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As insectivores, hedgehogs need a diet that is high in protein and low in fat. They also require chitin, which comes from the exoskeleton of insects; fiber in the diet may be a substitute for the chitin component. There are prepared foods specifically for pet hedgehogs and insectivores, including foods made from insect components.
Hedgehogs sleep for a large portion of the day under bushes, grasses, rocks, or most commonly in dens dug underground. All wild hedgehogs can hibernate, though the duration depends on temperature, species, and abundance of food. Hedgehogs are fairly vocal, with a variety of grunts, snuffles and/or squeals.
The hedgehog is also hunted by humans as a source of food. [7] Living hedgehogs are useful to humans and many human practices are beneficial to hedgehogs. Many of these hedgehogs live in suburban gardens in areas of southern Africa where they are beneficial to humans through eating some of the pests that can hurt crops in peoples gardens. [3]
Female four-toed hedgehogs do not go into estrus during any particular season, and are fertile throughout the year, although mating is most common during the rainy season, when food is most abundant. The female typically gives birth to a single litter each year, which may contain from two to ten hoglets, with four or five being most typical.
The long-eared hedgehog is an insectivore; 70% of its diet consists of insects, with some worms and a tiny amount of slugs and snails. The idea that these animals eat only slugs and snails is a myth; this type of food makes up only about 5% of their natural diet. The breakdown of a wild hedgehog's diet is as follows: 30% beetles, 25% ...
Hedgehogs are most abundant within the gardens, parks and amenity land close to or within human settlements. [28] They are generally scarce in areas of coniferous woodland , marshes and moorland , probably because of a lack of suitable sites and materials for the construction of winter nests (or hibernacula), which have specific requirements.
Eulipotyphla (/ ˌ j uː l ɪ p oʊ ˈ t ɪ f l ə /, from eu-+ Lipotyphla, meaning truly lacking blind gut; [1] sometimes called true insectivores [2]) is an order of mammals comprising the Erinaceidae (hedgehogs and gymnures); Solenodontidae (solenodons); Talpidae (moles, shrew-like moles and desmans); and Soricidae (true shrews) families.
Like most hedgehogs, the southern white-breasted hedgehog's habitat ranges from deciduous forests to parks and gardens. Their diet is the same as well, consisting mostly of insects, slugs, snails, and worms. They also prey upon toxic beetles which they happen to be immune to.