Snuffle Lodge Hedgehog Rescue

The long-delayed external insulation work at the Lodge will finally start on 10 June 2013 - given the amount of banging, noise and general disorder, we may have to close the sanctuary for at least 4 weeks - bad timing, but nothing we can do about it, as it is part of a CESP, funded by the Government...

Spud's behaviour varies from very poorly to cheeky in equal measures - one minute he cannot move and is limp, the next up and drinking and eating for himself. He's so incredibly thin, I have no doubt malnourishment is playing a part - he's getting regular syringe feeding, and is at last doing solid poos. Far from out of the woods but today has gone from 'he won't last an hour' to deliberately head-butting my foot...

Aww, come on Spud!!!x

We are currently closed to new admissions due to external cladding insulation being fitted to the outside of the Lodge. Due to the noise and disturbance which will ensue it will be completely inappropriate to host hogs during the 5 or so weeks the work will take place. We will still offer an advice service after 7pm and will still be able to check hogs over and, if finders feel confident, offer instructions as to their care. Sorry for the inconvenience - it's extremely frustrating that this has to happen at the busiest time of the year, but hopefully we'll re-open at the back end of the baby season, sometime in mid-July.

sound like they are really busy x

Lovely message today about a hog rushing around at 9.30 this morning collecting leaves - whilst ordinarily we say 'a hedgehog out in the day is in trouble' this is the one key exception. As long as you see the hog with leaves in its mouth shuttling to and fro then leave well alone - it'll be a soon-to-be-a-mother hog building her maternal nest.

Sadly, little Spud passed away last night - sorry for the delay in reporting as we do operate on the basis that the finders are informed first. He was doing really well yesterday and had progressed to lapping recovery diet food. However, later in the day we found him completely collapsed on the heatpad, and he slipped away gently not long afterwards. He will be missed - even though he was only with us a week, he was a little character and whilst we never got to the bottom of what was ailing him he showed plenty of spirit to the end. So long little man

Oh no that is so upsetting to hear. Poor little Spud. Run free little man.
Lovely news on the nest building hog though.

It is - it just goes to show how much help is needed though x

A rather timely re-opening here at Snuffle Lodge as we learned today that Janet, who runs Hedgehog Welfare over in Grantham, has suffered a broken arm and wrist and won't be able to take any more hogs in at present.

No fuss and fanfare, but we are open again (hurrah), and took our first admission yesterday,a gorgeous little demale orphan, Sniffles, 167g, who was found wandering around during the day.

Aww, glad to hear they're back open again. Good luck and best wishes to Sniffles.x

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

New admission, Lucky, orphaned male - 165g, slightly underweight otherwise in great shape. Found in Mapperley during the day. Here he is getting stuck in ! — at Snuffle Lodge.

Lucky has now been reunited with his sister, Star, who has just arrived from the same garden - she's only slightly bigger at 180g.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Good luck Lucky and Star.x

A Snuffle Lodge welcome to Jay, who was rescued in Blidworth yesterday, found collapsed out during the day. The finder followed our advice about heat and rehydration and Jay has been transformed into a 122g male hoglet full of beans. Just goes to show how vital it is these little munchkins have direct heat even in the middle of the hottest day of the year.

The two hoglets are a boy, Jack, and a girl, Holly. Both were caked in fly eggs, with poor old Jack having a load behind his right eye lid. Yuk. All now gone, thankfully. Encouragingly, both their eyes are now open and Holly is even lapping for herself - she is the jumping bean and is full of life. Both doing well.

Aww, great news. Good luck little hoggies.x

And another new admission - a female hoglet weighing 124g who appears to be the sole survivor from a garden in Watnall. Unfortunately we forgot to ask the finder to name her - so Kerrie if you're visiting, we need a name for her ! She got stuck into a plate of cat food upon arrival and is now snoozing

Aww, bless her.

The terrible twins, Holly and Jack both had weight gains in their first 24 hours with us and are slowly becoming independent - they are now lapping happily although we will still give the odd syringe feed at this early stage in their life. They are both around 80g now. Our tried and tested policy is to get the hogs as independent as quickly as possible, rather than relying on humans for syringe feeding, but we will weigh them daily to ensure members of litters are not getting bullied and therefore not getting their fair share. We'll also plonk them in front of the tiny plant pot saucers every three hours, but experience tells us they rarely feed when 'forced', they tend to do it sneakily when we're not around !

Handy advice this for anyone feeding visiting hedgehogs: ...the general rule of thumb is that if the dish is empty in the morning, and you know it has not been eaten by cats, then put out more the next night.

All the other recent admissions are pigging out and 'splatting' happily. The latter is a 'technical term' used by rehabbers to describe hogs resting with their front and back legs splayed out, and their bellies pressed firmly against the floor of the cage - this is because they sweat through glands in their tummy. Very cute it is too, although we do have fans at full blast in the hogspital - the hoglet twins are actually still using a heatpad, as when they are very young, hoglets cannot maintain their body temperatures as well as adults

Aww, great info. And so cute.