Hedgehog died in is Hoghouse : (

[iglekott]

We had a sneaky peak a few weeks ago to see if our Hedgehog was still in there and he was : ))
In fact we dont know if it was a he or a she ??
Lowered the lid and left him alone.
There’s always water about and he was only nibbling at the cat food in the feeding station.
Today i have just had another look and found him all curled up in his bed of leaves but hes died : ((
He’s only been nesting with us since last Autumn.
He may have old ??
….. Oh how sad am I ….

Any advice on cleaning the hog house and what to do next would be very welcomed.

[Nic]

Hi iglekott

That is so sad. I suppose you must be absolutely certain he is dead not just curled up. It must have been a horrible shock for you to find him. As you say, he may have been old and there must some hedgehogs who die from natural causes and maybe he was one. But when we have known a hog for a while we can get very attached to them and feel very sad when they die.

There are two links which you may be interested in regarding dead hedgehogs.
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-ive-found-a-dead-hedgehog/
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/garden-wildlife-health-gwh/

With regard to the box. After you have cleaned out any bedding and I would either burn it or put it out with your household refuse in a sealed bag as there may be parasites in there. Then thoroughly clean out the box and use boiling water and make sure it gets into all the cracks, so that it kills any parasite eggs. Don’t use any chemicals because most are not good for the hogs. I had a rat who died in one of my hog boxes and I did as described. I have since been using it as a feed box, but there has been no problem with hogs going in there. It’s up to you whether you feel you want to relocate the box.

Maybe leave the box for a day or so to make sure it is completely dry again and then if you are hoping another hog will nest in it, maybe put a small amount of material in the box to start it off and lots of other material nearby so any hog can take in what he/she wants.

If there is one hog there, it is possible there are other hogs in the area and hopefully another one will find you, if you keep leaving food and water out.

Good luck.

[Suzynic]

I’d have no idea if a hedgehog had died in my hedgehog houses due to either the position of them or the style…..I’m worried now as I did have a male, plus I returned the original male and another female, but I’ve only seen what I believe to be the female.

I have three boxes, one is wedged between the garage wall and a shrub and I can’t access it, another is a wicker style which I could easily lift up I guess but would worry about disturbing one if in use, and the other is a new one which I can get to easily enough but its one that has a base and the hedgehogs go in one bit and into another so no way of looking.

Guess best way is to set up trail cam on each for a few nights to see if in use, and if not, certainly check the two I can get to.

I need more trail cams!

[Author]

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