Help With Healthy Juvenile in Town…
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Again, there is noone that I can ask in that immediate area, the nearest people are about 1.5km away, which I think is far enough off of the patch that it won’t be the best place to leave it.
If it is dry, I’ll make an effort to take a couple of litres and leave it under the hedge I release it to with a bit of food for a while. At this time of year, I would be quite surprised if that was really necessary. I live in Northumberland and November is not usually a dry month. It is the potential for severe frost that concerns me, as I don’t think that is far away and nights are already very cold.
I changed the paper that I lined its box with and gave some more food about 40 minutes ago, this time I soaked the kibble a bit and can see it has had a good go at the food again. Now back on the fence whether or not to hang onto it for a day or two, while it is eating. I don’t know how you all do this, it is so stressful!!!
Kibble may have been too hard…soaking in warm water a very good idea.
Maybe give the little one another night of food and water…….it’s a hard call but a good few nights of food and water could be all it needs.
Let us know what you decideHi
At 400gm your hog should have been ok. However, you need to re-weigh it before making a plan of release. If it has lost significant weight – either as a result of stress / or illness then you will need to find a carer to take it in and/or check it over. A poo sample can be sent to Vale Wildlife hospital for analysis and then you can get relevant meds from your vet.
I strongly suggest you re-contact the BHPS for a list of local carers and then call them all until you get some sensible advice/assistance
In captivity your hog should be putting on roughly 5 – 10gms per day on average as it’s still a juvenile.
Dried kibble doesn’t need soaking if it’s small
Please do not just release without following the above advice as stress of captivity can cause inbalances in internal parasites.
Also do not keep this hog in your house. Unless they are properly ill they do not need to live in centrally heated houses. A garage/shed is sufficient – far less stress on the hog and your nose!So glad you’ve brought some sensible advice into the conversation, Stef. I do my best, but this really isn’t my area of knowledge.
teebee.
It’s really imporant that you take Stef’s advice. She is an experienced carer/rehabilitator and really does know what she’s talking about.Thank you @stef, this is just the kind of advice I was looking for.
I kept hold of the hog last night, as I was unsure what to do. It seems to be eating and is a little less fearful of my handling of it when I clean out the box I am keeping it in, which I am doing a couple of times a day.
Regarding food, I am now feeding it Felix Chicken & Jelly and it has gone through about a pouch in the last 24 hours and is on a second pouch, plus a little kibble that I am offering alongside, though kitty food seems to be much preferred.
Stools aren’t too bad, still mosty firm, which with it’s change in diet I am assuming is very positive.
I live in an old, drafty house in the NE, so there are places inside that would be equivalent to a garage in a modern house. I am trying to make sure that I don’t expose it to extremes of temperature at either end. I don’t have a garage and the roof of my shed fell in and is in the middle of being renovated, this was not a planned intervention. Sounds like it may not have been a necessary one, I now wish I had just moved it somewhere safer in the locality and moved on. I hope we can both get past this with it being an education.
My local carer is full and not answering, but I’ll try the BHPS in the morning and see if there is anywhere else that they can suggest. Is medication/stool sample necessary? This doesn’t look like an unwell animal to me, but am happy to scoop some up and mail it off if you think it is necessary? I can imagine that this experience has stressed the animal somewhat and I am very keen to try and minimise any negative impact my intervention may have had on its future.
Finally, you mention release plan. I have seen some leaflets around, though haven’t read anything like this yet. Is this something I should discuss with the BHPS team, or are you assuming that they will find someone more experienced to handle this? My intention was to pop it to Northumberland Hedghog Rescue Trust in Longframlington, but it isn’t to be.
Thanks again for your advice.
So, I weighed it late on Saturday night and it came in at 400g. Just weighed again and it is 402g, so not really gaining.
Would my leaving it out in the colder temperatures (I have a cow passage under the house, which is not ideal, especially during the day but kind of outside and sheltered) have an effect on its appetite?
Night lows are about 3C and I am conscious that it is in a fairly small box and does not have the ability to move to somewhere warmer or even exercise much.
Thanks again.
I managed to speak with the BHPS today. The person I spoke with was categorical about 400g being insufficient weight for the time of year and recommended that I find it help, or provide it myself if I am up to it.
They gave me a number for another rescue centre further North, who fortunately have space. I have arranged to admit my new friend tomorrow evening, and thwy advise that I should keep it warm in the interim. Until then, it appears to be taking its hostage situation in its stride and seems to be doing OK.
I thank you all for your advice, which I know is well meaning and in the best interests of the hedgehogs that you are all trying to help. As someone with little knowledge in this area, I have found the experience quite stressful and the lack of consistency with some of the advice that I have received has magnified this a little. I would ask anyone in the field to please consider this when providing advice to well meaning fools like myself, as it is very difficult to know what to do for the best when given conflicting advice and not being able to get a reply, or get anyone on the phone (it took a lot of attempts before I could get through to the BHPS).
Once again, thank you for your help and for what you do.
Tony
BHPS guidelines for hogs that have not been in captivity is 450g to survive hibernation.
If a hog has been in captivity then it is 600g as it will lose weight on release.If a hedgehog is getting a good food source that it is coming to regularly and in all other ways exhibiting normal behaviour then it is not necessary to rescue them even if they are under 450g.
I would not consider anything over 350g needed rescuing IF all the above is in place.We need to be very careful about just taking wild animals into captivity without good reason. It is illegal. It is far better to be putting out a regular source of good food throughout the year
Finally when calling the BHPS for advice you will be given standard advice for a potentially very sick hog as it is not possible to diagnose over the phone or on a website like this one. Only once it’s seen a carer will hopefully accurate advice be given.
Carers are all volunteers and while some have training not all doSo sorry that you’ve found it stressful, Tony. I have to say it is also stressful for other people on the Forum. Most of us care about all hedgehogs, but (with some exceptions) are not experts. We are people who love hedgehogs and try our very best to help people to help them. It’s so much easier to give advice if you are speaking to someone, when they can ask questions and get appropriate answers. Hence the advice, in this sort of situation, to get contact details of your local carer/rehabilitator from the BHPS and speak to them.
I’m glad to hear you have found a place for the little hog with a rescue centre. Make sure that they know where the hog came from, as it should be returned to as near as there as possible, when it can be released – as per the information in this leaflet: http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BHPS-Guidance-For-relasing-Rehabilitated-Hedgehogs.pdf
I wish the little hog the very best of luck and thank you, again, for caring.
At least if it happens again, you will know to ring the BHPS and speak to a carer/rehabilitator, as suggested!
Thanks for the explanation Stef. I do understand your predicament, but you see, the response you have given makes my point for me.
BHPS guidelines say one thing, and then you state another thing below. It is inconsistent and, unless you have the experience that you obviously do, it does not make it easy for a lay person like myself to make an informed choice. My comments are not a criticism per se, more of an observation and a commentary of my experience in this incident.
And I am acutely aware that meddling with the natural order things is not the preferred choice, and I am not usually prone to picking up wildlife that I encounter, it’s just that this little fellow seemed outside of its natural habitat, and a little small to be out in the current climate in my locale. Everything that followed was me trying to respond to the advice that I had read on conservation pages and on this forum.
As for good food source, how could I know that it had a good and regular food source? I picked it up from the small town nearest to the village in which I live, which is over two miles away, so it isn’t something I could guarantee.
Again, I’m not trying to pick a fight, just trying to point out something that I found frustrating.
Again, my thanks for taking the time to respond to my pleas for help.
Thanks @Nic
I know you all have the best interest of the animal at the core of what you do, and I almost didn’t voice my frustration, but felt it may be beneficial to the next ill informed soul that finds themself in my position!
I was in the unfortunate position that my local carer/rehab was unavailable for shelter or advice and the BHPS helpline was not open for the weekend and then constantly engaged when I tried to phone during office hours (busy time of year!).
I will make sure that the rescue centre know exactly where this one comes from and will give them my contact details so that I can help them if they need me to, when that time comes.
Once again, thanks for all that you do.Tony, you have been a total star, you have put yourself out and gone well beyond the ‘extra mile’ regarding your spikey marra,
One question, if you don’t mind, where’s this other ‘rescue centre’ I can’t find it on my searches?
My rescued ‘Autumn juvenile’ seems to be doing alright and I’ll keep him/her? in ‘jankers’ until it gets to a decent release weight.
Nic/Steph..is their any procedure, where you can take an obviously distressed hog to a rescue centre, its treated by people who knows what’s needed, then you pick it back up and provide care until it reaches a decent release weight?
Such a procedure would take some of the weight off, the obviously oversteched rescue centres.
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