Hedgehog houses and what to feed

Hedgehog Street is the campaign run by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. The feeding rules below are from their feeding page, opened on 14 November 2026. Houses are from their homes page and from their 2025 house sheet, which the homes page links as the build instructions (the PDF at hedgehogstreet.org, “Hedgehog houses updated 2025”).

What they eat anyway

The natural diet they describe is mostly earthworms, ground beetles, caterpillars, earwigs and millipedes. In cold or dry weather those are scarce, which is when a shallow dish of water and a supplement help. The food you put out is extra. It is not their whole diet.

What to put in the dish

Any combination of:

• meat-based wet dog or cat food;
• dry cat or kitten food;
• hedgehog food that resembles pet food and has a high meat content.

Put it in a shallow dish, in a sheltered part of the garden, around sunset. A dish of water as well. Splitting food across more than one spot can reduce fights at the bowl.

Do not give milk. They say hedgehogs are lactose intolerant. Do not give bread. They say it is low in energy and fairly worthless.

Do not put the food inside the house. Supplementary food attracts predators, so they want it at least a couple of metres away. The 2025 sheet repeats that: food or water inside the house can disturb the animal.

Mealworms left on the lawn for birds are a separate problem. The RSPB says clear them by dusk because hedgehog rehabilitators are worried about hedgehogs eating the leftovers. That is not an invitation to use mealworms as a hedgehog staple. Hedgehog Street’s own list is the meat-based foods above.

Cats, foxes and a feeding station

Anything you put out may be eaten by a cat or a fox. Their suggestion is a station that is hard for anything larger than a hedgehog to enter: a piece of pipe, or bricks and a paving slab, or a plastic storage box with a 13 cm square doorway. A shallow water dish at the entrance, or a brick maze inside, is what they say can stop a cat reaching the food. The 13 cm measure is the same one they use for a fence hole. See hedgehog highways.

Cleaning the bowls

Hedgehogs are mostly solitary, but a food bowl draws several of them, and they can pass disease to each other and, possibly, to you. Clean the bowls regularly, and do not wash them with your own plates. Garden Wildlife Health, which they link, has fact sheets. We have not reproduced those sheets.

A place to sleep

The homes page says the best nest is a natural one: a compost heap or a log pile, which also feeds the insects they eat. A messy, quiet corner may be used for hibernation or for young. A bought or built box is optional. They say their champions have put up a large number of boxes; we are not treating that count as a success rate.

If you build one, their 2025 sheet says:

• A simple version is a plastic storage box, planter or milk crate with holes, turned upside down, with an entrance 13 cm by 13 cm, bedding of dry leaves or pet straw, and the rest covered with leaves, soil or grass cuttings.
• A wooden one should be untreated. They like durable UK softwoods such as larch, Douglas fir and red cedar. Do not nail the roof shut, so you can clean it. Do not paint it. The homes page says pre-treated wood can contain chromated copper arsenate (CCA) compounds, which are hazardous to many species.
• A tunnel, in wood or brick, makes it harder for a cat or a predator to reach in. If the box has no tunnel, they say add an internal tunnel or a dividing wall for the same reason.
• Site it in the shade, somewhere quiet, along a boundary, in a back garden. The sheet says houses do best in sheltered spots and within 5 m of the house, and that pets or predators nearby do not, on their evidence, stop a local hedgehog moving in.
• A twig across the entrance tells you if something has passed.
• Clean in March or April, after hibernation and once the animal has left, and before the breeding season. Disturbing a mother can make her abandon her hoglets.

They do not endorse particular shop-bought houses. There has not, they say, been specific research on brands. No product and no price is listed here for that reason.

Injured or ill hedgehogs: they publish 01584 890801 for welfare advice. That number is for them, not for this website.

Can hedgehogs have milk?

No. Hedgehog Street says they are lactose intolerant. Water is the drink.

Can I feed them the birds’ mealworms?

The RSPB wants leftover mealworms cleared by dusk so hedgehogs do not eat them. Hedgehog Street’s feeding page does not list mealworms as the supplement. Use meat-based pet food or a high-meat hedgehog food.

When do I clean the house?

March or April, after hibernation, before breeding, and only once you are sure it is empty. A mother with hoglets should not be disturbed.