Hogarth's / Spikey's Hedgehog Rescue
Help - I've found a sick hedgie! - Out in the day? - Hedgehog First Aid - Sick Hedgehogs - Injured Hedgehogs - Orphaned Baby Hoglets - Re-hydrating hedgehogs - Adopt-A-Hedgehog - How it all began - Our Rescue Facilities - Hedgie stories - Our Gallery/ Patients - Our Photo Albums - Other wildlife - Artwork - Hedgehogs' Year - Be hedgehog friendly! - Membership/ How to join - Our Newsletter - Latest News - Sales / Fundraising - Open Days/ Events - Please Help Us - Special Thanks - Home-page - Home-page 2 - Home-page 3 - Contact Us - E-Mail Us - Links
Spikey's Hedgehog Rescue.
Winter Care of Rescued Hedgehogs.
If you didn't already know about it, you would think that Hedgehog rescue during the Winter time would be far less busy than any other time of the year, wouldn't you? Well, no...that couldn't be further from the truth! Winter time is actually one of our most busiest times of the year!
Why? Well, the answer is simple. Actually, it all gets extremely busy again from the early-Autumn, when baby hoglets of a "second brood" start to arrive, and these continue until surprisingly late - right through Christmas and beyond! The latest ever baby hoglet we have recorded that we rescued, was on the 15th January, 2001; this one was only about 4 - 5 weeks old, weighing-in at only about 120 grams!! Which meant, he had been born in about the middle of December!!!
It sounds amazing, but it's happening with increasing instances, all over the United Kingdom. That baby just mentioned was still under the weaning stage (still needing hand-feeds by syringe); it makes one wonder just how many babies don't make it, just because they were born "too late". This is why every year, in Autumn - Winter, as well as our annual Bonfire Night appeals, we also appeal to everyone to please look out for baby hoglets ("Autumn orphans") out and about, even if they are not actually orphans and have left the nest naturally... All hedgehogs need to be at least 600 grams (over a pound) in weight to survive the Winter successfully. Any who are below this weight, are unlikely to survive.
We always ask that if just one baby is found, then to please look for the rest of the litter, also, as they won't be far away. The problem also is, the later they are found, if there is no supplemental food available, they are more likely to be starving - as the natural food becomes scarce. The average number of babies per litter appears to be 4 or 5... and during every Autumn (October to December) we do sometimes get whole hedgehog families brought to us!! All very hungry and squealing for food!
Under the weaning age (6 -7 weeks), all hoglets need feeding every 3 hours, day and night (the very small ones even more). And they need to be kept warm - constantly! To do this, hot water bottles wrapped in a towel can be used (as is when treating a sick/ injured/ shocked patient)... of better use are heat pads, but even better, an incubator, but these are very expensive items! I remember my first litter, I used an electric blanket at a constant warmth for them to snuggle on to!
Very importantly, all individuals/ families are kept separately, and all newcomers are isolated (quarantined) for at least 48 hours - some much longer, depending on the severity of a sickness. Hedgehogs carry lungworms and these are highly infectious. The majority of sick hedgehogs we receive, have this illness. All sick hedgehogs get examined and treated by a top local veterinary surgeon; sometimes the whole team will give treatment or surgery to an individual - whether baby or adult, depending on how sick, or how badly injured. The vets too have incubators, so sometimes our hedgehogs are kept at the vets over night(s).
Food for baby hoglets is unpasturised goats milk & colostrum or Esbilac milk-replacement. Cows milk is of no use whatsoever! The milk is given by syringe, amounts increased gradually over the weeks. At about 3 weeks, some hoglets are ready to start lapping. At this stage, we offer them weaning "glop" - this is basically a mixture of goats milk, mashed up puppy food, plus vitamins (available as drops, e.g. Abidec). From about 4 - 5 weeks old, we start to offer them more solid food, but this is given in tiny, manageable chunks, as their little mouths do otherwise struggle.
One of our most successful hoglets we have had this Winter ('02- '03), is a female, called "Snuffles". She as put on an average of about 250 grams each month!! She weighed-in at only 325 grams on 26th November... now in late-February she weighs 850 grams and is fully-grown!! Of the adult hedgehogs we have in this Winter - Hawthorn (taken in back in early-August) and Brim (who came to us in September) - both have recovered beautifully!
So, you can see why we are so busy during the Winter, because as well as all the sick and injured hogs (as we get at any time of year), all these hoglets have to be fed and cared for, right through the season, until release-time in the following Spring... by which time, they are all very large, grown-up hedgehogs!!
Hogarth's / Spikey's Hedgehog Rescue
Help - I've found a sick hedgie! - Out in the day? - Hedgehog First Aid - Sick Hedgehogs - Injured Hedgehogs - Orphaned Baby Hoglets - Re-hydrating hedgehogs - Adopt-A-Hedgehog - How it all began - Our Rescue Facilities - Hedgie stories - Our Gallery/ Patients - Our Photo Albums - Other wildlife - Artwork - Hedgehogs' Year - Be hedgehog friendly! - Membership/ How to join - Our Newsletter - Latest News - Sales / Fundraising - Open Days/ Events - Please Help Us - Special Thanks - Home-page - Home-page 2 - Home-page 3 - Contact Us - E-Mail Us - Links