Hedge McHog

[the.fee.fairy]

During the summer we had Piggywinkle and Piggywinkle the smaller.

Last night, the dog went into the gardena nd started going mad at something. I went out to look, and there was the smallest little hedgehog!!

Now, i realise that they should be hibernating, or at least gettign ready to hibernate right now, so i phoned up the local hedgehog plac3e, and they told me to grab him and weigh him. I did, and he weighs 250g. They should weigh 600 if they're going to survive hibernation

So....hedge mchog is now living in the shed in a box with newspaper, dog food and water.

I'll post pics when i get a chance.

Anyone got any tips on making him happy?

[shiney]

Oh what a kind thing to do. I am sure he'll be fine and snug hogging a box for the Winter.

I don't know anything about hedgies sorry.

[the.fee.fairy]

i hate the thought of anything suffering, and he is really little.

Also, maybe i can train him to go slug-hunting in time for spring

[paradox]

Well done hedgehogs are a lot less prolific nowadays than they used to be so keeping one alive is a very noble thing to do and hopefully karma will reward you with more slug eating hedgehogs next year.

Have you checked it for fleas etc?

[2steps]

aww that's lovely

[the.fee.fairy]

Its got a tic on its head, so i'm not going to touch it. (also, i don't want to touch the animal too much, or i can't release it in the spring), it doesn't seem to have a lot of fleas.

I'm keeping it in the shed away from the house and dog just in case though (although, i do realise that hedgehog fleas are unlikely to infest anything but the hedgehog...).

I did read once that if a hedgehog lost all its fleas, it would die, but i'm not sure about the truth of that one.

Weighted him today. He hasn't put on any weight, but he has munched half a bowl of dog food and bran. Not sure if he's drunk any water, or just knocked it everywhere. And his bowels appear to be working just fine....

[Millymollymandy]

Gather up some fallen leaves, dry them out and put them in its box. It'll be more natural for it than newspaper. Enjoy your hedgehog and I hope it survives the winter!

[PurpleDragon]

Contact Tiggywinkles hedgehog hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

If you aren't close by enough to put him there for the winter, they will certainly give you all the advice you need to make sure he survives the winter in good shape :)

The only thing (I think) I know about tham is that feeding them bread and milk isnt supposed to be good for them. It is supposed to be tinned cat food ... ?

[the.fee.fairy]

I called the hedgehog hotline, and they gave me advice over the phone. I've had a look at Tiggywinkles website too, and got things off there.

I'm feeding him dog food mixed with bran (so its not all protein) and water.

He lost a bit of weight Saturday night but he's put it all back on by today :)

Here he is: