Update on the hedgehogs. September 12, 2009

The babies are all doing super and growing at an excelled pace. Brian and I think it is because their impending hibernation could be causing them to put on weight at such a fast pace. Or it could be the good grub I serve here. :) I can't believe it has been two weeks already that they have been living with us. :) We are now catching up on our sleep and things are getting sort of semi back to normal stage.

The babies have been separated into girls and boys cages, because the girls are a little clingy and were crawling all over their big brother's back and he was doing a bit of crawling rather than walking.

Boys cage

Girls cage

So I was afraid of them causing him a problem, especially with him putting on weight so fast and his muscles needing to develop a bit more. The added weight of his sisters was just a bit much for him. But other than that they all are doing super and growing, growing growing!!! As you can tell from this photo of them taken a few days ago to one a bit more recent.


September 9th photo


September 11th photo

Here are the two girls getting ready for their run in the outside pen and a bit of fresh air and exercise.

And here are the boys. You can tell that Thor is alot bigger than little Ace. Although Ace is catching up quick.

They now are on night and morning feeds and I leave food in for them during the day time if they get hungry. We are also slowing down on the laundry and doing only one load of fleeces a day now. :)

Honest it is like having children all over again.

Alex sporting his new marks.


Alex, has now gone into the soft release pen and is doing really well. We weighed him last night and he is now 560 grams. I am really pleased at the way he is coming along. The first night was a bit of a trauma for him and for me. We hooked up the camera to watch him and he was a bit panicky at first, but calmed down and then started picking up the straw we had lined the pen with and was using it to build his nest. That was really fascinating watching him build it. :) He had all sorts of visitors during the night too. Tyler stopped by, as did Suzy and then a strange hog....(who we have found out since is Brutus...more on him in a moment). And even the cats had to see who was going to be living in their garden. Only thing is only one of the cats actually lives here. I think the others have claimed it as part of their territory though. Today we will be moving his pen from the patio and onto the grass in preparation for a Monday night or Tuesday release. He has already been marked and has three spots.... one on each side and one on his bum. :)

Tyler has had to come in for a top up on his marks. We use an eco friendly water based tipex so it eventually washes off. By bringing them in again to be topped up, they get a quick health check and weigh also. :) Tyler continues to visit the garden nightly, although we did have one night he didn't show up. The neighbour was out working on his car (he does some sort of cart racing or something like that) and I think this put Tyler off. We think he is living in his garden, but can't be for sure. Wonder if they make hoggy cams....hmmmm


Brutus the Terror!!

For the past few nights our Rumbling hog has been visiting the garden. He went after Tyler one night and wasn't getting anywhere as Tyler rolled up and wedged himself in by the nest boxes. No matter how hard this guy tried he couldn't budge Tyler and couldn't bite him either. So I took the opportunity and snapped him up and brought him in to be checked, weighed and marked. His name is Brutus. He just seems such a brute is why I named him that. He weighed in at around 850 grams and is a bit older than the others. Probably at least a year older or more. He has a scared up nose, from some battles with prickly spines and is one very aggressive hog. He even tried to bite me a few times. He was tick less and flea less, I think they were too frightened to go anywhere near this one.

Brian has also been extremely busy building hedgehog nest boxes. And so far we did have Tyler spend a little time inside one of them and Suzy is checking them out too. :) Alex has his own at the moment also.

This box is a cube box we got at B&Q and Brian has modified it into a hoggie nesting box.

Complete with a little awning to keep them dry. :) We are getting really sad now and starting to name the houses ..... So far we have Hogwarts, Bagg End, Hog Villa, and Des Res. Oh and the Green house. The next to be built will be Hedge Manor.

Until next time please look out for these lovely creatures, especially when driving. And put out cat food and water for them and you will have some lovely additions to your garden. :) And sorry for you folks in the US and countries that don't have them. You just don't know what fun you are missing. :)