Snuffle Lodge Hedgehog Rescue

As well as being a child's toy, Holly also has a substantial burden of capillaria roundworms, so has had her first injection and will now be on anti biotics.

Sad to report that little Holly, the hog which was rescued from an evil version of catch from some Bulwell children, passed away. It is impossible to tell whether her ordeal contributed to her death, but it certainly would not have helped her, particularly with her considerable burden of capillaria roundworm. RIP

On a more positive note, the first of the Bulwell triplets, Carol, should make it into a pre-release run outdoor (night time temperatures permitting) within the next few days. Her siblings, Paula and Jon are probably about a week behind her, so there is still the possibility of them being reunited ahead of their return to the wilds of Snape Wood.

Some more sad news, regrettably, with Lola succumbing to a significant burden of both roundworm and lungworm, despite treatment having started for both - sadly, it proved too little, too late. Particularly upsetting as she rallied really well a few days into her stay with us.

And little Oregon, the juvenile we picked up last week from near to the Lodge is, after an initial wobble, finally piling on the pounds.

Meanwhile, little Dusty is currently being treated for mange mites but is responding well to treatment - we're hopeful we've caught it before it does any damage to her skin. She remains a spiky (yes, literally as well) little character, full of huffpuffery and general hatred of us, which suits us just fine.

The best news of all, our longest 'serving' patient (11 months), Hector is very close to being placed outdoors in a run - we reckon within the week, which is an excellent step forward for him. He has had a considerable battle with both ringworm and mange, but has come out the other side, although it has taken more treatment than we care to remember to get him right. We will be setting up obstacle courses aplenty in our biggest run, to see how he copes. Best case scenario at this stage is that he gets a forever home in an enclosed garden, the worse case that he spends winter with us, but hopefully hibernating outdoors.

Our 31st release of the year, with Sandy heading back to Kimberley this evening after spending two months with us. He arrived as the sole survivor from a litter, and whilst a slow developer was probably one of the grumpiest hogs we've ever had the pleasure of hosting - and we LIKE grumpy ! He weighed a super 745g and signs were he was thinking about hibernation...

And now our 32nd release ! Winifred has returned to Bilborough. A very large female hog, she came to us with noisy breathing. Despite regular testing, there was no sign of a parasite burden, so she was given a week of antibiotics to cover any bronchial infections. We suspect, however, she has scarring to the lungs, a legacy of a previous lungworm infestation. She has gone home weighing a ginorous 1137g - and yes she can fully curl, with no flabby bits hanging out !

Thanks tonight to both families who collected their hogs - they didn't come empty handed and have boosted our supplies of towels, newspapers, food and our 'mealworm pint pot'

New admission, Boris, male juvenile 289g. Caked in fly eggs and with a nasty head injury, most likely a dog bite, Boris was found in the road in Annesley, and brought over to us immediately. Sadly, Boris is very poorly at present, but we have cleaned him up and zapped as many eggs as we can see - if he makes it through the night he'll be off to the vets. Fingers crossed.

Sadly Boris passed away, shortly after an operation to glue a nasty head wound by our wonderful vets today. To be honest we were surprised he made it through the night, such was his condition, but we made sure he had plenty of fluids regularly. We've never seen so many fly eggs and maggots on one hog, but we successfully scrubbed him up. Very sad that he underwent surgery but didn't have the strength to fight on. Thanks to the finders for taking the time to ensure he had a safe, warm passing.

Carol is the first of the triplets to make it into pre-release, and we think she will probably be joined by at least one if not both her siblings by the weekend.

Collapsed juvenile came to us but as anticipated passed away gently within a very short space of time - she was too far gone for us to help unfortunately, through no fault of the finder who'd done everything by the book before bringing the hog over. Sadly, they do sometimes just deteriorate rapidly as was the case here.

No comment on how Hector is doing in his new home - for the simple reason we haven't seen him out yet ! We will check on him tomorrow morning but he wouldn't be the first hog to hibernate instantly as soon as he went out.

But on a more positive note, Carol, who was free to leave last night, has elected to hang around for at least another night - she has free access to the wilds of Snape Wood if she chooses.

New admission, Toffee, female orphan 131g found in Epperstone - finders instructed to keep an eye out for others.

And regrettably, Prickles, the hog which came in on Saturday, passed away yesterday - we suspect a serious pelvic injury and possible internal injuries, most likely an RTA victim, found in the finder's border.

Little Toffee has the sniffles so is now being treated with antibiotics.

Holly, Marmite and Trevor are now in a much roomier cage and have doubled in size since arriving. They are now fully weaned and are piling on the weight at an incredible rate. I suspect they sense the weather is getting colder and their natural instincts are kicking in !

The more positive story is that Tom, a recent releasee, who we discovered a week ago pootling around outside during the day, has turned a corner and is doing really well after worrying us for a few days with weight losses and no appetite. He's over halfway through his treatment of lungworm and roundworm, and he's now piling on the weight and looking a lot bette

On a more positive note, however, Paula and Jon have been released tonight. Their turns to grab hold of their second chance, which is all we can ever offer hedgehogs leaving the Lodge, no matter how much we'd love to mollycoddle them for life.

Rotten weekend - little Cheeky who we extracted from Carol's box yesterday died suddenly this morning without warning. We also discovered another hog yesterday morning collapsed in the garden and he too died within hours without recovering. We are seeing very high levels of capillaria in Snape Wood hogs this year, so clearly parasites are taking their toll. Very sad

The litter of six hoglets around the corner were, not unsurprisingly, abandoned by mum two days ago, so we have admitted them. Thanks ever so much to Claire Marie and family for doing a sterling job of keeping the little ones fed. The drop in temperatures will have encouraged Mum to hibernate and leave the little ones to it (sad but true). Their weights range from tiny (121g) to porker (202g) and everything in between. They have been split into a 3, a 2 and the little one on its own, based on weight. All we need now are some names - genders unknown at present as they were all in 'conker' mode when we picked them up.

Adult male with infected head wound in this evening - washed out, zapped maggots, crossed fingers....

Ooh 'eck, these new arrivals from this morning don't half pile through the food. One pouch between the three tubs of lard (well, between 180g and 200g) left out at 11am. Gone by the time we got home from work. Another pouch put in. Gone within 10 minutes. Another two pouches put in. Three cheeky monkeys chomping their way through it....

The adult with the head injury, swollen jaw and funny back legs somehow muddled through the night - he's off to the vets this morning for a 'knock out and prod about'...

Little Conker, the runt of the litter of six we picked up yesterday is so far behind in development compared to the rest that its still unweaned ! That would explain the small size. Now happily guzzling on puppy milk formula.

Our male adult hog with the head injury from Wollaton was given the all clear by the vet yesterday, but still has some distance to go. We suspect a dog bite which punctured the top of the head (just missing the left eye by millimetres) - he also had a very swollen jaw/neck, which shows no sign of a break. And to add to his woes a heavy burden of capillaria. He's now on a cocktail of medication and oinkments (deliberate pun), but is still having to be syringe fed, although he has started to make some attempts to lap for himself today, which is encouraging.