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Herby Hedgehog needs help... (1 Viewer)

scampo

Steve Campsall
We found a beautiful and fairly young-looking hedgehog in our garage last weekend. It was the highlight of an otherwise pretty poor weekend mostly spent tending an ill father-in-law. Isn't it wonderful how wildlife can lift you and help you put worries into perspective?

Anyway, he (?) was sleeping in the vent tube that comes from our tumble drier and had managed to chew sufficient plastic away from beyond his chosen position to allow the warm air to escape and yet still leave him very comfy - warm air central heating? I did have a vision of switching it on and seeing a hedgehog fire out of the end, but no.

We put some cat food out and he delicately ate the lot; then we carefully removed the whole vent pipe along with hedgehog to a yard wide space at the rear of our garage (very sheltered but in the open) and put him under a weighted down upturned plastic crate along with some straw. We've fed him daily since by slipping a saucer under the crate. We've been using a mixture of dried and tinned cat food, along with food scraps and fat.

Can anyone advise if we are doing the right thing for him - for his health and longevity? The crate is propped up just sufficiently to allow a small enough gap for him to crawl under but it is, in itself, only a foot high and I was wondering if that allowed sufficient depth to keep him warm enough during his hibernation over the winter? The area is surrounded on three sides by the garage wall and two garden fences.
 
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if it isnt injured in any way, walking ok, eating and drinking fine, i think the little hedehog was just trying to find a winter hideaway. aslong as you dont disturb him/her too much, it will probaly be welcome of the bed and board!
 
salty said:
if it isnt injured in any way, walking ok, eating and drinking fine, i think the little hedehog was just trying to find a winter hideaway. aslong as you dont disturb him/her too much, it will probaly be welcome of the bed and board!
Thanks for replying. He wasn't injured and, as you say, seemed happy in the dry and warm garage - but he could only get in when the door was left open which isn't often enough, we thought.

We don't even know if he's using the upturned crate - or even if it is him eating the food as we haven't seen him since moving him outside.
 
I had to laugh at the " he delicately ate the lot" bit, I had a hedgehog last year and I fed him on cat food and delicate he wasn't. I kept mine indoors for a couple of days while getting rid of the horrible ticks he had, then I let him go, I think you are doing the best you can so good luck.

Mick
 
Thanks, Mick. We kept away from him a bit because of the ticks. A friend's dog became covered in hedgehog fleas and ticks we heard. To be honest though, we found plenty of hedgehogs as kids and I don't ever remember having any flea bites from them.

The biggest surprise for me was many years ago hearing for the first time what for all the world was a pig in the back garden, only to see a hedgehog snorting around. What an amazing sound from so small an animal.
 
Have just stumbled across this thread, as I was about to post one about a hedgehog, so will carry on instead of starting a new one! I have been feeding a hedgehog here for about three months now. I put out a dish of Bakers Meaty Chunks, cut up into small bits (my dog has them as a treat, she only has dried food otherwise) He has been devouring these every night, I put them under a chair in my front porch and have often opened the door to put the dish out to find him/her already there waiting!

So I thought I would look on the st tiggywinkles website to see when they will hibernate and was quite surprised to learn that they only do so when there is no food around and temperatures make the ground frozen so they can't forage. So I am wondering if what I am giving will mean mine won't hibernate. Still we shall see.

Last night I looked out of my kitchen window very late (about 11.45pm) because I thought damn, I forgot to sweep up a heap of spilled wild bird seed that fell out of a feeder earlier (my food dustbins are there) and saw my little spiky friend busy eating this! So this morning, I found he had left some of his Bakers, must have been full up with corn and sunflower seeds!
 
songbird said:
Last night I looked out of my kitchen window very late (about 11.45pm) because I thought damn, I forgot to sweep up a heap of spilled wild bird seed that fell out of a feeder earlier (my food dustbins are there) and saw my little spiky friend busy eating this! So this morning, I found he had left some of his Bakers, must have been full up with corn and sunflower seeds!
Hi - I wasn't even sure it was the hedgehog eating the food we were putting out, although we slip it under the inverted crate we put out for him. However, last night, armed with a torch, we had a look and, sure enough, there he was eating his supper. We put mostly cat food out as that was recommended, both canned and dry, but I've put an apple and bits out as well, along with as much fat as we get hold of from left overs. He seems to be thriving on it.

I read that they need to add a lot of weight on before they hibernate - the amount ours is eating, that should be no problem.
 
I think the crate should be fine - a few years ago we bought a hedgehog home, said to be suitable for hibernation, and it was quite small. It had a triangular cross section and was much lower than your milk crate - though I think the instructions said we should pile leaves on top of it, to increase the insulation.
 
As long as the hedgehog is 600g or heavier I am sure it will be fine
My Avatar is a picture of a small hedgehog I found a few weeks ago, it wasn't very well and was less than 200g, after a trip to the vets and lots of food it was soon a lot better and has now gone off to spend the winter in a hedgehog "care" home!
 
Thanks for the advice, Elizabeth and Gwynn. I shall pile leaves and twigs on top, I think, it will look a bit better, too! He's eating well - in fact he eats all we provide. He looks about the same size as your photo, Gwynn.
 
I thought you might like this picture of the hedgehog I found, it shows how well the can climb up a fly screen door!
 

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Hee, bless! He looks like my hamster! A friend of mine found a hedgehog wandering in the road, and wanted one for the garden, and fed it and made a fenced off bit of the garden to keep it, but it got out! They didn't know they can climb. :-O
 
Gwynn said:
I thought you might like this picture of the hedgehog I found, it shows how well the can climb up a fly screen door!
I didn't know they could climb either! But then until I saw a pair in the wild I didn't know tortoises could run - and fast!
 
scampo said:
I didn't know they could climb either! But then until I saw a pair in the wild I didn't know tortoises could run - and fast!

Have you seen a hedgehog run? It's really funny, they kind of lift their bodies up to about 6 inches above the ground, their little legs must be like Twizzle (showing my age) and then boy can they motor!
 
helenol said:
Treat him, give him some mealworms. Go on....
There were two very large slugs roaming about his hutch the other evening. I think I know where they are now, Helen. His hutch is right next to our compost bin, too, so I think he'll find plenty of tasty morsels there.
 
songbird said:
Have you seen a hedgehog run? It's really funny, they kind of lift their bodies up to about 6 inches above the ground, their little legs must be like Twizzle (showing my age) and then boy can they motor!
Same as tortoises, then! Twizzle... now that's a very odd thing. I've been trying for years to remember that programme. I remember a puppet show when I was no more than five years old. I think it was on BBC that had what for me were rather frightening looking figures of, if I remember a king, a queen and a cobbler? I had convinced myself it was Torchy - but, I think it might have been Twizzle. I wonder if there's anything on the Internet about it?
 
scampo said:
I didn't know they could climb either!

They can climb up very well but often seem to use the gravity method to get down!! but there spines do work very well as shock absorbers
 
Gwynn said:
They can climb up very well but often seem to use the gravity method to get down!! but there spines do work very well as shock absorbers
We have two cats, too, Gwynn - so I expect those spines are more than useful!
 
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