5 November 2009

November 5th, 2009

Not only do we have hoggies seeking us out for help and showing up here at the house, but they are now appearing at my friend's house!!! My friend Linda, dropped by yesterday with a load of newspapers for the hoggies and we sat and had a chat and a coffee. :) She has been a huge help to me and Brian, with our venture in taking care of the hedgehogs. Anyway, last night we had settled and was watching the telly when the phone rang. We hardly get late phone calls, so was a little worried until Brian said Hi. I knew it was someone he knew. So he passes over the phone and it is Linda.... "I have a present for you!! It was on my front step." I chuckled and said well bring it over. She says it is covered in fleas. So now we have hedgehogs visiting my friends house for help along with our own here, word is definitely spreading!!!

Linda comes over with little Benjamin in a box with a ball cap that she used to scoop him up with. I went immediately into action the minute I got the phone call getting a cage ready for him, heating up a water bottle and fixing him some food and water. Once here we deflead him with Johnsons Rid mite powder for Budgies, this stuff works super quick and the fleas started jumping off him really quick!!!! Why on earth they have decided to stop making this stuff is beyond me! Luckily I have gone to ebay and picked up a few more bottles of it so we are set for a bit longer until we can find a replacement for removing fleas.

We weighed the little guy and he was a bit on the thin side and very skittish. So after most of the fleas had died we put him in his cage and left him to settle down. It was tough going to bed, but I did sometime after 11.00pm and was up bright and early this morning checking on him. He had eaten during the night and had some water before he pooed in it. I haven't figured out why they do that yet. Any way he had done some poos and some wee so was okay in that department. And a quick check over and no ticks that I could see and all legs okay and no other problems I could spot. So cleaned his cage and put him back with a hot water bottle and a little house and fleeces and food and water. And here he is.... all comfy cozy..

He is resting after eating a little more this morning and having another drink. :)

Well our little Tiny that we brought in here that was underweight is doing okay. I just finished worming him and he is stable in his weight at the moment, not putting any on at the moment. If he doesn't start gaining by tomorrow we will be going to the vets for some antibiotics to give him a little boost. Over all though he is looking okay and healthy.

He is very shy and very cute. He has a short little nose too. I wonder if he could be one of Brutus' hoglets or Gus' as both of them have shortish noses.

Harry is doing well and is now 620 grams. He enjoys his exercise time out in the garden, but lately it has been a bit on the muddy side. I do have to keep my eye closely on him when he is out as he can find places to crawl into and quick. He enjoys visiting the outside brick feeder that Brian has put together. He also likes snuffling about in my veg patch too.

Harry

And Spikey is doing well. :) Here he is before we marked him the day before his big release in the garden.

We use Eco friendly tipex to mark them as it is a water base product and won't harm them. It washes and wears off in a short time too. I know it looks a bit like someone doing graffiti, but it is important that we mark them so we can distinguish who is who.... Mainly for dietary and medical reasons. We keep detailed records of each of our charges so if any problems should arise we will know their history. Any way, we marked him with an S for Spikey our Super hog. He is too. :)

He has been coming back every night and going into his nest box. This morning he must have had a cramp or his bedding wasn't quite right as he came out at about 7am and went right back in again. Our camera has been really brilliant for keeping an eye on them in the garden. :)

And finally Gail. She is now in the soft release pen and is getting ready for her big move on Sunday. She is going to another Friend of ours' garden. She will be looked after as well as I would look after her and will have a lovely nest box and lots of food. She and Spikey have been chatting at the bars of the pen most nights now. :)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely to read that Harry's now over 600g! What a great job you've both done looking after him!. Love the pic too, he sounds quite a cheeky chappy!! Katy :)

Pat said...

Katy, He is growing quick!!! And is now 698 this morning!!! :) We had a bit of a wander about. And he has now figured out how to get out of the coldframe/playpen. :) Very clever boy.

Anonymous said...

tort!?!? acme!?!? send me an email pls if it is!
rayven33@gmail.com

Pat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pat said...

Hi there, yup that was me or is me about 13 years later that is. LOL I have sent you an email. :) One thing that has gone in the 13 years is my memory along with my trim figure.LOL

Barbara said...

Hi Pat - here's a Gail update.
First of all I had to put the run back together - a degree in engineering might help, but it didn't take me too long in the end - after I stopped and actually thought about it. Gail then had a little wander round the garden and then went into the run. She walked up and down both sides, round the back, all round the outside of the run, but didn't seem to notice there was a way in at the front. I finally showed her where it was and she went in and hasn't been out again yet, so I guess she's reasonably happy with it. While all this was happening my friend the robin came up to see what was going on - he's very nosy. They're a bit blurred as it was getting dark but I've put a couple of photos up on Picasa at http://picasaweb.google.com/La.Creme.Chelm/Gail# I've also taken some video but whenever I pointed the camera at her she stopped doing anything interesting.

Pat said...

Awwwww Thanks Barbara!!! :) I was missing her a bit. But she looks like she is going to enjoy living there. :) And she has a little friend already too!! Our Robins like visiting the hoggies here too. :) Thanks for giving her a great home!!! :)