Young Hedgehog Size
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I am just wondering if there are any good resources online that give an indication of the size of young hegdehogs at various stages as they grow to adulthood?
I have seen a couple of smaller hedgehogs in my garden recently but they look too big to be hoglets and don’t appear to be with a parent. So I am assuming they were either born this year and have “left home” or they were born last year and this is their first summer since heading out on their own.
If its helpful I can post some video of them.
When they first leave home they are remarkably tiny, only 2-3 inches long, smaller than a fist. They are SO small that it’s unmistakable that they’re “new” and one’s natural reaction is that they’re too small to be out on their own but they are!
Hi AlanB,
A point worthy of consideration is that hedgehog size can vary hugely – they are unmistakable as tiny tots as Williamc mentions above – but a significant factor is that they do visibly ‘shrink’ when undernourished and can appear more like what you might consider to be a youngster than an adult. once in receipt of regular nourishment they can quickly increase in size and become unrecognisable in a couple of days, doubling in size and becoming altogether rounder shaped.
The coat of spines on the hog can be quite deceptive and cause you to think that a hog is looking quite healthy because of its thickness and muscle tone, but if you watch them move you can see the coat almost looks like its several sizes too big and their legs become very thin. An underweight and struggling hog will form a pinched rugby ball shape when curled up rather than a nice rounder shape. Some will need intervention if they become too thin – so should be taken to hog carers who will help get their fluids back and restart a feeding regime.
I’m guessing that the ones you are seeing are just hogs struggling to find regular food sources – they could be last years youngsters who have managed to survive the winter – including the Beast from the East – to then get hit by this hot / dry spell – not at all ideal for keeping hog numbers up!
Hope that helps.OK hopefully this link will work. Here we have one of the two smaller hedgehogs and a more normal sized adult hedgehog for comparison.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnv7bwu7m7ixig3/Size%20Comparison.mp4?dl=0
Hi AlanB,
Your smaller hog doesn’t look malnourished or thin as such, just smaller as you say. Its hard to judge the relativity of size from the clip – but based on other objects around them they both look to be within the normal adult hog size I would say. I would say though that your larger hog does looks like a bit of a ‘homper hog’. The way he / she moves also suggests a larger sized hog – so perhaps you are just seeing ones at opposite ends of the hog scale which exaggerates their relative sizes?
Noteworthy that homper hog didn’t delay too much in getting into what looks like your feeding station either – less interested in the company – and knew exactly where the food was located?
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