October 13th, 2009

Hi all, sorry for not updating of late. Poor Jamie took a turn for the worse and in the end unfortunately we had to have her put to sleep. The vet said she had never come across an animal of that size with such enlarged kidneys. I really have no clue what caused this to our poor little girl. She was such a lovely hedgehog and I got rather attached to her, trying desperately to save her. I was starting to wear myself down with late night feeds, but felt they were necessary. But when she just refused to eat anymore and was vomiting, I knew she had had enough. She did make a gain in weight the first few days and was quite perky there for a bit that I thought we were on the up. But unfortunately she started loosing the weight and just never recovered after that. She also was having problems keeping warm. I kept her hot water bottle going the whole time she was here. And even had the spare one in sometimes and wrapped her up in fleeces so she wasn't cold. I did seek help and asked what it could be, but we just don't know. Not sure if it could have been poison or another problem. Anyway I hope she is resting in peace now and I know I for one miss her.

The others are all doing super. Millie and Holly have been released as per the videos below. We see Holly most nights now, but after watching this mornings video of her gathering up straw, I have a feeling she may well go into hibernation here soon. I am unsure about Millie, as we haven't actually seen her going into any of the boxes. I think she is a bit on the adventurous side and is enjoying exploring her new surroundings.
Henrietta has now been in the soft release pen for a little over a week and is piling on the weight and will be released next Sunday or Monday night. And then Spikey will be following her into the soft release pen as he is now 580 grams so he will be a bit over 600grams when he is in there. Gail is just a bit under Spikey in weight, but we only have the one soft release pen so she will be going down into the conservatory where the temps are a bit cooler so she can adjust before her turn in the soft release pen. But if we have to we can keep both of them in over the winter if any problems arise.
As for Tyler, Suzy, Brutus and Gus, well....... we think they have all gone into hibernation now. We haven't seen them at the food bowls for almost a week with the boys and Suzy hasn't been for a few days now. They say the boys go into hibernation first and then the girls follow. I wonder if it is because of the amount of natural food available and the boys are leaving the girls what is left. Not only have ours disappeared from the feeders, but several other carers hogs have also gone. I wonder if we are in for an early and very cold winter here this year.