Spikey Critters Hedgehog Care Blog

Well I guess it is time to start updating on the progess of the hoggies again.

Little Rosie who came in weighing just 49g at the beginning of August is now a big girl and weighs just over 600g She is becoming quite a little character and has also decided, just as a certain someone else did last year, that I really need a supervisor when I am cleaning out the Hogshed I will try and get a video of her sometime .... she is quite a task master but also very sweet and angelic

Harriet is also getting to be a big girlie and now weighs 460g .... she was about 100g when she came in covered in fly strike at the end of August .... she is very well behaved and no trouble at all, she is also a very tidy hoggie which makes a nice change

Today's update is on Catherine and Earl.

Catherine is doing really well and now weighs 480g, she is a very good girl and is also another one that keeps her home neat and tidy (I can't believe how many of them are really neat this year .... I think they are lulling me into a false sense of security, lol)

Earl is also doing great and gaining weight nicely too. He weighed in at 405g this morning He is also being very neat at the moment and is also really well behaved and has never nipped me again since the first time we met, bless him

Well I know it's hard to believe ....... but I think we have finally managed to fill Rosie's "little" tummy She actually left a few of her hedgehog biscuits last night which is unheard of!

She soon popped out to supervise me when I went to clean them out though and polished the biccies off then.

A few of the bigger hedgehogs have decided it is time to go to sleep, just how long that will last we will have to wait and see but hopefully that will mean a few less hoggies to clean out every day for a little while at leas

Well Rosie is a clever little girl (and a comedian!) ..... now that it is approx. 2 degrees cooler in the Hogshed and she doesn't want to risk getting too cold popping out of bed to her food during the night ...... she has dragged her dish of food to her bed so all she has to do is poke her little nose out, lol

She had left a few biscuits again this morning and that's when I saw her eating them ...... well I saw her nose and heard her eating them ..... she thought it was quite funny and had an amused little look on her face when she stuck her head out

A lot of you will remember Joey who came into me last year and was unable to be released back to the wild due to a foot injury.

He was released into a secure garden, that was already home to some other disabled hedgehogs, in June and he has been doing well. Previously he was living in one of the heated sheds that has several hedgehog boxes inside with access to the garden 24 hours a day, he had also been known to share a box with one or more other hoggies

I have just had an update on Joey this morning and he is now living in one of the hedgehog boxes in the garden and refusing to let anyone else in

All the hedgehogs here are doing fine

Some of them were looking as though they were going to go to sleep again for a few days, but the it seems they were just teasing me as they appear to have had a rave instead last night, their beds were totally trashed

Some hedgehogs .... well one actually ... weren't happy with me cleaning them out just once .. they made me do it twice

Some of you may remember Daphne who came in to me this summer as a tiny hoglet, weighing just 88g (she was one of The Triplets).

Daphne was released around the end of September and her new Mum phoned me last night to say she is still visiting regularly and now weighs a whopping 900g.

I am really pleased she is doing so well

Well foolishly I did for a very short time think I was going to get to bed before Midnight for once last night .... but alas it was not to be

I had made myself comfortable with a nice mug of hot chocolate and was catching up with Eastenders only to get a call from my Hubby to say he had spotted a hedgehog on the camera.

I dashed outside to see who it was, but it had moved away a short search I spotted him .... a little 300g boy that has been named Hayden

He is in good condition and has a cheeky look about him! I settled him in and gave him a selection of food to see which he preferred and then I had to keep a lookout for more.

Although he is in good condition, at this size he is way too small to be left outside as there simply is not enough time for him to gain the amount of weight required to reach the minimum hibernation weight of 650g ..... and if left he would definitely not survive.

I will not be keeping a keen eye out for any more little ones, either day or night, as his siblings are probably not far away ..... he is just about the age to have become independent of his Mum .... approx. 7-8 weeks old.

Little update on some of the kids ......

Catherine is doing really well and now weighs a massive 630g, she is a lovely sweet little girl.

Earl is doing great too ..... I'm starting to wonder if he is actually one of Eden's as he (despite biting me when we first me) has a really sweet nature and his beds are far too tidy, lol He now weighs 574g so has come a long way since he came in weighing just over 100g.

Rosemary who came in on Tuesday night is still doing really well and eating for England I have checked several samples for her and I'm really pleased to say they are all clear, so no meds required for her

Well after not seeing any hedgehogs in my garden for a few weeks now (apart from little Hayden), I was really surprised and very pleased to see one on the camera last night.

I nipped outside as quickly and quietly as I could and it was none other than our Jamie

She was in great condition so I quickly weighed her and she was a whopping 1173g I am really thrilled she is doing so well ..... I checked for signs to see if she was nursing young but it didn't look like she has been .... hopefully she isn't pregnant otherwise I'll be picking her babies up around Christmas!

Well I had a lovely surprise last night ...... just checking the garden before I went to bed and one of my females that I haven't seen since for a couple of months was munching away at one of the feeding stations

She had been visiting regularly, every night, until we had that cold spell at the beginning of September and then she suddenly stopped coming.

She was looking in really good condition and weighed just over a kilo ... which is great.

Again no sign that this one has been nursing young recently so hopefully she will not be bringing me any surprise Christmas gifts

Two more patients in last night

The first one was a young boy who was seen out during the day. Fortunately his finder knew that this usually means there is a problem, and he was right.

I am still waiting for a name for him but he is pretty underweight (and oval shaped) and was quite dehydrated. I put him straight on a heatpad to get him warmed up and he was given rehydration fluid.

He eventually popped out to eat his food and when I checked on him during the night he had totally trashed his crate and eaten all his food ... so really pleased he has a good appetite

This morning I was able to test a sample for him which showed that he has Capillaria (roundworm) and Crenosoma Larvae (lungworm) .... so he has started treatment for this already.

Thank you very much to Charles for bringing him over to me

The second patient was found by Margaret ..... Catherine & Rosemary’s Mum. This one was found at night time and was in good shape, but is far too small to stay outside at this time of the year .... weighing only 319g he simply would not have survived.

This one is another little boy and has been named Stuart Smile

Stuart also has a good appetite and on checking a sample for him this morning it was clear, at the moment anyway, but I will keep checking just to make sure.

Thank You very much to Margaret for bringing Stuart over to me and for your donation, all the catfood/hoggie bics and other goodies ..... I really appreciate your help

Everyone here is doing fine and the two new ones, Stuart and Henry are both eating well

I very nearly had another one in yesterday, and it may still arrive, but ...... the lady who rang me saw it, a baby, and phoned around to find out what to do first and then when she went back into the garden the little one had vanished

If you see a hedgehog that you suspect may need help the first thing you need to do is pick it up, before doing anything else and make sure it is somewhere that is secure ..... either in a tall sided cardboard box, cat basket etc. then make it comfortable by giving it a towel to snuggle/hide in and then start making your phone calls ....... if it turns out that the hedgehog does not need to be "rescued" then it can then always be released.

Well everyone here is still doing well.

Young Henry who came in on Saturday has picked up a lot over the last few days and it looks as though he is going to be a cheeky one ........ he has gained some weight since his arrival and now weighs 420g, hopefully now his treatment for the lungworm and roundworms has kicked in and he is no longer dehydrated we should see a much greater weight gain from him over the next few days.

Little Stuart who also came in on Saturday is doing well too and his weight is now up to 352g.

Rosemary who is most likely Stuart's sibling has also gained a fair bit of weight since her arrival a couple of week ago and she now weighs 338g.

Hayden who was found in my garden is 453g and has a really good appetite ... I'm 99.9% certain he is the 'Son of Eden' (or at least one of them!)

Catherine is now a whopping 680g ..... hopefully in a couple of weeks time I will be able to move her to somewhere cooler so she can hibernate if she chooses to .... knowing her she will probably just stay awake as she likes her food too much

Another new patient in late last night, a sibling to Rosemary and Stuart we think as he is from the same garden.

This one is another little boy, named Andrew, and he weighs just 340g .... looked in good condition when he arrived and quite cheeky and just a little bit huffy .... just far too small to survive throughout the Winter/hibernation.

Andrew ate all of his food and totally trashed his cage so all is looking good

I am just about to check a sample for him to see if he has any internal parasites so fingers crossed it will be clear.

Thank you very much to Margaret for bringing him over and also for the storage crate which will be very useful as an extra bed

Well I had bought some extra crates the other day, to use as emergency beds for the hoggies still coming in .... thinking they would last me a little while ..... but guess what .... they are already full

Another new one admitted early this morning .... very quiet and suffering from either ringworm and/or mange.

He weighs just 534g, so is a very lucky boy to have been found. It was bitterly cold here last night and is due to be just 2 degrees overnight for the next few nights at least .... at this size he may have hibernated and he is far too small to survive Winter/hibernation.

I have checked a faecal sample for him which shows that he has lungworm so he has also started treatment for that too.

He doesn’t have a name as yet but will let you know as soon as I hear from his finder.

Thanks for dropping him off for me Cheryl

Off to see if I can buy some more crates now .... I normally get them from Wilko but they are out of stock

Update on the recent arrivals .......

Andrew who came in on Wednesday night is doing fine and eating well .... I checked a sample for him yesterday and it was clear ....... so that is good news.

Henry who was in quite a poorly state when he came in and really alert now and doing very well and gaining weight ..... he spends most of his time eating Everytime I go into the porch I can hear either Henry or Andrew munching away, lol

The new little one that came in this morning has been named Buff by his finder and he has settled in well despite having to have treatment and meds

Stuart is gaining weight and eating everything in sight too and he will be moving out of the porch and into the Hogshed either tomorrow or Sunday.

I would just like to say a huge Thank You to everyone who has been donating to us recently, either by Paypal or via our Amazon Wish List ..... I really do appreciate all of your help.

This is currently the largest number of hedgehogs I have had in care at any one time and it looks as though there is every chance even more will be coming in over the next few weeks

I really couldn't take in and look after as many as I do without all your help and support.

Thank You

Everyone here doing fine I checked a sample for Harry yesterday and it shows he has Crenosoma (lungworm) larvae .... so he has started treatment for that.

Buff is a cheeky monkey and for the past few days I have found his empty food bowl at the other side of the cage to where I left it, tipped up and resting on it's side ..... I always find it in exactly the same place ... he clearly thinks its a fun game, lol

I will try and get some pics of Buff today, if he will co-operate, as he received the most votes, but if not I will try to photograph Stuart.

Thank You very much to Cheryl, Buff's finder, for dropping off the food and ceramic dishes for the hedgehogs yesterday ..... I really appreciate your help

Well it looks as though Rosie feels she has whipped me into shape with the cleaning duties .... she has stayed in bed for the last couple of days allowing me to get on with everything unsupervised

She hasn't started to hibernate yet but is slowing down a little and preparing to ..... a couple of the others are thinking about hibernating too so hopefully in a few days they will be snoring away

Most of the hedgehogs here are still too small to hibernate so I will need to keep them awake.

All is well here and a few of the hoggies have decided they will go to sleep again for a little while at least. A couple of the have also started the second part of their worming treatments, so once they have finished their course they will also be allowed to hibernate if they wish

Following his little outing yesterday Henry has now asked me to find him an Agent and is insisting on having a star added to his cage name plate