Post by galgogirl on Apr 2, 2006 19:40:06 GMT 1
I've been involved in wildlife rescue for quite a few years now, and I seem to have ended up "specialising" in hedgehogs. I've hand-reared many baby hedgehogs which had been orphaned, and fostered quite a few families of hedgehogs over the winter when their hibernation has been disturbed.
As it's getting to be spring (sort of!) I wanted to say a few words about hedghogs. They are a bonus in your garden and will happily eat slugs, snails, ect. You can feed them if you want to encourage them, but hedghogs actually have very delicate digestive systems so you have to be a bit careful. They can be fed on cat food, perferrably chicken, but in jelly NOT gravy. Don't give them fish cat food. Hedgehogs must never be given milk, as it gives them loose bowel movements and can kill them. I say this, because they like milk and will drink it, and it has been, in the past, traditional to leave a saucer of milk out for the hedgehogs. The best food for hedgehogs is those really rubbishy cheap dog food sausages you get in Lidle's, chicken flavour.
Baby hedghogs are a bit trickier. If you see them running around in the evening, their mother is probably somewhere about. If you see them in broad daylight running about, they are probably orphaned and may well need rescuing. Hedghogs are nocturnal, and if the mother is killed, the babies will wait for her until they are desperate and then will go looking for food on their own. Mother hedgehogs will not let the babies run around in the daytime.
The most important thing for the babies is to be kept warm. I keep mine on a hot water bottle, indoors or on an electric heat pad, turned low. If they are not weaned, they are fed on goats milk (never cow's milk) with a tiny bit of glucose or honey. In emergencies, they can be given water with a bit of sugar in it. They need to be fed through an eye-dropper about every 3 hours. Larger weaned babies can be fed on mashed up chicken cat food, but still keep them warm.
Hedgehogs can be de-fleaed with the mite powder for pet birds that is sold in pet shops.
If you pick up a baby hedghog in late summer, you will probably have to over-winter it, as it will not be large enough to hibernate before it gets cold outside.
These are just the basics of hedgehog care! They do smell, so as soon as mine are big enough, they graduate from the kitchen to the shed, and eventually to an old rabbit hutch in the garden.
I am happy to talk to you about hedghogs if you need any help or advise (just pm me with your phone number) or if you live near me (Somerset) I am happy to take hedgehogs on if you don't feel confident.
I always lose some hedghogs, and the same thing would happen in the wild, so don't feel bad if your rescue hedghog doesn't pull through.
As it's getting to be spring (sort of!) I wanted to say a few words about hedghogs. They are a bonus in your garden and will happily eat slugs, snails, ect. You can feed them if you want to encourage them, but hedghogs actually have very delicate digestive systems so you have to be a bit careful. They can be fed on cat food, perferrably chicken, but in jelly NOT gravy. Don't give them fish cat food. Hedgehogs must never be given milk, as it gives them loose bowel movements and can kill them. I say this, because they like milk and will drink it, and it has been, in the past, traditional to leave a saucer of milk out for the hedgehogs. The best food for hedgehogs is those really rubbishy cheap dog food sausages you get in Lidle's, chicken flavour.
Baby hedghogs are a bit trickier. If you see them running around in the evening, their mother is probably somewhere about. If you see them in broad daylight running about, they are probably orphaned and may well need rescuing. Hedghogs are nocturnal, and if the mother is killed, the babies will wait for her until they are desperate and then will go looking for food on their own. Mother hedgehogs will not let the babies run around in the daytime.
The most important thing for the babies is to be kept warm. I keep mine on a hot water bottle, indoors or on an electric heat pad, turned low. If they are not weaned, they are fed on goats milk (never cow's milk) with a tiny bit of glucose or honey. In emergencies, they can be given water with a bit of sugar in it. They need to be fed through an eye-dropper about every 3 hours. Larger weaned babies can be fed on mashed up chicken cat food, but still keep them warm.
Hedgehogs can be de-fleaed with the mite powder for pet birds that is sold in pet shops.
If you pick up a baby hedghog in late summer, you will probably have to over-winter it, as it will not be large enough to hibernate before it gets cold outside.
These are just the basics of hedgehog care! They do smell, so as soon as mine are big enough, they graduate from the kitchen to the shed, and eventually to an old rabbit hutch in the garden.
I am happy to talk to you about hedghogs if you need any help or advise (just pm me with your phone number) or if you live near me (Somerset) I am happy to take hedgehogs on if you don't feel confident.
I always lose some hedghogs, and the same thing would happen in the wild, so don't feel bad if your rescue hedghog doesn't pull through.