Spikey Critters Hedgehog Care Blog

Another little patient arrived earlier today ..... a little girlie weighing just 101g.

She had been seen out during the day for couple of days and yesterday the finder saw a lot of flies hanging around her .... so when I examined her it was no surprise to find she was covered in flystrike ..... fortunately it was mostly still fly eggs and newly hatched maggots which were literally just hatching out as I worked on her to remove them.

She was a little cold and dehydrated when she came in too so has been receiving rehydration fluids and is nicely snuggled up on her heatpad

She has been named Harriet

Young Harriet is still doing OK, but she is a little bit quieter than I would like really.

At the moment, although she is old enough to eat her food from a dish, she is being hand fed as she just doesn't seem to know what to do and ends up just walking through it and wearing most of it with very little, if any, being eaten. Hopefully she will get the idea in a few days time

Rosie on the other hand knows exactly what to do ....... and now weighs over 200g!

Another new patient in this morning.

A young boy ... very underweight, dehydrated and very cold He weighs just 259g and I would estimate that he should weigh approx. 375 - 400g ! He has been named Christopher.

Christopher was found at the edge of a pavement under a hedge ..... fortunately the finders knew that he should not be out during the day. He had quite a lot of very large ticks on him and some fly eggs.

I have already given Christopher some rehydration fluid subcutaneously, which will be continuing for at least the next few days, and is currently in the ICU warming up nicely.

He is in quite a poorly state so will be needing lots of positive thoughts coming his way

Just finished checking a sample for young Christopher ..... no wonder he is so thin and poorly

His sample was absolutely riddled with Capillaria (roundworm eggs) ..... so he has started treatment for that now too.

On the positive side now he has warmed up and got some rehydration fluids into him I can actually see his little eyes .... they were so sunken when he came they were not visible

I'm afraid it is bad news again this morning.

Little Christopher died late last night .... He had picked up quite a bit with the warmth and fluids he was receiving, but he was sadly found just that little bit too late and the damage was already done

RIP Little Christopher

Another little critter in this morning, found by a neighbour about 5 minutes walk away.

He is around 4 weeks old and weighs just 122g ... he was just wandering around on his own down the lane. They went to look for others and will also be checking throughout the day, but no sign at the moment. Fortunately there was no fly strike and he looks in pretty good condition ... so hopefully he has been found in time.

I think there is also no question who is Dad is ..... considering how he latched onto my thumb with his teeth, bit it very hard and refused to let go He has had some fluids and is currently putting his teeth to some good use crunching up his baby kitten biccies

I'm currently working on a name for him although Lucifer springs to mind!

And another one in few hours or so ago!

A female weighing 259g and when I say covered in fly strike I mean covered There were already some newly hatched maggots too and some that had already gone inside her .... I think I have got them all but will keep checking.

She is not very well at all at the moment but has had fluids etc. I have checked a sample but surprisingly nothing showing in that.

She will continue receiving fluids for the next day or so and hopefully when she has picked up a little she will be able to take some food.

Thank you very much to Susan for picking her up and getting her to me so quickly.

Another one that is going to need a lot of positive thoughts sending her way

And another one in

Almost definitely a sister to Florence

Received a call from my Mum about half an hour or so ago to say there was a little one on her driveway .... no flystrike but quite dehydrated ... she weighs 169g and was literally 100m down the road from Mal's where Florence was found last night .... seems like the Council have cut the grass on the playing field yesterday and must have disturbed a nest I just hope the Mum is OK .... we will be keeping an eye out for any more.

This little girl has been named Isabel and she is now nicely tucked up in bed having had some fluids.

I'll be popping in the nursery later to read them all a bed time story

Update on some of the hoggies ........

I have managed to get 2 more hoggies out into the soft release pens .... Luke and Leilani

Young Jenna who came in at around 100g in July was released back to the wild last night ... stay safe Jenna

Hopefully Bert and Penelope will be released at the weekend ... I just need to give them a final check over an then they can go to their new home, they are going to be released by Harriet's finder

All being well young Jess will be going back home at the weekend too

Well it's been a mixed day again today.

Little Harriet is doing really well and now weighs 135g

Rosie is now a big girl and she has moved out of the house and into the main shed

Son of Eden has been named Earl and he is doing OK

Florence's poo sample the other night showed that she had Coccidia so she is receiving treatment for that and has gained 20g since she has been in

Isabel also had Coccidia and traces of blood in her poo last night and despite starting treatment straight away she very sadly passed away this afternoon. RIP Isabel

Well sadly another house guest in for a little while and not one I was expecting to take in again !

Eden came to visit last night, I haven't seen him for a couple of nights, and although he appeared to be moving around OK there was just something that wasn't quite right about him .... at the time I saw him I had no idea it was Eden as he was on the night camera which is fixed on the feeding area. He kept going to the water dish and taking on water rather than just having a drink as normal.

I went to check him over, as the last time I saw a hedgehog drinking this much water it had an abscess on its chest which was oozing pus.

He was very thin and dehydrated (even though there is plenty of food and water always available here, so goodness knows where he has been) and weighs a pitiful 700g, last time I weighed him he was closer to a kilo

When I eventually got him to uncurl I could see fly eggs around his skirt area .... so it seems like he has either not been inside his nest during the day or flies have got inside his nest.

I have removed all of the fly eggs I could find but as he is not the easiest of patients to handle .... he is off to the Vet shortly so they can knock him out and hopefully get a really good look ... I couldn't smell any infection so hopefully there is no wound there. Will be checking a sample for him shortly.

Update on Eden .....

He got on OK at the Vets .... I had managed to get all the eggs off him and there is no wound

His sample however did show that he has Capillaria (roundworm eggs) ... so he will be receiving meds for that now ... the course of treatment will take about 3 weeks so hopefully he will be able to put some weight that he has lost back on and if the weather remains mild we should be able to get him back outside

Eden is still receiving treatment but he is displaying some very strange behaviour at the moment, even for him!

I will keep you all updated about the little guy but at the moment I am very concerned about him

Eden seems a little better this morning, but still very poorly.

He did manage to eat some of his food last night though which is good so I am hoping that he will now continue to improve.

Another little one in last night, still waiting to be named ... a girl weighing just 214g. She was found by Mal who also found Florence last week.

She ate all of her dinner last night and seems quite feisty .... no doubt another one of Eden's .... she hasn't attempted to bite me (yet!) but was making the most horrendous racket this morning like a dog snarling

Thank you very much to Mal for bringing her up to me so quickly and also for your kind donation. I really appreciate it.

Florence and Earl have now completed the first part of their course of meds and are doing well and gaining weight nicely now

Harriet is doing well too and Rosie moved out of the nursery and in with the other hoggies last week.

Eden has improved slightly again since yesterday so at least things are moving in the right direction

Jess went back home yesterday, having gained around 300g whilst she has been here and now weighs 825g .... so stay safe Jess.

Bert and Penelope will be going to their new home tonight ... so good luck to them and stay safe.

As the weather is starting to get colder now and the nights are drawing in .... it will soon be time to keep a sharp eye out for young/small hedgehogs that will not be able to hibernate successfully.

Also as you know from my recent posts there are still lots of little ones and adults that are being found out and about during the day ... plus lots of others that have sustained injuries and need urgent help.

If everyone could just take a couple of minutes to contact the BHPS to find out details of your local Rehabbers and keep the contact details safe, then you will know who to call straight away should the need arise, rather than struggling to find out their details either late at night or when you are in the middle of nowhere.

The BHPS hold a database of Carers throughout the country so if you e-mail them at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] they will be able to give you the details.

If you have found a hedgehog in trouble then ring them as there could be a delay in them picking up their e-mails.

Everyone here (well nearly everyone) is doing well and gaining weight nicely.

Not really much change with our Eden at the moment, but he is no worse, so still keeping everything crossed for him.

The latest girlie that came in on Sunday night has been named Margot and she has gained 15g since her arrival.

Harriet's Dad, Colin, collected Penelope and Bert the other night and managed to say a quick hello to his little girl who gave a brilliant display of how cute she is Thank you very much for your kind donation Colin it is really appreciated. Hopefully I will be able to get a couple of pics of Harriet either tomorrow or Friday.

Daphne has just left for her new home and wasn't at all impressed with being taken out of her lovely snuggly hoggie box .... so she showed her new Mum just how huffy she can be

Hopefully I will now be able to get a few more of the kids out into the soft release pens ready for release or hibernation depending on the weather!

Well after a pretty quiet couple of weeks out in the garden we had a really busy night here with 4 hedgehogs visiting us, including Nettle (one of Tulip's babies) who was released down the road from me, back to the garden he was born in, a couple of weeks ago .... he was looking really well

Surprisingly all of the visitors were boys!

Extremely sad day here ......... very sorry indeed to report that Eden sadly passed away a short while ago.

I can't begin to tell you how much he will be missed trundling around the garden and telling me where to go

RIP little guy

Another young girl came in earlier this evening, weighing just 307g and has been named Catherine

She was found by Christopher's finder, Margaret and she had been laying on the neighbour's lawn this afternoon. Margaret did all the right things .... she picked Catherine up and wrapped her in a towel and placed the towel on a hot water bottle and brought her straight to me .... so Catherine was all nice and warm when she arrived.

Catherine doesn't look in too bad a condition but the fact that she was out during the daylight is a big concern. I am still waiting for Catherine to produce a sample so that I can check it to see if there are any internal parasites. She was a little dehydrated on arrival so is receiving some sub cut fluids to help with that and is nice an warm sitting on her heatpad

Thank you very much to Margaret for bringing her over to me so quickly and also for your very kind donation, which is very much appreciated

Little Catherine who came in yesterday is doing OK. Her faecal sample showed that she had Capillaria eggs (roundworm), so she has started treatment for that.

She is still a little quiet at the moment and is continuing to receive sub cut fluids, which I will hopefully be able to stop tomorrow .... no doubt living next to Earl, Margot and Florence she will soon pick up some bad habits

Last night I managed to catch up with Roger the Lodger again ....... I have seen him a few times during the last month but not managed to get my hands on him ..... he can really move when he wants to

He is in really good condition and weighs a whopping 1261g He can still curl up into a tight ball, so not overweight.

I think I now know where all the food is going!!

Another little girlie admitted this afternoon. She weighs just 160g and has been named Jenny.

She was found in the middle of the road yesterday afternoon and came in to me today. Poor little girl felt like an ice cube and I couldn't see her eyes due to dehydration.

She has spent the last couple of hours in the ICU and has been receiving sub cut fluids, she is now showing signs of improvement, but a long way to go .... so lots of positive thoughts for her

As I am always mentioning ..... please don't delay getting any poorly hedgehogs to a rescue .... the sooner we can start treatment they better their chances are of survival.

Very sad to report that Jenny passed away late last night.

Although she had started to improve the damage must have already been done as I don't know how long she had been out and about before she was found and then she was almost another 24 hours before she arrived here

I am often told (as in this case) oh it really looked fine and was walking about quite happily etc. etc. etc. The fact that they are out during the day tells you all you need to know!

A hedgehog that is out during the day may look perfectly normal, it may be eating and drinking and walking around apparently normally but 99 times out of 100 it will need some kind of treatment and or medication - it may be hungry and dehydrated and desperately looking for food, it may have internal parasites or as in the case of Jenny - she was only 4 weeks old and either abandoned or orphaned .... at this age they have not long had their teeth and are still in the process of being weaned .... so she will have been struggling to survive on her own.

This is why it is so important to get any hedgehogs that you are concerned about to an experienced carer as a matter of urgency, to give them their best possible chance of survival.

RIP Jenny

Well it's been a busy couple of days here shuffling the hoggies around. All the "babies" are now out of the nursery and in with the big guys in the shed, so I now have a hoggie free house

Some of the bigger ones have been moved into a colder area where they can hibernate when they are ready.

I tried to take some photos of Earl yesterday too but he didn't want his picture taken and kept looking the wrong way .... definitely a chip off the old block I reckon

I did manage to get some pics of Rowan though so will upload those for you later