Spikey Critters Hedgehog Care Blog

Hi BHPS,

One of my page followers has brought this advert from the makers of Frontline (Merial) to my attention.

I have a couple of concerns about this advert ....

1) that people will associate hedgehogs with being flea ridden (as many already do) and passing fleas onto the pets etc. and

2) that people will think it is OK to use Frontline on hedgehogs as well as household pets :-(

What are your thoughts and is there anyone you could contact about this please.

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Update on Prickle ...... she has piled on lots of weight over the last week .... and now weighs in at a whopping 985g She was only 817g when she arrived just 1 week ago and still eating for England (well actually the whole of the UK at the moment I think!)

Still no sign of any Pricklets yet but will keep you all updated on that one :-)

Well it will soon be time to start getting the meals ready for the guys outside .... I wonder if I will see Eden tonight :-)

It was really strange whilst I have been away Eden has never been far from my thoughts ...... first the soap in the hotel was named Garden of Eden, then we saw The Eden Tea Rooms and yesterday we passed a shop that had Eden in it's name

I hope you are all still seeing your little visitors :-)

New patient in late last night ....

A very underweight and dehydrated male weighing just 636g who has been named Twiglet.

Twiglet was seen out during the day and Cheryl, his finder, said he appeared to be wobbly when walking, which initially I thought was due to his dehydration .... his eyes were not visible as they were sunken :-(

Thank You to Cheryl for bringing him over to me last night, even though it was quite late. Cheryl had kept him nice and warm since finding him while she looked for help:-)

I gave him some fluids straight away and when I was able to give him a thorough examination discovered a nasty puncture wound that was full of thick pus and I think this was more likely the reason he was having difficulty in walking :-(

His wound was cleaned out and he was started on antibiotics last night and has continued to received sub cut fluids throughout the night as well ..... he has eaten a little bit of food but not much .... and I now have a sample to take a look at, so will see what that reveals.

He is quite poorly so fingers crossed for him everyone ♥

Well Twiglet's condition is much improved and I can now see his little eyes :-)

He is drinking for himself but only eating a small amount of food.

I will be taking him to the Vet tomorrow morning so they can check him over as I have concerns over one of his back legs and also so they can check out the puncture wound injury for him.

Will let you know how we get on tomorrow but in himself he is much brighter ♥

Well I had hoped to tell you all how well Twiglet seemed to be doing and how he was tucking into his Whiskas chicken in jelly pouch .... which he seemed to enjoy today in preference to the supermeat or the tinned Whiskas in jelly .... but sadly this isn't the case :-(

I took Twiglet to the Vet this morning and all seemed well but this afternoon Twiglet took a sudden turn for the worse and sadly passed away.

He was such a sweet little character .... RIP Twiglet ♥

HEDGEHOG AWARENESS ....... Please Share

There was lots of activity in the garden last night .... at least 6 hedgehogs

It was particularly noticeable that the one thing they were all interested in was the water bowls ..... they were drinking A LOT of water.

So please leave fresh water out for any visitors you have, birds etc. (and any poorly hedgehogs that may be in need) during the day and definitely for the hedgehogs at night :-)

Please share ..... doing this could literally save a life

Thank You

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Hi Georgie, Look what turned up at the water bowl in my back garden - a Fox inbetween two Hedgehogs!

Update on Prickle ....

She is still doing really well and this morning weighed in at 1096g and still eating like a horse

Still only Prickle in the cage ..... for now, will keep you posted :-)

One of my garden visitors Grace turned up again last night, looking nice and healthy but weighing approx 140g less than she did 3 weeks ago and also showing signs of lactating :-D

HRH was around and about too and seemed to be getting his chat up lines right this time ... I think he was "having a chat" with Vicky whilst Grace was more interested in the food :-)

I can hardly believe it is 18 months since I first posted about the dangers of Chinese Lanterns ... when I found several, almost complete lanterns, in a field of horses, and asked people to share the pictures to raise awareness of their dangers and sign the petition ..... following recent events I have now also added a few new pics/links to the album.

I guess it was only a matter of time but I was horrified when I saw the news last week and heard how a single Chinese Lantern had caused so much damage and put endless lives at risk.

..... please take a look at the following e-petition and sign and share [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .... no doubt many more people are now fully aware of the dangers ..... but we still need to sign the petition and share so that the sale of these lanterns can either be banned or have more controls put in place concerning their sale.

For more info take a look at the following page ..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank You

I hope you have all had a good weekend and have been enjoying the sunshine ..... please remember to leave some bowls of fresh water out for your garden visitors ....... day and night ........ I can't believe just how much water my visitors are drinking at the moment ..... birds during the day and hedgehogs and who knows what else over night .... with the prolonged dry spell they are all desperately thirsty and will quickly become dehydrated without help.

Well we have had a few visits over the last few nights from some of the hoggies that I haven't seen for a while. ....

Tulip put in an appearance and looks like she too has had babies :-)

Mr McHenry who first appeared in our garden at the beginning of May weighing around 650g now weighs 911g and is looking good .... he was having a cosy chat with Grace last night :-)

Jamie also turned up again on Saturday night and she is a chunky 1100g So possibly expecting :-)

Eden has been around too and he is now on his third and final ASBO ...... he has been a very naughty boy this time ....... I picked him up to check him over, as I foolishly at that time thought it was someone else, as his marking had worn off a little and there was no trademark Eden huffing, puffing or bucking .... the next thing I know is Eden is hanging off my finger .... and it wasn't at all funny ...... so he has been warned any more trouble from him and he can pack his knapsack .... I have also told him that I'm sure I won't have any problems at all in finding him a new home

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saying Hello tonight so cute

Update on Prickle .....

Prickle is still doing fine, still eating for England and still gaining weight each day Although much bigger now than when she arrived she is not fat at all and can still curl into a tight ball :-)

She has now finished her medication and will be here for another week during which time I will be checking her samples to make sure they continue to be clear .... I still think Pricklets are a strong possibility .... but she is certainly keeping us hanging on ..... I will of course keep you posted

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Such a sweet little face

Another thirsty hoggie ......... this is why it is so important to leave at least one (if not more) shallow bowl of water out for them .... especially during this prolonged hot dry spell we are having at the moment :-)

New little patient just in ........ baby girl, named Jenna, weighing just 108g (approx. 3-4 weeks old) .... found out during the day.

The Finders have been asked to keep an eye out for any more as the nest has either been disturbed or something has happened to Mum :-(

She was a very hungry little girl when she arrived and was chewing my fingers ..... so have just given her some puppy formula and Hill's A/D and she has snuggled down into her little nest for a kip :-)

Fortunately no flystrike or any other nasties.

I will upload some pics in a little while when she has settled in ♥

Jenna is doing well and has been eating some of the A/D food mixture by herself overnight ........ this morning she weighed in at 119g :-)

Well it was a very busy day yesterday ...... in addition to Jenna coming in we also had 3 more cuties arrive last night .... 2 girls and 1 boy who are waiting for names from their finder :-) They weighed 88g, 95g and 97g when they arrived.

They are all doing well this morning but sadly they were in quite a poor condition when they arrived ..... absolutely covered in fly strike :-( I managed to get it all off them .... one little girl arrived a few hours later than the others and she was in the worst condition but she is the cheekiest one this morning :-) Will take photos when they stay still for long enough, lol

I am feeding them the same mixture as I am giving to Jenna and although they have lapped some food overnight I am also syringe feeding them as

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Lovely hoggie banquet .... some very well fed hoggies :-)

All the kids doing fine ....

Jenna is now a whopping 139g

The other three babies have also gained weight ... the two bigger ones are now 108g and the smallest one is now 90g

Because they came from separate litters Jenna is on her own but the other 3 are all together .... it isn't wise to mix litters of hoglets just in case they have an illness that has not been detected ... but Jenna doesn't seem to mind ..... at least she doesn't have any competition when it comes to eating her dinner :-)

I also caught up with Jamie last night and wouldn't be at all surprised if she is due to have babies .... she tipped the scales at a whopping 1230