poisoning every living thing in their garden. Often all that is left are slugs, slugs give them lungworm and lungworm kills.
Putting food out all year round allows the hogs to come and get it when they need it. This is especially important during the winter when many of them hibernate without enough reserves to take them right through the winter, they will come out to eat after using remaining energy to wake up. They are in dire straits if they have to walk huge distances trying to forage with no guarantee of any food at the end of it.
The programme recently, and the report in the papers about hogs being overweight was based on an observation of a single wildlife rescue with no research backing it up. Some hedgehogs were coming in early in the year larger than we would normally expect to see but they were not overweight, they were still able to fully curl. This is far more likely to be due to two warm winters where they did not hibernate at all but were able to carry on foraging."
Last night had the camera on the food station, from 9pm till 6am had regular visits. The biggest hog, that I hadn't seen for over a week, came first and last thing to eat and drink. The other adult, again hadn't seen this one for some time, came first thing to eat, this is the adults regular pattern.
The babies that seem to be out all night in the garden again visited either the food or water nearly every hour, but this time saw two of the same size eating together. This means the small baby was missing last night, hope it's ok.
As there is still plenty of food left they must be just topping up each time ( I do see them rooting around in the garden and eating something they find) so my not using bug killers in the garden and letting nature work for itself means there is wild food for them.😁