Spikey Critters Hedgehog Care Blog

Well I was hoping to give an update on everyone earlier today but due to thunderstorms etc. the computer had to be unplugged and we have only just got it back online.

Jenna is doing really well and now weighs 330g

The Triplets are also doing very well and weigh 250g, 321g and 323g .... they are getting quite huffy these days too!

Erica is gaining weight slowly but at least she is going in the right direction and is walking much better as well .... she's still got a way to go but things are looking good so far

Prickle will be released back into the wild tomorrow night ......... but what about the Prickle-lets, what's going to happen to them, I can hear you all cry ... well sadly things didn't quite go to plan and after a couple of days Prickle didn't seem to realise that she actually still needed to look after the kids .... so in order to give them their best chance I had to take them away and they are being hand-reared .... all are doing fine at the moment .... 2 boys and 1 girl. They weighed just 21g, 26g and 28g when I took over the duties of Grandma and they are gaining appox 1g a day ... which doesn't sound like much but at that size it makes quite a difference

I have taken some pics of the Prickle-lets and will upload some tomorrow for you

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This is The Pricklets just after I started caring for them, they had just been fed and had snuggled down for a lovely sleep

The two with markings on are the boys

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Tulip, an AJ I over-wintered several years ago, had been visiting and I knew that she had recently had babies ...... well yesterday I was talking to one of our neighbours and they have a family of hedgehogs in their garden From the description of the paint marking on her I knew it was Tulip ..... I popped down and she has found herself a lovely home, although I didn't see Tulip I'm pretty sure I could hear her moving around in the bushes .... but what I did see was 4 beautiful young, healthy looking hoggies ... approx. 5-6 weeks old ...... well done Tulip

Well after my excitement of seeing Tulip's babies last night things have taken a bit of a turn ..... as they do with hedgehogs. The little ones were seen out during the day today and without Mum! I have been down to collect them and there are 5 (not 4) gorgeous babies ranging from just 197g - 240g ..... they are a little dehydrated so I am giving them fluids ... no idea where Tulip has gone off too ......

Sadly on the way down the road I saw a dead hedgehog on the grass verge ..... it was Vicky, one of Tulip's babies from a couple of years ago ..... I only saw her in my garden on Tuesday night and she was fit and well then .... it looks like she had a bite to her body .... from what I have no idea

She was such a lovely girl .... RIP Vicky

The Pricklets film debut

Here are the Pricklets when they were about 5 days old ........... Awwwww — at Spikey Critters.

Well it's been a busy few days .... two new ones in yesterday.

A little girl weighing just 49g and with her eyes still closed .... quite cold and dehydrated when she came in .... she was found on top of a wall next to a driveway and the finder has not idea how she got there ... she has been named Rosie She is much brighter today, so fingers crossed

Another female came in yesterday afternoon weighing 575g .... she had been bitten by a dog a few days ago and had been taken to the Vets twice for treatment by the finder who was trying to care for her ...... not quite sure what treatment the Vets think they gave but when I spoke to them they said they had not given any antibiotics although they had cleaned the wound out ..... I do wonder if we were talking about the same hedgehog as it was not a clean wound at and all and I spent quite some time fishing out bits of grass, soil and muck until the wound was thoroughly clean .... she is now on antibiotics and has also received some sub cut fluids and has gained 40g overnight

This second little girl needs a name so if you have any thoughts please let me know

I am so sorry about Vicky love, you are doing a fantastic job.

Hugs

Jo xx

Well I'm afraid I have more sad news tonight ..... I now know the reason why Tulip's babies were out and about without Mum .... she had been hit by a car and killed

I feel really gutted but at least I know what has happened.

RIP Tulip

Update on all the kids .....

Prickle was released last week, as I mentioned she would be ... but she obviously likes it around Spikey Gardens too much to leave as I saw her coming out of her hedgehog box last night

Erica is continuing to improve and has suddenly found her appetite and is eating all of her food every night now and gaining weight nicely Her walking/weight bearing on her poorly leg is also continuing to improve.

Jenna is doing really well and now weighs over 400g! She is a female Eden and is very huffy whenever I disturb her to clean her cage

Violet .... the dog bite hoggie, is doing really well and her wound is looking lovely and clean/healthy. Her finder couldn’t believe the difference after I had cleaned the wound, considering the Vet had already cleaned it! She also couldn’t believe that the Vet had not even given Violet antibiotics, with it being a deep dog bite and she will be writing a letter of complaint to them. Violet will have her final antibiotic jab today ... but will continue to receive antibiotic powder/gel mixture in and on the wound for at least the next few days and then it is just a matter of waiting for the wound the heal over completely, before she can be released, which is going to take a little while. She is eating well and is quite content. I have checked poo samples for her a couple of times now and they were clear so that is good news.

The Triplets are all doing really well and completely trash their cage every night ... they are a real bunch of hooligans compared to Tulip’s babies

Tulip’s babies are so sweet .... they are all eating well and are gaining weight nicely, 4 boys and 1 girl ..... one of them looks like HRH .... so if he starts nipping me I will definitely know who his Dad is!

Rosie the little girl that was found on Friday on the low wall next to a driveway is doing well too .... she is gaining weight nicely and her eyes are just showing signs of starting to open.

The news on The Pricklets I’m afraid isn’t so good I’m really sad to say that despite doing so well for over a week and gaining weight nicely I have suddenly lost 2 of them, the little girl and the largest boy ... hopefully the remaining boy will be OK but as the others showed no signs of illness, it’s difficult to say .... I have started him on some antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

I took a video of The Pricklets just a few days ago and will upload it shortly ... they were full of life and energy and showed no signs of being poorly so it was quite a shock to lose two of them .... RIP little ones

Well it was a busy night in the garden here ..... I think all the hedgehogs have got together and decided to put in an appearance to put my mind at rest after finding Vicky and Tulip dead last week.

There were 5 visitors in total one that I haven't seen since the middle of May and 2 others that I haven't seen since the beginning of June .... so that was lovely to know they are around and looking good.

HRH turned up as well and wasted no time at all in getting acquainted with Prickle

Very sadly I also lost the third little Pricklet during the night

Well we now have names for Tulip's babies

The four boys are ....... Luke, Nettle, Rowan and Cristano and the little girl is Leilani

I will try to take some pics tomorrow and I have also charged up and sorted out my little camcorder so hopefully will be able to do some better quality videos in future

This is a clip of the Pricklets that I took last week, when all was well .... I thought it would be interesting to compare with the photo I had taken of them in the same pink hat when they were 2 days old — at Spikey Critters

I have some nice news for you all today .......

Little Rosie who came in last Friday has opened her eyes woohoo .... so she is two weeks old today

I will take a photo or her soon and upload it together with the one I took of her a couple of days ago when she had her little peepers tightly shut

Bert, Daphne & Penelope

AKA .... The 3 Hungry Horaces

No sooner had I put the food in their cage and picked up the camera and they were out — at Spikey Critters.

I am going to try and get a little video clip of Erica later today ..... she is doing really well and now we have discovered that she really enjoys baby cat kitten biscuits even more than the other kitten biccies she was eating ..... she appears to have lost her own appetite and gained someone else's

She is walking so much better these days and I will shortly be able to move her into a larger cage and hopefully out into a soft release pen fairly soon .... now she is walking more normally I am hoping that her legs will continue to strengthen

Update of all the kids ......

Jenna, and 2 of the Triplets, Bert & Penelope, are all big enough to go out into the soft release pens now .... so will be sorting that out tomorrow

Tulip's babies are all doing really well and are gaining weight nicely.

Violet's wound is getting better but still a way to go ... she is also gaining weight and looking good.

Erica .... is continuing to do well.

Baby Rosie is also doing well and now weighs 70g

Little Daphne (the third Triplet) is going to the Vet this afternoon as her lips and feet have suddenly become swollen .... so not exactly sure what is going on there :-s, fingers crossed it's nothing serious

Well it seems like some hedgehogs just enjoy their stay with us that much they return for their holidays the following year

Some of you may remember Jess from last year when she came in with her brother Mo. Jess also became the proud Mum of at least one hoglet a little while ago ..... well today she is back here with me .... she was found out during the day and is quite underweight and also dehydrated .... she weighs just 520g when she should be weighing in at around 850g

I am still waiting for a sample from her to check but for now she is nice and warm and receiving sub cut fluids.

Thank You very much to Sarah for bringing her over to me and also for your very kind donation .... I really appreciate it

Checked a sample for Jess earlier which contains some round worms so she has started treatment for that .... to be honest I was expecting to find far more considering how underweight she is.

Jenna, Bert and Penelope spent their first night outside in the soft release pens and I think they really enjoyed themselves ..... Jenna was having fun digging and finding things ..... she didn't manage to did her way out so that was a relief .... Bert and Penelope kept having a roam around and then straight back to their food dish .... they were really comical to watch as they just moved as one everywhere they went, awwww

Some of you may remember Roger the Lodger from last year when he was found in my garage .... well he visited about a month ago just for one night, it was the first time I had seen him since last Sept/Oct time, but has now started to turn up more regularly .... so nice to see him again

Spikey Critters Hedgehog Care
Well I had a really poorly hedgehog admitted yesterday afternoon. Naomi, weighing just 90g and between 3 and 4 weeks of age. The finder had seen her out during the day and on her own for a couple of days or so, but didn't realise just how urgently Naomi required treatment. Thank you very much to the finder (I didn't get her name) for bringing her over to me, I really appreciate it.

On examining Naomi I could see straight away that she had fly eggs on her head, face and eyes. When I set to work on removing the eggs it quickly became clear that I was also dealing with small maggots as well, and her whole body was covered .... everytime I moved some spines there was another cluster of moggots ....... I got rid of all of the maggots and eggs, gave her rehydration fluids and a heatpad etc. and initially she seemed to perk up but sadly she died earlier this morning.

I suspect that along with whatever damage the maggots had done to her, I could see where they had been nibbling her skin .... she possibly also had some internal damage ... either from the maggots and/or due to dehydration and lack of food etc.

IMPORTANT ..... Please spread the word to all of your friends that if they see a hedgehog out during the day .... then they need to get it help URGENTLY. The sooner we can start treatment the better the outcome .... we still have a lot more work to do in getting this message out there so please help us.

RIP Naomi

Well after yesterday's sad news I think we all need cheering up a little .... and I can't think of anyone better to do that at the moment than our little Rosie .... so I have taken a little video clip of her which I will upload very shortly.

She has been eating all by herself over the weekend ... so no more hand feeds from me required ..... yay

This morning she tipped the scales at 92g so she is doing great.

Busy night here last night ... we had 4 little visitors ... including HRH who was doing what he does best .... chatting up the ladies

If he carries on doing this now it will only mean one thing .... lots of little ones being dropped off with Grandma for over-wintering

Latest update on the kids ......

One of Tulip's babies, Nettle, has now been transferred to one of the outdoor pens ready for his release in a couple of weeks.

The rest of Tulip's babies are a fair bit smaller than Nettle so are still inside and doing well

Little Rosie now weighs 107g She really enjoys her food and is much less wobbly ... she is now 4 weeks old

Erica practically ran across her cage the other night, so is definitely still improving

Violet's wound is roughly half it's original size, so I'm really pleased with her progress too.

Daphne is also much better after her trip to the Vet last week following her allergic reaction.

Jess who came in last week is also gaining weight ... she has put on 70g since her arrival a week ago ... she is half way through her worming treatment so will be here for a few more weeks by which time hopefully she will be back up to a reasonable weight for an adult female hoggie

Jenna, Penelope and Bert will spend a few more days at least in the outside pens and will then be released.

Well little Podgy Tum, sorry I mean Rosie, is doing very nicely ..... she now weighs in at a staggering 138g

As you can tell she really does love her food I tried her on some of the tiny babycat biscuits, alongside her usual dinner of Hills A/D and puppy formula, today and she demolished them ..... she also started to self anoint and typically I didn't have the camera to hand

I will take some more pics and possibly a video of her tomorrow .... I must remember to put the batteries on charge or no doubt I'll be in trouble, lol

I took a few pics of her the other day which I need to upload ... not sure how they will turn out though as the lighting was a bit odd.

Little Rosie is getting to be a big girl now ..... she weighed in at 175g this morning

I gave her some newspaper in the bottom of her crate yesterday, as she is walking normally now she no longer really needs the whole of the base to be covered with fleece/towels, she thought this was great fun and has been tearing small pieces off the newspaper .... she hasn't done anything with them yet but over the next few days I expect I will start to find them stuffed inside her bedding