25 September 2009

September 28th, 2009

Boy have we had a very busy week!!!! I really don't know where to start. So lets begin with the quads. The boys have been out in the soft release pen since the 20th. They seemed to take living in there okay. And then on the following Thursday they were moved to there new home with Tracy and family.


Here are some photos of the garden they will be living in... that is if they so choose.

George, Tracy's son was looking after them very well. They also have some friendly chickens and a Guinea pig living in the garden and I am sure the neighborhood cats will come calling on them too.

I am really envious of the boys and their new home.


And since they have gone it was the girls' time to go out into the soft release pen. We are giving them an extra bit of time in it so they can fatten up before winter. As I want to make sure they all have plenty to eat before they have to deal with the hoggies in our garden and will be out on their own very soon.

You can see how big Millie has gotten and Holly too. Holly is now sporting a lovely white H on her back so we will be able to know it is her when she gets released soon.

This is Holly before the H. She as all of the quads are very beautiful hedgehogs.

Actually all hedgehogs are beautiful..... Well jury is still out on Brutus though.


Here is the new arrangement for the girls and our outdoor play pen. This is pretty near where the other hoggies come to visit and eat. We want the girls to get used to the comings and goings of the others before we release them. I plan to tuck their houses, by the way the names of the houses are Hog Manor and Hedge Manor, up under the hazel nut tree. :)

A close up of the girls accommodations.


Do you all remember the little hedgehog that we took in from the vets? Little Henrietta? Well she is no longer little. We have nicknamed her the little princess, as she is really gorgeous. She has long fur around her ears and her skirt is filled with long flowing hairs. She is such a handsome thing when she walks her spines just ripple beautifully.

Here she is on the fleece blanket when she was having some exercise one day in the outside pen.

And this is her new swish cage! A lovely gentleman (Paul and his wife Patricia) gave us the cage. He answered my Freecycle ad and he also donated some panels for us to use outside to make a pen with. We are meeting some very very kind and generous folks who have a love of hedgehogs besides ourselves. The nest box was purchased from a donation made by my friend Linda's Beavers. Sainsburys had the wooden bread bin marked down to £2.50 so we got one and converted it to an indoor nest box. She really enjoys going inside where it is nice and dark and a quiet place for her too. :)

And here is some more recent photos of our little Princess Henrietta.

She will soon be going into our other cage in the conservatory in preparation for getting ready for moving to the soft release pen when the girls are released. She is now up to 436 grams. We are sure she is going to make it to the 600 or more grams deadline for the end of October. Otherwise we will need to keep her in over winter.

She is actually quite a sweet thing, but still will huff and puff at us.


Brian has relinquished that the hedgehogs may well be here for some time and so to make things a bit easier on him and myself we have converted the conservatory into a sort of Hogspital. This houses our cage in prep for the outside soft release pen. As the other cages are upstairs in the spare bedroom the temperature is much higher than that of outside. So the conservatory is a between type of house for them to get used to cooler temps. We keep it well opened and ventilated during the day and it is not cold during the evenings. Also this will keep hay, straw and any little beasties such as fleas out of the house hopefully as we have a side gate entrance for people to use.

And our first patient to use hogspital was this little guy.

A lady by the name of Pat, brought him to us. And unfortunately he had a few extra guests that we soon got rid of. 16 horrible ticks. We have nicked named him the Beeve for the moment as I thought it would be a super idea for my friend's Beavers to name him since they made a very generous donation to our little hedgehog rescue. We were able to purchase all of these items for the hedgehogs.....


Here is the little boy having one of his first feeds. I give them a mix of Re hydration fluids, Esbilac and Hills AD. The first couple of feeds is mainly Re hydration water. And for the first few days of a new hedgehog, I live feed by feed with them. They sick or young ones are every 2 hours. Little and often. Then I increase the amounts and try to get them eating on their own and lengthen the times between feeds.


It wasn't long and he was eating all on his own. Although he was a little messy.

He is very very cute, but don't let the looks fool you. He is the most different of all the hedgehogs we have yet encountered. Very huffy and independent. His spines are white tipped so it makes him look lighter in colour and he just seems well compact. And sooooooo cute!!!!

I do have to laugh when he huffs now, but I expect he will be the ruler of the garden when he gets released.

Oh and typical, I went to weigh him and he decided he was too heavy, so he weed and pooed....... You can tell when they are about to wee.... the hind legs go wide and back. And when they are about to poo..... usually the tail goes up. And yes they do have tails. They are rather small compared with the rest of them.


Here he is eating the lavender plant.

And soon afterwards he started the serious business of self anointing.

This was a few days later and you can tell how much he is growing.

boy 9


He is still pretty darn cute.


Once the Beavers decide on a name I will post it up. :)


Now for our latest addition...... Little Gail. I got a phone call on Saturday from a nice young lad who said he had a rather small hedgehog. I typically ask if they want to rear them or do they want to bring them to me.. And he said unfortunately he had a dog and thought it wouldn't be a good idea. Although hedgehogs and cats get along to a certain extent, Dogs and hedgehogs usually don't, unless you have trained your dog otherwise.

Anyway he brought us Gail and she is just the sweetest thing. Doesn't huff or puff or bite so far. And lets me pick her up without her prickles up. She doesn't mind nose tickles either.



Okay way past my bed time now and there is lots more to chat about. But can't keep my eyes open any longer.
I just want to thank everyone who has helped the little ones. Well done to our Finders!!!
All the best and see you all soon.

No comments: