A hedgehog one

[serafinarose]

Not sure which section this should go in but wondering if anyone can advise.

There's a hedgehog that lives in my garden which I feed. Last night he was in the middle of the lawn not moving and had lost a fair amount of weight.

Brought him inside and eventually got him to eat and drink. He slept in a towel and has started moving around again.

The emergency vet last night said to take him to the hedgehog rescue centre in the morning but I'm unable to get through to them.

As he is now eating, drinking and moving not sure whether to just keep him in the rest of the day and try and put him out again tonight.

I'll keep trying the centre but in the event I have no luck wondered if any MNers are knowledgable about this sort of thing?

Hi there, thank you for this good deed for a hedgehog friend.

This is exactly the sort of quandary I find myself in, I often have an 'animal in a shoebox' that I'm trying to save.

You mention the rescue centre, have you spoken to Tigglewinkles: www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/ I haven't dealt with them myself, but I know various people who really rate them, and they have 24/7 phone lines.

Bet he was dehydrated, but that's all I can offer

Ooh thanks I'll try tiggywinkles

Yes I think that's probably it @Mumsnut

Can we have some pictures 😊

i miss seeing little hedgehogs around they are adorable we used to feed them and our neighbours would when we were away (they expected to be fed and would push around the saucer if they wanted more)

hope little prickles is feeling much better and can go home soon

If you can join one of the Hedgehog groups on Facebook you stand a chance of getting a connection to a local rescue. They are all completely overrun at this time of year which is probably why the number is ringing out.

there’s a group called Hedgehogs! that’s really good at finding you your local rescue and often the rescue owners are on there abd might be able to squeeze your hog in.

Just to add all hedgehogs have a parasitic load. They can cope well until something tips the balance and then it’s really easy for one of the parasites to take a hold and the hog will get very poorly. We’ve also been in a prolonged drought which isn’t helping them at all.

my advice to anyone interested in caring for their local population is to make a feeding station - which is super easy using just a bog standard plastic trug. Then put good quality kitten biscuits inside, those with protein as the first ingredient such as Purina and Iams and lots of clean fresh water inside and outside. Don’t feed supplementary food such as mealworms as it can cause their bones to deteriorate.

Thanks everyone 💛

I spoke to tigglewinkles just now and they sent me a link to all local centres and said to just keep ringing around because they are all really busy but he does need to be checked.

He's buried himself under towels atm but here's a snap from last night hope it uploads

Awww look at him!

I would keep him safe, watered and fed until you can contact the rehab centre OP if you can?
The lack of food and water caused by this drought will not resolve quickly, and he will probably struggle again very quickly x

Thank you, from another hedgehog lover.

Aww 🥰 he is so cute

I think they are the cutest of our wild animals (though choosing between baby bunnies and baby hedgehogs is impossible)

Is there any update on Sonic's wee pal, Prickles?

Quick update. Basically every centre is full and pushing me from pillar to post. He stayed inside in a cat carrier all day and is eating drinking and moving around normally.

After many telephone calls and emails I moved the carrier outside with the door open so he can go in and out. Just checked and the carrier is empty.

He is always in the garden so I'll be able to keep an eye on him over the next few days and take further action if need be.

Thanks once again for all your input 💐