When should hedgehogs be out of hibernation
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Hi,
I still have a hedgehog hibernating in our hedgehog house. She went in Jan 14, came out Jan 17 for food, came out late March for water. All caught on the cam. She hasn’t come out again. It’s Cyclops- the one eyed gorgeous hedgehog. I now think she is a girl so now named Cyclopsina.
Hoping she will be emerging soon. I do have 2 others that have arrived for food and water.
Thanks for any ideas.Hi simbo65
That must be very worrying for you hoping for Cyclops (Cyclops sounds o.k. for a female as well, to me!) to appear again. Are you sure she’s still in there? Cameras aren’t always totally reliable.
If she’s a female, they do tend to hibernate until later than the males, and if she only started hibernation in January, it may be a bit later. But we don’t really know enough about hibernation. All I can say is that I have had some females who haven’t returned here until May. They were not hibernating in my garden, so when exactly they came out of hibernation, I don’t know. But they were hogs who had been used to coming here for food and when they did return visited regularly, so it seems likely that they would have made their way here fairly soon after emerging.
Fingers crossed that she will appear soon.
Yes- She is still in there. Hope she is OK. I thought the warm weather might have got her out and about.
Fingers crossed !Hey-
As if by magic she came out of the house last night. Had a feed, water,hid from another hedgehog went for a stroll and came back at about 5 this morning. So pleased she is OK. I would quite like her to move on now so I can clean the house.That’s wonderful news. Really pleased that she’s OK. I expect she’ll move on soon enough, when she gets fed up with the parasites. Have you got another hog house that she could move into?
No. We will get another feed station sorted in the hope there wont be any fighting but there are a few other houses in the road so hopefully she might find one. Could we put another house close to the original or is it better to have them further apart?
If you want her to move straight into it, you could put it nearby and maybe move the other one after she’s moved out, if you wanted to. Normally for nesting – as opposed to naps between snacks, I would keep them further apart. But I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules. I’m sure some people keep them near to each other. You know hogs – ever unpredictable!
I have had a hog here all winter, with something in common with Cyclops – last year’s hoglet and it has no eyeshine at all from either eye and never has, as far as I know. But seems to get around like any other hedgehog and even foraged on the lawn in the middle of winter and turned from hoglet to hog. I should say did get around. The poor thing recently got a strimmer injury (nothing to do with any eye problems – I don’t think good eye sight would have made any difference at all – strimmers are really bad news for hogs) and is currently at the Wildlife Hospital – last update doing well – so fingers crossed. Probably a worse case scenario, for a hog who relies on knowing it’s habitat very well, to be forcibly absent from it for so long, but with such a horrible injury, there was really no choice. All I can do is hope for the best.
I hope Cyclops moves into the new house, wherever you decide to put it, and has a successful year – with hopefully some hoglets later on.
Oh no. So sad to hear about cyclops 2. Please let me know how she does. Strimmers are evil! I hate to think of anything suffering. Did you find her?
Our set up here is that we have a feeding station and house in a large bed in our front garden. We didn’t have anything in the back because of our beloved dog running around. Since he went to heaven we have been looking after other peoples dogs so again didn’t want to encourage hedgehogs although they do still wander through.
I am hoping to make another feeding station today- storage box and pipe method and see how that goes, our current one is brick built. We don’t have much room for another proper full on house but might get one of those hogaloo things as a stop gap……..has anybody used them? How do we secure them?
Fingers crossed for your little hedgehog I hope she makes a great recovery and gets confidence back. Did the vet say what might be wrong with the eyes?Hi Simbo65
I think if you want the other hog to move in, nearby is ideal. I do have a hogilo, but under bushes, so not certain how much it’s used. I have it wedged under the branches of the bush at the back and fixed the front down using wire pegged down either side with, something like tent pegs – just so that a dog or other predator can’t tip it up. You could use wire and tent peg (or similar) at the back too. Mine is straight on to the earth so that they can dig a hollow if they wish. Also sheltered from rain by the bush (evergreen), but I’m not sure how well waterproofed they are otherwise – some people put extra plastic on the top. To be honest, I think if I was going to get something else, I think I’d get a proper box – so much easier to clean out, etc.
Not sure whether the poor strimmed hog is male or female yet, never saw her with enough other hogs to be sure and at the Wildlife Hospital it was more important to treat the injury – a hog is a hog. When I had her, she just looked as if she permanently had her eyes shut. I haven’t asked again about them, yet. They are always so busy and, again the injury was the main concern. But if she survived through winter and not just survived, but flourished, she was obviously capable of surviving despite her eyes. If only someone had been more careful when they were strimming.
Yes, I did find her. She had missed a few nights, but came for food – which was a good sign – and in the night. So she wasn’t out during the day. Thankfully she had been well fed and healthy previously. Luckily I saw her (rather than being on video) at a reasonably civilised time of night. I so didn’t like having to shut the poor thing up, but am pretty sure she wouldn’t have survived without help. I’ll let you know if I hear any news, but, if she hopefully survives, it will take quite a while for such a deep wound to heal enough for her to come back. (couldn’t be stitched as it was already too old) I’m told they have had quite a lot of success with strimmer injuries, so just have to continue to hope.
Sounds very lucky that you found him/her. Keep me posted. I have got so attached to Cyclops I would be so upset if anything happened to her. I have to keep reminding myself that they are wild and I am just supplementing their natural life. I had 2 other visitors last night and so far they haven’t all met. I am pretty convinced Cyclops is a girl so we might have macho biffing to come. I will of course have to vet any possible suitors!
We have made a new feed station and will get that out tomorrow. Hopefully Cyclops will move out of the house soon. If not I will have to see how feasible it will be to get another house in the restricted space.
I am sure we will work something out.Hi, I am so pleased to say I saw Dinky Minky last night for the first time this year. I was also very worried as she was small and worried she wouldn’t make it through hibernation. I gave her some chicken filled cat bikes and she ran off after eating them. I refilled the feeding station and went inside the house. There she was on cctv, doing exactly what she did last year, running in and out on several visits. So please she’s survived. May need another feeding station as we now have 3 hogs, Kitty, from last year and a very large hog not named yet. I don’t wish to see any of these fights. Annker.
Hi Annker
So pleased for you, to hear that Dinky Minky has returned. Hope the hogs have a successful year. Unless you have a cat problem, you could try feeding the hogs outside. Some hogs don’t like going into boxes, so it gives them a chance to get some food too. Easier to see them as well!
Good luck with them all.
Reading this thread for help in sorting out my boxes . I have one from last year that still has a large nest in it, but the hogs haven’t stopped using it so I haven’t had a chance to empty and clean it.
I have a spare box that I use for food , if I put that one near the used one do you think they’d take the hint and move out of the messy one ? Or should I wait till they are awake tonight , and take the old one away , is that too risky that a hog might be in there ? Not sure what to do .
Thanks
Hi Gr8mums
Definitely too risky to take the old one away during the night. It’s just possible there could be a nursing mother in there, and even if not, the hog may object and just leave. But if a nursing mother is disturbed when she has very young ones, it is likely she will desert them or worse.
You could try putting the other box nearby and hope the hog moves in, but there is no guarantee with hogs. Try putting a small amount of bedding inside to give them the idea and a fresh supply outside.
Good luck.
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