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Hi Nic. As my regular hog is pretty big, I’ve always assumed he is a male so, as you say, he has hopefully just gone wandering for a while. I only installed the hog house last November – too late for it to be used for hibernation though – and he started using it in late June. He has stayed ever since – I’ve watched him leave the house to feed every night – and he recently took in the extra hay that I’d left out for nesting material. I had a quick look in after he went awol, in case he was in trouble, but he wasn’t there. He’s made a super nest, using the hay, paper and leaves I’d put in, and also feathers, moss and bits of my lavender bush that he’d added himself, so hopefully he or someone else will stay for the winter. Didn’t know about the metabolic bone disease, but I was only leaving out a few mealworms nightly, as I did read that they are quite fatty. However, will now certainly stop using them altogether. I’ve been feeding him small quantities of sunflower seed hearts, chopped peanuts, fruit suet pellets and cat biscuits – he loves the biscuits! Didn’t know what else to try, as I had been feeding chicken flavoured cat food in jelly, but about a month ago he stopped eating this completely. However, will start putting it out again – perhaps the new hog will like it. I live in the suburbs (near a busy road), so I don’t know if there are many hedgehogs in the area, although I did spot two in the garden together this spring and the previous one. Thanks for your advice. I’ve had a look online at Pat Morris’s hedgehog book, and am definitely going to get a copy.