Housing
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Hello folks, I’m a complete newbie to here, as of 5 minutes ago. I have allowed my garden to just run wild over several years until recently. I have now started to work on it. I am building a small workshop in the garden with a view to doing some woodworking and intend to make some hedgehog houses and bird boxes amongst other things. I saw a hog in my garden a couple of weeks ago which gave me the idea to build the houses. What treatment, if any, can I give to the wood so as to protect it from the weather? I know that I can’t use oil based paints but, can I use oiled wood or wax? I saw an advert for some on sale that had been painted with water based paint, is this safe? I have seen the plans for the house with a tunnel but, I have also seen a plan which had a corridor leading to an opening that opened into the bed chamber at the side of the corridor (I hope that makes sense), which is the better design?
I should point out that i have no intention of turning my garden into a RHS show piece, I’m just removing the brambles and docks and most of the nettles. I’m fairly happy to leave the dandelions for the bees.I’d advise not to treat it with anything, and yes it will eventually rot down and you’d need to make a new one, but I feel that will be a lot better for a hedgehogs health.
I have a hedgehog house but not treated with anything, I just put plastic sheeting over the top, and then brash, twigs and leaves, on top of that.
A lot of hedgehog homes that are for sale have roof felting on top, and the roof has a bit of a lip to protect the house from rain.
Best to use untreated wood, and not risk the hedgehogs suffering from toxic fumes.
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