rescued 2 hedgehogs within the week
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the hospital Sweetpea is going to tmrw, like their hogs to be at least 650g rather than 450g, I guess to be on the safe side. I do feel that I’ve picked the best one in my area, I’m really impressed with the owner and how she cares so much for the hogs, If I was in her position, and no doubt the rest of us on this forum, we’d be the same if we owned a rescue centre.
well I’d have to get a taxi to the next town – leave home about 5.30am- to get there for 5.45am – and then get a bus, then 25min walk – to get there for 6.45am – which isn’t that bad, if I did it only one day a week.
It would be worth waking up early just one day a week, to get the experience, and more knowledge about it.
Plus did go to a job fair the other week, for people who want to work with animals , and this might help me along the way a bit.
Buggerinell, your a star, hedgie lover, though most will have difficulty keeping up with you.
Let’s know how you come on.Thanks Coley, bit worried she might be lethargic rather than relaxed, when I rescued her – she raced towards the feeding station, and then I picked the poor thing up.
But then again, she hasn’t exactly got anywhere to go now, so can’t really race around, and I guess all her other siblings, (I assume, which are bigger than her and Calvin) are all in bed napping.
She’s eaten almost all her food – which usually lasts her til morning – so guess that’s a good sign, and she’s not pooping as much as she was – I reckon the poop might be due to large amount of food for her size – that’s why she’s piled on the weight – 20g a night for a 350g hog is quite a lot really – and I wonder if the poo – is due to the excess of food.
At the hospital, on their facebook page, the plate of food looks like their’s quite a lot in, it’s hard to tell when you’re watching videos, but anyway, I’m gonna take her food bowl and let know how much she’s been eating, and get a better idea of how much she should have.
I wonder if she was small because she hadn’t been eating enough – maybe she’s relaxed, cos perhaps all she’s bothered about at the mo is food.
In hospital, the only stimulation she’ll get is a bowl of food each evening anyway, so if that’s the only thing she’s into at the mo, she might be quite content there, let’s hope.
no worries, she’s being active – she’s just rearranging stuff, doing something with the puppy mat, lifting it up – she dragged one half out from underneath her box last night.
I’m usually in bed asleep by now, and I think it’s whilst I’m asleep she’s most active – cos the cage has been rearranged a bit in the morning – but dont think her sleeping pattern is too good at the minute – as she wakes up at correct time 7.30pm – that’s when I put the food in – but she’s been awake, and looking quite alert until about 9am – which isn’t good, but i guess it’s because she’s inside and body clock’s gone a bit wobbily.
Least she’s being active.
Hi Hedgie Lover
You’re fussing/worrying too much. They really need minimal disturbance, not least so that they don’t become too habituated to humans. There’s not a lot they can do anyway, shut in a box so aren’t going to appear very active (other than re-arranging their bedding, when there may be a sudden flurry of activity) and their sleeping patterns are bound to be disturbed a bit when in captivity.
The recommended release weights from being in care are different from the minimum weight recommended for a hedgehog in the wild. That’s because they are likely to lose weight on release.
Good luck with the hand over. Hope all goes well.
I’m am fussing too much yes. And i have checked on her too much, that’s what I know what I’ve done wrong .
She is active on a night when I go to sleep, as I have just checked on her, she’s fast asleep which is good, and cage has been rearranged, she’s once again, pulled out the puppy mat from underneath her box, and she slept with her food bowl and toilet roll tube – she dragged them into her box and slept beside them – I don’t know why, perhaps they give her some comfort!
She’s going to hospital today anyway, and the lady at the hospital said ‘don’t stress I’m here’ so she must have twigged on aswell that I’m overly worried about her.
They’ll do things properly at the hospital, they’ve have got other hedgehogs that are really really poorly that need more attention, whereas Sweetpea, she’ll probably just get administered meds each day, possibly weighed and given food, and that’s all the disturbance she’ll get – so it’s a good thing she’s going.
I’m gonna give the bowl of food to the hospital and ask if I’ve given her too much, after all she’s put on one fifth of her initial body weight in 4 days – she did have a plastic ledge in the cage, which she liked to hide under, but had to remove it as she just only was able to go underneath it as she’s so big now.
The hospital’s release weight is 650g, so she’s got another 200g to go, so they will overwinter her now, along with her brother Calvin.
Hi Hedgie Lover
It is a bit of a temptaiton to fuss!
Hogs can be released during the winter in some circumstances. You might like to check this link out: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/guidance-on-releasing-rehabilitated-hedgehogs/
Make sure you click the links in the information, which goes into winter releasing in more detail.You might also like to read the advice from BHPS and other experts re. releasing rehabilitated hogs: http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BHPS-Guidance-For-relasing-Rehabilitated-Hedgehogs.pdf
And re. Hibernation weight. http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/pdf/Hibernation-Weight.pdf
Hopefully the place Sweetpea is going will already have read all these, but you might like to check and provide copies, if necessary.
p.s. If you are thinking of being a being a carer/rescue at some time in the future, this (which I came across recently) might be helpful.
https://www.hedgehog-rescue.org.uk/diy.phpNic you are an absolute star – from the start of going on this forum – I’ve learnt an incredible amount from you – I don’t know how you’ve got all this knowledge – I’m sure you’re actually a hedgehog who’s evolved enough to type.
I checked out courses with Vale Wildlife, and there is a course in feb fairly near me – so gonna book later on today as it’s nearly fully booked – £85 for one day.
Just realised giving sweetpea a toilet roll tube probably wasn’t the best idea, I gave her a fresh one, and she sticks her nose in it, that’s probably why she dragged the old one into her home, she probably got stuck, so anyway I’ve ripped the new one up so she can play with that if she wants – but even though she might have got her nose stuck in the old one last night – she went straight over to the new one to play with it. But just to be on the safe side, I’ve ripped it up.
I’ve just read the Hedgehog Bottom link you gave, and I don’t think I’m the right kind of person, because if hedgehogs got worse in my care, I’d feel horrendous – and I don’t think i’d be able to cope very well with that.
I’m quite happy next year, (I think all the other young hedgehogs that visit are correct weight) to overwinter one, and get poo sampled by the hedgehog hospital regularly, and have the hospital there so if things did take a turn for the worse.
I just don’t think I’m ready yet to take on that kind of level of responsibility – I would need a lot of supportive people around me, to help me out – and with my mum, she’s helped me out driving me to the hospital and back – but she’s getting a bit fed up with it, and she even, jokingly said, ‘you’re a nutter’ when I first took Calvin in, she’s since sort of apologised after I found out he had internal parasites. But she moans a bit when I talk to her a bit too much about hedgehogs (I haven’t got the best relationship with my mum BTW).
I’ve got friends that work in Conservation, from volunteering with them 3 days a week, who are really into wildlife, I’ve learnt a lot from them, and I’d get support from them, but for me to take that level of responsibility, I’d need more support and understanding from family, as I might need to rely on them from time to time.
The lady at the hospital has a husband, who doesn’t get involved in the care – but likes hedgehogs, and she has a good team of volunteers that are probably just as obessed about them as we all are here on this forum.
Hi Hedgie Lover
Thanks. I’m always happy to help people help the hogs, if I can.
Yes, you have to be the sort of person who loves wildlife (if it’s all wildlife being cared for) but not get too upset if things don’t go well. I had a friend who used to drive for the local Wildlife Hospital, but he used to get so upset if things didn’t turn out well. Which with wildlife probably happens quite often. But they need to learn from it and move on to the next animal which needs their help. Even over-wintering, not all will survive. So it can be very rewarding but also upsetting.
It’s a really good idea to go on the Vale course. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot. It might seem expensive, but at least it’s going to a good cause, as well as what you learn.
Hi Hedgie Lover
Thanks. I’m always happy to help people help the hogs, if I can.
Yes, you have to be the sort of person who loves wildlife (if it’s all wildlife being cared for) but not get too upset if things don’t go well. I had a friend who used to help drive a bit for the local Wildlife Hospital, but he used to get so upset if things didn’t turn out well. Which, with wildlife, probably happens quite often. He had to give up in the end. But the people who do the looking after need to learn from it and move on to the next animal which needs their help. Even over-wintering, not all will survive. So it can be very rewarding but also upsetting.
It’s a really good idea to go on the Vale course. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot. It might seem expensive, but at least it’s going to a good cause, as well as what you learn. But you’ll also learn a lot from Stef, on here, about rehabilitating, she has a lot of experience and always talks good sense. It isn’t my area of knowledge, but I’ve picked up quite a few things from her. She may not be on here quite as often as I am – too busy rehabilitating hogs! But always worth ‘listening’ to.
Thanks Nic, well I’m having a really good day. Mum drove me to the hospital, so Sweetpea is now in hospital. As she’s a good weight, and acting normal, she will get her treatment for lungworm, and when that’s cleared up, and when she reaches a good release weight (probably 650g or more), she will be released back – and the lady at the hospital asked me if I wanted to buy one of their hedgehog homes (which has a lid this time), which I said yes.
I showed her the food bowl and asked if that was too much, she said it was fine, and told her that I’ve been checking up on her too much, she told me not to worry about it so much because she said the hedgehog will still hate you as much as they hated you when you first picked them up. She said there not like birds where they make an imprint on you, as bird’s don’t know what species they are given they hatch out of eggs, where hedgehogs know they are hedgehogs given that they live with their siblings for a bit – so I feel less guilty know.
She was probably more relieved that I kept an eye on her. But next time, I won’t fuss so much.
Calvin, the first hedgehog I rescued, who had internal parasites, he’s going to be okay, but taking long to put on weight, his on meds but the parasites are still making him ill at the moment, whereas Sweetpea isn’t showing symptoms of lungworm yet, so if she gets treatment, it would be like she never had it in the first place, gonna put the house near the hedgehog station and away from where the fox hangs out at night – unfortunately the one I’ve got now is where the fox hangs out. So very hopeful about Sweetpea, hopefully she will be around in my garden this spring and summer fingers crossed and she’ll have the sense to use the house.
Will need plenty of ideas of how to release her, and what I should do to entice her into the house. I could put a small bowl of dog meat in the tunnel and then remove quietly next day, that should do the trick, she is mad over dog meat.
The house has a thick wooden floor, raised up slightly with batons, it has a divider in – so the divide makes a tunnel, and then entrance into the nest – so would be protected from the wind, and it has a lid, so can check it in spring (to see if empty) and give it a good clean out. (whereas other one, I’d have to have the camera on it for a week or so, and then clean it if no action which isn’t ideal (would have to wait for weather to be quite hot to make sure I don’t disturb so might not be able to clean until may or june).
The other good news is I asked about volunteering saying I could do one day a week (fri or sat) and get there for 7am) to do the morning clean and feed, (the feed is probably for the young ones and the sick), but she said as she’s busy she hasn’t got the capacity to train someone new yet, but to give her a ring in 3 weeks time. So perhaps I might start volunteering there by the end of this year, or start beginning of next. I can’t wait.
And another thing, I told her about this forum, and she’s heard all about it. I said I get so much knowledge here which has really helped, and she said you can’t look after hedgehogs without having some knowledge about them – so this forum is really a life saver for people who end up looking after hedgehogs – all our discussions about mealworms, and discussions about poo, disturbing nests etc – it’s all crucially important, because our discussions could make the difference between life and death really.
BTW feel a bit guilty about being harsh about my mum, she does really like hedgehogs, and she’s the one who bought the wildlife camera, and she always wants to see the videos, and she always tells people at her church that I’m looking after the hedgehogs, and my brother and his wife and kids are interested in hearing about my tales, it just that family annoy from time to time, but I love them really. And in reality, my mum would help me out, but she’d just moan about it on the way.
BTW I meant Sweetpea will be released back outside, perhaps in a couple of weeks, not released back to my home indoors, so it’s kinda crucial that I have a nice home for her.
I can’t wait to release her – no doubt she’ll be in a spiky ball for a while, but I’d like to see what she does when she realises she’s free again, I’ll watch at a distance though, so she’s knows she’s free.
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