It’s a wonderful thing that every pet owner wants to provide their animals with the greatest food possible. Pets cannot forage for food on their own, so you must feed them a range of foods that will both satisfy their appetite and supply them with the nourishment they require.
You may question if hedgehogs enjoy bananas if you want to draw these adorable animals to your garden. Bananas are one of the world’s most popular fruits, but can hedgehogs eat bananas?
Hedgehogs can eat bananas on occasion. Hedgehogs enjoy fresh bananas. Dried banana chips should be avoided. Hedgehogs love different fruits, such as apples, melons, and berries. Do not feed them banana peels or any black bits of the banana. The banana must be mashed before serving. Let’s tackle this complex point!
What Are Bananas?
A banana is an edible fruit produced by a variety of large herbaceous flowering plants. The fruit varies in size, color, and hardness, but it is usually elongated and curved. When fully ripe, bananas can be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown.
The term “banana” is also widely used to describe the plants that produce the fruit. Despite being native to Southeast Asia, bananas are widely available because they can grow anywhere as long as the weather is warm. As long as the soil is at least 60 cm deep, has enough drainage, and is not compacted, bananas may thrive in a wide range of soil types.
Despite being native to Southeast Asia, bananas are widely available because they can grow anywhere as long as the weather is warm. People have grown this tropical fruit for over a century due to its nutritional value. Bananas are also a tasty and useful source of several key nutrients. Because they are inexpensive and widely accessible, they are great choices for anybody looking for a nutritious, sweet fruit.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Bananas?
Hedgehogs can eat bananas in moderation. Bananas should be a rare, infrequent treat rather than a mainstay in their diet. When feeding bananas to hedgehogs, ensure sure they are mashed to prevent choking hazards. The best technique I’ve discovered to feed hedgehogs bananas is outside on a little dish. Eating bananas may be messy, but having the hedgehog put the food on a plate might help them with their table manners.
A hundred grams of bananas have around 100 calories and 12% sugar. A banana of average size weighs around 118g. A tenth of a banana will only provide your hedgehog with about 12 calories, which won’t satisfy their hunger and will still encourage them to search for other things.
Nutritional Value Of Bananas
While bananas are tasty and handy, their true worth lies in their nutritional composition. They are an excellent source of potassium, manganese, and vitamins B6 and C, among other important minerals. These nutrients are found in 118 grams of fresh, medium-sized bananas.
| Name | Raw Overripe Banana’s Quantity |
|---|---|
| Water | 78.3 gm |
| Fat | 0.22 gm |
| Sugars | 15.8 gm |
| Vitamin B-6 | 0.234 mg |
| Vitamin C | 9.7 mg |
| Fiber | 1.7 gm |
| Starch | 0.41 gm |
| Calcium | 5 mg |
| Phosphorus | 22 mg |
Are Bananas Good for Hedgehogs?
Bananas are nutritious fruits with several benefits for hedgehogs. An average banana is low in fat and includes antioxidants, vitamins, and phytonutrients. However, the nutritious advantages of bananas may be offset by the possible damage from their high sugar content.
As a result, bananas should only be given to hedgehogs in tiny quantities. Ripe bananas have a higher glycemic index, which can rapidly increase blood sugar levels. You may be startled when you learn that hedgehogs may get diabetes, which can be caused by bananas. It is preferable to feed hedgehogs unripe bananas.
However, they come with their own set of issues. They are more difficult to digest and must be completely mashed. Furthermore, their high fiber content might cause digestive issues like diarrhea or constipation. This is especially true if the hedgehog is not properly hydrated, so always provide a dish of water while providing bananas.
Some people like to give hedgehogs dried cat biscuits. However, they do contain a lot of fiber. Check the packaging to determine how much fiber the biscuits contain. If it is greater than 5%, introducing bananas into the hedgehog’s diet may be a bad choice.
Health Risks Of Bananas For Hedgehogs
Although bananas include several nutrients that are essential for hedgehog health and well-being, they also contain certain substances that, if ingested in excess, might be hazardous to hedgehogs.
Pet hedgehogs are notorious for rapidly becoming fat if they consume the incorrect foods. This is because they do not burn as many calories as wild hedgehogs, who are constantly on the move and must seek and scrounge for food. This suggests that you should use caution while feeding your hedgehog meals heavy in fat and sugar.
Dried bananas have more carbohydrates than fresh bananas, which generally include roughly 20% of their carbohydrate weight in the form of water. When feeding hedgehogs, always make sure they have a well-balanced diet. Having a carbohydrate-rich diet as their major food source might lead to health issues.
Due to their high sugar content, bananas should only be fed to hedgehogs in moderation. Hedgehogs become increasingly prone to diabetes when they consume sugary meals. Hedgehogs require calcium and phosphorus as important nutritional ingredients in their diet. Calcium helps in bone production, whereas phosphorus promotes healthy kidneys, muscles, blood vessels, and bones.
Although ingesting phosphorus-rich foods can provide several health benefits to hedgehogs, they can also inhibit the body from absorbing calcium if the diet contains insufficient phosphorus and carbon. As a result, it is critical to feed your hedgehog foods high in calcium and low in phosphorus.
The ideal hedgehog diet should have a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of 2:1 to 1:1. Bananas are a below-standard fruit for hedgehogs since they provide just 5 milligrams of calcium and 22 milligrams of phosphorus per 100 grams.
What Types Of Bananas Can Hedgehogs Eat?
Bananas are one of the fruits that may be consumed in a variety of ways. Other animals enjoy banana peels; others prefer banana chips; others prefer the soft, delicate fruit beneath; while yet some only eat dry and hard bananas.
Let’s look at these bananas and see which ones a hedgehog may consume safely.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Raw Bananas?
Bananas do not need to be cooked before being served to hedgehogs. Hedgehogs may consume bananas in their natural state as long as the peel is removed and a little bit is mashed.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Unripe Bananas?
Hedgehogs may eat unripe bananas if they are mashed before feeding. Unripe bananas have less sugar than ripe ones. Unfortunately, unripe bananas have more starch than ripe bananas, which might be damaging to your hedgie. Hedgehogs cannot digest starch in the same way that humans do, resulting in stomach pains.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Dried Bananas?
Drying is the process of eliminating moisture via mass and heat transfer under regulated circumstances. It is one of the most traditional methods for preserving banana fruits since it is simple, easy to produce, and inexpensive. Sugar is plentiful in dried bananas, even more than in the typical banana slice. This is because the banana’s water content decreases while its sugar content increases throughout the drying process.
It is dangerous for a hedgehog to ingest this highly concentrated sugar because of the hazards associated. Furthermore, if the banana is unripe when dried, it will contain more starch than if it is fresh. If a hedgehog consumes it, it may cause constipation.
In addition, a hedgehog might choke on a dry banana. This is because when a hedgehog eats a dry banana, the rough edges can easily snag in its tiny throat. For these reasons, it is not recommended to offer dry bananas to your hedgehog.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Banana Chips?
Slices of dried, fried bananas are a popular snack nowadays. These treats are called “banana chips.” Banana chips are much more processed than ripe bananas, and they are typically fried in oil before being mixed with honey or syrup.
These methods increase the calorie, sugar, and fat content of banana chips. Although this food contains fiber and a few vitamins and minerals, the high fat, calorie, and sugar load outweighs any potential nutritional advantages.
Banana chips are frequently fried in oil to provide a crispy texture. Manufacturers commonly utilize coconut or sunflower oil in this method. A single cup of banana chips (72 grams) has 24 grams of fat on average, 21 of which are saturated. Because of their high-fat content, banana chips include a significant number of additional calories.
For instance, a medium banana contains over 250% fewer calories per serving than the same number of banana chips. Some banana chips are covered in honey or syrup, which greatly raises the sugar content of the snack. For these reasons, it is not suggested to give your hedgehog banana chips.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Banana Skins?
It is not advised to feed your hedgehog banana peels. Banana peels include a small amount of protein and antioxidants but have no nutritional benefits. However, banana peels contain less sugar than ripe bananas. Banana skin is also difficult to bite and digest, and it may strangle hedgehogs if swallowed.
Pesticides are another reason you should not give your hedgehog banana peels, as industrial banana growing often uses a large quantity of pesticides. Although the pesticides do not reach the fruit’s edible tissue, they do adhere to the banana’s skin, which is not often consumed. For these reasons, it is preferable to completely dispose of the banana skins and not give them to your hedgehog.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Frozen Bananas?
Hedgehogs may consume frozen bananas as long as they are defrosted and used in a smoothie or ice cream. Hedgehogs cannot eat frozen bananas because they are too hard and can cause choking. Digesting frozen food requires a lot of energy for the hedgehog.
Safe Ways To Feed Bananas To Hedgehogs
The most crucial consideration while feeding hedgehogs is safety. Hedgehogs can defend themselves against adders, bigger birds, badgers, and other predators in the wild. However, they require your assistance to avoid obesity and asphyxiation.
1. Feed in small amounts
The most significant factor in preventing obesity is portion management. In the same manner, people must be conscious of the meals they consume; we must participate in the food intake of animals around. A tenth of a banana is plenty to feed your hedgehog.
2. Feed rarely
Bananas should not be a staple. Hedgehogs do not require such a high sugar intake daily. It’s OK to give bananas as a treat on occasion, but not every day. It could be a good idea to put out some bananas more frequently before the hedgehogs go into hibernation. Before hibernating, hedgehogs aim to accumulate 500g of bulk since they lose 40% of their volume.
3. Feed banana with other foods
Filling the hedgehog’s tummy with bananas is not a good idea. If you feed your hedgie ordinary food, such as kitten kibble, consider mixing it with bananas. You may also feed bananas and apples. You’ll have to feed less of each fruit.
FAQs
Q1. Can hedgehogs eat banana bread?
Hedgehogs should avoid banana bread. Bread does not provide vital nourishment for hedgehogs and will just fill their tummies.
Q2. How do you cut bananas for hedgehogs?
The easiest approach to prepare bananas for your hedgehog is to chop them as small as possible or mash them. Hedgehogs’ lips are tiny and cannot accommodate bigger meals.
Q3. Can hedgehogs eat brown parts of the banana?
Hedgehogs can eat the brown sections of the banana. When apples and pears fall off the trees, hedgehogs favor the withered brown bits.
Q4. Can hedgehogs eat moldy bananas?
Hedgehogs and other animals should not be fed food that contains mold. Mold is harmful to most animals, including hedgehogs. Mold produces spores, which, when breathed, can be detrimental to hedgehogs.
Q5. Can hedgehogs eat banana peels?
Hedgehogs shouldn’t eat banana peels. Pesticides have mostly contributed to this. Banana plantations are some of the most heavily sprayed fruits. Both are treated with insecticides and fungicides.
Conclusion
In final thoughts, You can get all the answers to the question “Can hedgehogs eat bananas?” Although hedgehogs enjoy bananas, they are not necessarily beneficial for them. High sugar levels can cause diabetes and weight gain. The high fiber content might induce digestive issues including constipation and diarrhea.
Hedgehogs may walk through mashed bananas, causing them to adhere to their feet and cause mobility issues. Just make sure to provide bananas to your hedgehog in moderation and never as the primary food source.