Advice on a hedgehog family

[Jojohodge]

Good evening. We have a family of hedgehogs in our garden. We found them three weeks ago in a mower grass box and having done so decided to cover the mower back up and leave them alone but we have a dog and he is going crazy. We decided to take a further look which is now two weeks later as one of the hedgehogs keeps going out the nest during the day and we are worried about him. We aren’t sure if the mother is there with them. On closer inspection tonight we think there are five but no sign of mum in the grass box with them.
The mower is under a plastics sheet and she could be somewhere under that but not inside the grass box. We haven’t seen her at all and we don’t know what to do as we can’t keep them and have tried contacting various people are giving conflicting advice.
This one coming out the nest could be a naughty one. We have weighed it and it’s only 80grams.
There are no places in Sheffield either to rehabilitate them.

[stef]

If they are still alive 2 weeks after you found them then yes mum is still around. Female hogs don’t spend all their time in the nest with the babies, especially as they get older as it get’s too hot for them, but she will be nearby.
At 80gms the babies are getting a good size and often one will get curious and wander out of the nest – usually a boy hog – and it’s often they get killed or injured so keeping an eye is a good idea and popping it back.
However, other than that please try to leave them alone as much as possible.
If anything does happen to mum you will find they all start coming out and they will also be peeping for her regularly. You’ve not mentioned that so I assume all is well.
Make sure you leave water available for mum and food if you can, but not close to the nest. You will only have a few more weeks to keep the dog away and they will be weaned and on their own to disperse
How wonderful for you to have a nest to watch

[Author]

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