Hedgehog Help!

[MrInbetween]

Can anyone remember the Mumsnet Hedgehog experts name?

There is a little hedgehog in our garden, not running away from us. Just gave it some dog food and water, he’s/she’s (?) gone into a bush now.

But at what point should they have gone into hibernation? It’s gone from being so mild to bloody freezing here. It looked like it was breathing rapidly.

My DD was all for bringing it in but I am worried it’s too early?

Will go out tomorrow night to check again.

Good luck @Tiddlydeetiddlydum

It worked! Many thanks!

Good morning hedgehog parents!

How are we all doing? Hope all your little hoggies are doing ok and came through the storm. It was quite bad by us.

On the way to the supermarket yesterday myself and my DP discovered a little hog out during the day. We quickly sprung into action and got little hoggie home where they are now in the conservatory. Food, water and bedding have all been accepted and I am happy to report that we made it through the night and 'spike' is now curled up in his bedding - snoring! DP went back and had a good look in the area for any others.

They are very underweight, just over 450g, so it looks like we will have our little additional member of the family over the winter. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to release them in spring of next year.

I have spoken to the local Hedgehog sanctuary and although they are full to bursting, they were glad that we were able to take in 'spike' and have offered us any help and support we may need.

I have also let our local community group know (we littler pick the area every couple of months) and a plan is starting to be put together to build a couple of shelters and hide them in the bushes (away from the kids). We will be trying to get the local authority on board and the hedgehog sanctuary are willing to help as well.

I'm sorry for hijacking your thread @MrInbetween but I thought this is a lovely thread where we could all come and share our hoggie stories and even some photos.

Good luck everyone!!

So good that you are able to assist your local rescue most are fit to bursting.

Are they checking a sample for parasites given the hog was out in the day?

Not sure where you are but most rescues release through winter now as hogs put weight on quickly with support feeding.

Good luck!

@Hedgehogsaremyjam thank you for your reply 😁
I am currently waiting for a person to pop over from the local Hedgehog sanctuary to take a sample, check out the set up for our little friend and give us any additional help and support moving forward. They even offered to bring food but we've been recently adopted by the local stray, so have plenty in.

Poor thing only weighs just under 250grams - going get some kitten food later if that's what the sanctuary suggests.

Fingers crossed everything is okay.

That sounds great.

Any issues or questions at any point please shout. I can send you details of the Facebook group I run if that helps and you want more support

@Dobbyatemysocks highjack away!

Due to stupidly busy weekend not managed to do hog feeding station 😫

Not seen Hoggy Pog for a few nights but food gone I have put out but that of course could be the neighbourhood 🐱

My hedgehog is back!! The food has disappeared for three nights in a row!🤗🤗🤗 we created a shelter for the food and water out of an old pallet - it’s not perfect but it saves the food being totally ruined when it rains - son has further improvements in mind 🤣🤣

@MrInbetween Thank you and that's great news about your little hoggy.

Unfortunately, our little spike was very unwell and underweight. He weighed in at just under 250g. The man from the sanctuary explained that due to the weather we've had this year there are alot of 2nd births and that's the reason they are being inundated with lots of underweight hoggies. We tried everything, but sadly our little spike passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning. We were all very upset.

The gentleman that the sanctuary sent round was really impressed with 'how we had sprung into action' for our little friend and the set up we had in place. He already knew us as this was the sanctuary that we had already reached out to in the past (we have another friend who volunteers with them) when we adopted, or was rather we were adopted by the local stray cat.

The other news I have to share is that this morning we have received a phonecall from the lady who runs the sanctuary to ask if we would be willing to help with their adoption scheme. This is where you care for healthy underweight hoggies that will not survive the winter if placed back in the wild. You look after and care for them and then the hoggies are released back into the wild during the milder weather in the spring. We would be required to complete checks, paperwork and training but would have full help and support to do this. We have done other fostering/helping/volunteering etc most of our lives, so we are going to discuss it and hopefully start the ball rolling tonight when we get the paperwork dropped off.

DP is great with woodworking and I will post a picture later of the outdoor shelter he made using an old pallet, some battening and pond liner.

Good luck everyone 💕💕

@Dobbyatemysocks oh no! I’m sorry that sounds like a tough weekend.

Great news however about you becoming a hoggy adopter!!! How exciting.

@MrInbetween It was, but we tried our best. I know it sounds a bit daft, he was warm, comfortable and cared for at the end.

Yes, it is exciting and I now have to bribe DP with his favourite peanut butter cake to get him to build a few more of these 😁

This shelter was made using a pallet, battening and pond liner. The lid comes off for ease of access for food. As you can see from the sawdust, DP had only just finished this as an outdoor shelter for the stray cat. It's similar to the other shelter he made at our old house, that's why I'm posting the pics. It took him an afternoon to make and then he stained it to stop it rotting.