My World - Hedgehogs

September 30th, 2011

2011-09-30T10:19:00.001Z

Well yesterday we were hogless for all of two hours!!! Gary and George dropped by on Wednesday night and picked up Bert and Blossom for rehoming at a friends house. They had homes ready and waiting on their arrival. Gary said that Billy has settled in to his new home too. :) Henry is still with Hedgehog Haven getting his ringworm treated. And yesterday we took little Francis back to Hedgehog Haven. We were doing a swap and I was bringing my Rosie girl home finally. :) She is the little hoglet we raised from a baby with her sister Dory and brother Drogo. Dory and Drogo went to a lovely place in the country. But Rosie has been at Hedgehog Haven recovering from her eye operation. I did ask if I could have her back and release her in our garden and yesterday we were able to pick her up. Sue calls her devil hog as anytime she picks her up she hisses and huffs and bucks like an evil thing. But when her mum holds her this is how she is......She gives me kisses, nuzzles me, makes a chuntering noise and the spines all go flat. She actually does remember me and if wild animals can show emotion and love, I think this shows that they can. I love all the hogs I look after, but Rosie is one of the special ones to me and will have a special place in my heart always. :) Here she is inspecting her new temporary residence. We will be removing the pen on Sunday or Monday night. After all the neighbors do their gardening over the weekend.
Hopefully she will settle in and live in our garden or one of the neighbors gardens. We have food and water out every night for our visitors and have several visiting the feeders at night. Rosie will join Suzy and Alex as one of our one eyed visitors to the garden. :)

Here is a video of Gabriel. One of the garden boys. :) I had named him after the Angel. You can see they are putting on the weight getting ready for winter hibernating. It won't be long and they will be gone till next spring.

You can see a few of our visiting hogs here on this video. The rumbles aren't really full on like they do in Spring. I think the one lad is just trying to be the alpha male. It can all change come spring. And finally to our new babies. We picked up little Fran from Sue and Frank too. Only Frank will be going back today. He has ringworm and Sue has the meds for dealing with this as I haven't dealt with it other than with Henry who Sue is now looking after at the Haven.. We had got home and were putting together some cages when Sue called and a lady had a little one and was closer to us so could she bring her here. And so we now have little Pinky. The lady and her husband were very nice and promised to look for Pinky's siblings so we could be having more soon. I will keep you posted and post some photos up soon too. :)

September 20th, 2011

2011-09-20T07:10:00.001Z

Please could you all go to the website and sign the petition. We need to help save our hedgehogs. And if we get enough signatures they will listen to us. Thanks.

To all our friends and supporters,

As you know hedgehogs are in serious decline and its a real possibility that
they could become extinct in the UK.

Please find below the link for a petition to the government requesting that hedgehogs become
legally protected under section 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/13085

For this petition to be tabled in government we believe it needs a minimum of
100,000 signatures. So please take the time to add your name to this petition
and pass on to all you know that care about hedgehogs and our wildlife.

Thank you for taking the time and caring.

Regards
All the carers at Hedgehog Haven

September 6th, 2011

2011-09-06T14:33:00.000Z

We are now down to 6 hedgehogs in care. Elrond as you can see above has now gone to Hedgehog Haven to stay with Aunty Sue. She is watching over him and checking his hearing. Hopefully he will also get used to being a wild hedgehog. I think because when he arrived and was so ill he became to trust me a bit too much. I became mum and he trusted me and wouldn't curl up when I was around. He had fly strike which had had hatched out into maggots and they were in his eye and his ear on his right side. I flushed them out, but don't know what sort of damage they had already done to his hearing. His eyesight seemed fine. But I did worry about his hearing as he never flinched much like other hogs do. So he is now living with Aunty Sue for a bit before he is ready for releasing once she is satisfied he can hear okay. We will keep you posted.

We had a really lovely day Last week where the temp was lovely and no rain so I decided to give the hoglets a run outside for a bit of exercise and fresh air. They all had a lovely time and hunted for meal worms. Please remember though that these are hogs in care and if you see a hedgehog out during the daytime then they are in trouble and to please catch them, put into a box and get them some help by contacting the BHPS. They will be able to get you in touch with a carer in your area.
These photos are of Bert. He is one of the three brothers found by the Hog busters. :)
I think George won't recognize them now as they have all grown up quite a bit now as you can see from the photos.

Again the above is a photo of Bert.You can see how big he has gotten compared to the cat dish.

This is Billy out enjoying the fresh air and exercise. He is the largest of the three boys with Bert next biggest and Henry the smallest. Both Billy and Bert are over 500 grams now.

And this is Henry. Having some exercise and searching for mealworms.

Here is little Blossom enjoying some exercise. She is growing up quick she has even passed Francis now in weight and is over 350 grams now.

Again you can see how big Blossom has gotten.

Soft Release
Once the hogs get over 550 grams I put them into soft release so they can soon be released back to the wild. Gloin was released out into the garden about a week ago and with Elrond now at Aunty Sue's, the soft release pens became free. So I tidied up the pens and boxes and got them ready for the next tenants. Since Ratty and Billy were the biggest at the time, they were moved to the pens last Saturday. Below are some photos of their move. And since that gave us two large cages free, then Henry and Blossom were moved from their smaller cages to bigger cages and they are enjoying the extra space.

Okay Billy time for you to go outside to live.

Wake up Billy!

I hope you like your new large home.

Okay off to your new bed then. See you tonight.

And this is Ratty on moving day. He is all excited and can smell the fresh air.

Ratty was just a tad more livelier than Billy. He had to go around sniffing everything.
You can see why Sue named him Ratty, he has a really long nose.
He had a go at sniffing the straw and burrowed down through it before coming out with his nose in the air again only this time covered in straw.
Both boys have been enjoying their new homes outside and will soon be released back to the wild.

August 23rd, 2011

2011-08-23T16:29:00.000Z

We have had another busy couple of weeks here again. We took hoglets that were ready for release back to Aunty Sue's big Soft release garden and we have had Hogs back to release here too. Little Angelica(Angel) who was no longer little came to live in our garden with her friend Gabriel. They have been in the garden running around at night for the past week or so now. We have a few videos on our YouTube page. http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee
Our little grand hoglet Midnight is still growing. We haven't seen little Storm for a bit so he/she must be living elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Gloin and Elrond went into soft release yesterday in the garden. It was a rather hectic day here as our washing machine door decided to fall off. So that meant I had to do all the fleeces by hand. There was a huge problem though... Brian had called the plumber to fix a leak we had..... Well we were without water for alot of the day and you can't really wash and rinse by hand without alot of water. Besides the two boys moving outside all the inside hogs got new beds too, except Billy and Bert who got to stay in their cage.

This is Gloin. I can't remember alot about him other than he came from Aunty Sue and I don't know his history much. Brian might have his records more as he is the record keeper, I do the hands on. However I did do a poo sample and he had fluke. So we had to get that clear before we could let him go into soft release. He is over 600 grams and will be ready to go by next Monday night.

You can read about Elrond from my earlier blog post. It was touch and go with him for a bit when he first came in, but luckily we got rid of the maggots before they really did too much damage to him. I am still a bit concerned about his hearing. The thing is I had to put so much time in with him he thinks of me as mum. So isn't frightened of me at all and quite relaxed when I am around. So when I go to test his hearing I get not much of a response. Although sometimes he does prickle up when you clap your hands over his head. He may or may not be released within the week. He may have to go to a secure garden or to Aunty Sue's big pen for a bit to toughen him up.

He loves being outside and was making some really happy wifflywoofly whistly type of noises. The kind that just make you smile when you hear them. He was self anointing and digging in the garden.

Like I said he isn't afraid when I handle him and he is uncurled around me. Even when I pick him up. He wants to see what is going on.

Here he is inspecting his new pen. I had to put him to bed otherwise he wouldn't have got his needed sleep.

I went out last night to check on him and he had a look on his face like a little naughty boy with his hand stuck in the cookie(biscuit) jar. He is so comical. I had put some meal worms around in the straw to get him hunting. :) And he loves meal worms. So we can't feed him too many. I will keep you all posted as to his progress.

This is Ratty. He is still gaining weight and still as gorgeous as when he came in. Lovely and dark face and skirt.

And here is Francis. She has improved, but still not gaining as well as I would like. She had a bad infestation on Lung worm and we have given her meds to get rid of the horrible things. And her weight has picked up. But she still isn't quite putting weight on like she should. I have given her a friend in hopes that he will get her eating. As they don't like being on their own when they are little.

And this is Francis' new friend Henry. Brian and I were spending last Thursday helping Sue at the Haven at Tiptree when Sue had a call from a gentle man who was nearer to me. He had a little hog he had found so we said once we were finished and back home he could bring him over to us. He and his young son brought us Henry. Both were really nice and were really interested in helping the hedgehogs. He had already got rid of the fleas for me and had given Henry some Goats milk and some cat food. Henry was in really good shape. They live near a really busy road and he was frightened that Henry could get hit by a car. So we are looking after Henry now. And he is enjoying being with Francis.

Well we were just getting things going and this gentleman called us again..... with another little boy..... So he and his son brought us Billy. We had another chat about hedgehogs and Billy and Henry were reunited(this was before the big move yesterday).
And then the next day he emailed me and they had found another little hoglet. This time it was little Bert. Father and son have now got a new name for themselves - The Hogbusters. :) So all three brothers spent the night together before the big move.
This is for Hogbuster George.. and family too. ;)

This is what a cage looks like in the morning when the hoglets have been up all night partying.

Come on Billy and Bert! Time to wake up so I can clean your cage.

Hedgehogs wake up grumpy too. It isn't just us humans that do that.

While I clean their cage I put them in this box so they don't escape and run through the house. We always weigh and check the hogs in the morning and any needing medicines are given them then. And some are needed in the evening too. Once their cages are cleaned and new bedding put in. I put in a fresh bowl of water in clean dishes and they get a bowl of dried kitten biscuits.
Here is Billy going back to bed. I had to put some paint on them so I would know who was who. Billy has a spot on him. Good day Billy. Sleep well.

And Bert has a stripe.

Sometimes they have to check things out before going to bed.

Good day Bert.

Have a nice sleep boys.

And finally this is our little girl Blossom. She has become a Daddy's girl. She came in on Saturday found out during the day. She had flystrike and by the time she got to me she was covered in fly eggs and maggots. They had started eating her alive. I thought that little Elrond was bad with the flystrike but this poor little baby was really in a bad way. I immediately went into adrenaline rush and panic mode. Brian was such a star. While I was spraying her with F10 Insecticidal wound spray to get the maggots off her and pulling them off he was getting the things I needed. I found that maggots need air. So I asked for some salt water and alot of it. I also wanted it warm to warm her up as she had gone cold. They were coming off of her and wriggling all over the place. Poor Jingles could tell I was upset and he came to lend his support, but I didn't want him getting covered in those horrible things. So he was shooed off. I finally got them all off here, and got her warmed up and some subcut fluids into her. I did stab myself once and hadn't noticed until I saw the blood. She was in a really bad way, and I pulled out all the stops for her. I even put in a panic call to Sue for some support. I hadn't ever had one in that bad before. Anyway she is doing better now. Still early days yet. She has a wound under her leg where the maggots had already started eating. The poor little girl must have been in such horrible pain. When I got a poo, I did take a sample and put it under the scope and she also had fluke eggs in it. So we had to run to Tiptree to get her a jab from Aunty Sue.
Unfortunately the lady who brought her had also found another hoglet, but by the time it got here it was barely alive and it died while I was trying to get the maggots off it. They had already gotten well into the body of this little hoglet and huge maggots were coming out of hole in its leg and out of the ears. It soon died before I could even think. Poor little thing.
So please!!!!!! Anyone that finds a hedgehog out during the day Please pick it up, put into a large box or trug or whatever and get on the phone and get it some help. Better to err on the side of caution. Hedgehogs can go down hill really really quickly so they need to get to a vet or experienced carer as quickly as possible. Sometimes you can't see what is wrong with them and so they need help.
Anyway, that has been our last couple of weeks here.... Oh I did manage to pick some plums from the plum tree too. :) And my green beans have finally produced some beans for us. :) Oh And the repairman came today and the washing machine is now working. :) YEAH!!!!

August 12th, 2011

2011-08-12T17:13:00.000Z

Sorry for not having a blog post in a while. We have been a bit busy and I had to let a few things go for a bit. Anyway, here is a new post for everyone.
Brian and I haven't stopped looking after hedgehogs, on the contrary we have been twice as busy actually even busier than that. We have looked after more hedgehogs this year than we have in the last two years. We have had a few that didn't make it, but over all most did make it and alot are now back out in the wild doing what Hedgehogs do. Our count as of today is 51 hedgehogs helped. :) So I think we must be doing something right.

We have teamed up with Sue at Tiptree who runs the Hedgehog Haven along with some other lovely folks. I have offered to take in some babies so that can free her up for ones that don't take as much hands on feeding, etc. Next Thursday both Brian and I will be going over to lend her a hand in the hogspital. We missed their open day a few weeks ago, because I went away with Carol to Vale Wildlife Rescue centre's Hedgehog course. I have learnt to now give the hedgehogs subcut fluids via a syringe and needle. This was very scary the first time I did it. And it didn't help that I stabbed myself not once, but twice in the fingers. I am learning that sharps are sharp!!! I watched a disection from the doorway, as it was a rather hot day and I didn't think they wanted to be picking me up off the floor. I also have now learnt to distinguish a few parasites from all the other wonderous things that you find in Hedgehog poo under a microscope. It has been all go as I have said. Both Brian and I did a stall for Sue at a Vetinary open day. It was enjoyable talking to people about our favourite subject. And we both are very pleased with the vets we meet as they are so keen to learn about hedgehogs. We took Jingles in this past week for his jabs and the vet asked if she could ask us a question about hedgehogs. So poor Jingles is really coming in second to them now. Poor boy. Although we are sure he enjoys them as much as us as he is out every night guarding them in the garden. :)
Okay here are a few photos of some of the hedgehogs we have looked after this year.......

Aragorn, Angelica and Elbereth, We are still using names from Lord of the Rings. Angelica(Angel) is now in our soft release pen and will be released with another young lad - Gabriel.

This is Bramblewright and his brother is Sebastian. They have both been given back to Sue today and are in the big Soft Release pen. Ready to be going back to the wild in a week or so. My friend Marc gave them their names.

This is Sebastian. He was such a right little character. He would pull in the net curtain that I had around their cage as a fly protector. And poo on it. When I cleaned their cage, Bramble would run and hide in their nest area, not Seb. He had to wander about and approve the changes. Have a drink, bite to eat and then he might go and have his daily nap. He was so funny to watch.

This little man came in and was laying flat. He was so dehydrated, had some parasites and was my very first Sub Cut guinea pig. His finder's Father and Mother brought him to us and called him Trouble. This little lad was anything but. He was so lovely to look after. His lovely finders wanted him back and they only live in the next estate from us. He was one very luck boy to go back to live where he is going to be looked after. :)

This is Elrond. He came in with fly strike. For the sqeemish, look away now. He had maggots in his eye and ear. I went into overdrive when I saw them. Brian and I worked like a team that had done this hundreds of times. I would say what I needed and Brian was there getting it and doing my requests quickly and without question. I flushed the horrible things from his eye and his ear and sprayed his bottom with some F10 insecticidal wound spray. This stuff is liquid gold. It kills maggots and fly eggs and will make them leave the animal they have infested. We were very lucky. I hand fed little Elrond and kept him on heat for a couple of weeks and we gave him some extra TLC. The very protective mothering instinct had kicked in with this little lad. I am happy to say that today he is over 300 grams and is doing brillant. We were worried about his eye sight and still a little worried with his hearing, but he seems fine on the sight, but will need more testing on his hearing. Not sure if he is just so laid back because I had to handle him so much and so isn't as frightened of things as a wild baby would be.
Today we picked up little Ratty and Frank. Frank wouldn't eat for Sue and Co. So I am giving it a go. So far today I have been able to get him to eat twice for me. Little Ratty ....... well I will need to get a photo of him for you all. They are adorable!!! So photos to follow in the week. :)

April 16th, 2011 - One to go

2011-04-16T11:21:00.000Z

Most of the garden boys have woken from hibernation and returned to the garden for some food and water. And our two boys that we over wintered are now back out in the garden where they belong. Sam is still a bit pudgy, but is loosing the weight. And Frodo who actually did some hibernating overwinter isn't so big, so he is fitting in nicely. We did have a bit of a problem.... Frodo didn't want to leave home. We opened his pen once I marked and weighed him and he was free to go back to the garden. After a few days I checked the box and he was still inside.... or rather someone was inside. And actually I think there was more than one in the box. Once I felt a hog I quickly closed it and put things back to how they were so I didn't disturb them. I am needing the pen to get the girls outside. I checked yesterday and no one was in the box. I was beginning to think we would have to move the box with hog inside to under the conifers and then put in a new box in the pen. But when I checked yesterday it was clear. So I quickly shut the pen and cleaned it up ready for Eowyn to go into the pen.

This year has been a hard one for me as the hogs have all ballooned almost over night here. I will have to really think about what to do with any I get in for next winter. Their diet won't be as lush as these guys have had it. I am not the only one struggling as it seems alot of the carers are running into this problem.

At one point Eowyn had even stopped eating and was a bit constipated. This I cleared up and was feeding her the kitten biscuits to bring her weight up. I don't know if that was a good thing or not.... As now she is over weight a little and so will delay Galadriel getting out to the pen a little longer than I had anticipated. But we are getting there. And Galadriel is the only one left inside at the moment.

The garden hogs........ I have never seen so many different hogs showing up that I have no clue who they are. We managed to catch one young boy and have named him Strider after weighing, marking, deticking and defleaing him. We are still using names from the Lord of the Rings. And from the nightly videos we have at least two more that we are uncertain they have ever been to the garden before. And there are a few who are known, but their marks have changed and so we don't know exactly who they are. You can tell if they know the set up too, by their reactions on arriving at the food and water dishes. And how they react to the food boxes and tunnels. The new arrivals are timid and don't quite trust them. The experienced hogs just amble straight into them.

With the girls out in the pens and two of our girls showing back up to the garden, the Males have been going a bit nuts. They are aggressive to each other and they chase the girls around something terrible. Tyler actually got confused the other night and tried it on with Sam. Tyler and Harry go missing for a night or so and then come back to the garden racing here and there. Alex has even gotten interested in the girls this year. Poor little Cookie was biffed in the food box just this morning by Alex.

Anyway, Brandy and Suzy have been feeding like mad and drinking lots of water. Suzy went missing last night and tonight when she showed up she didn't eat. It only takes about 40 days for hedgehogs to be pregnant and then give birth. So we could well be looking at some new babies in the garden before long.

Here are are couple of videos to give you an idea of what is going on in the garden this spring.

Brian has got a new camera and so far it has been really hit and miss with it. It is a trail cam and can do both photos and videos. But we haven't had alot of luck with it until last night. He set it up near the pens where Arwen and Eowyn are staying. And it showed a tiny male trying his best to get to them. I will try to pop out tonight and see if I can catch him and give him a check over. He looks to be another new visitor to the garden this year. I really can't get over how many hogs must live in this neighborhood. Oh and we are convinced that there is someone else feeding the hogs around here. As most of the ones that have come in seem in reasonable good health and size.

Fox in the garden!! March 29th 2011

2011-03-29T09:52:00.000Z

We had a fox in the garden again. This time I think it is a young vixen. She must be very fit to get over the fences we have here. I don't think she could really fit through the little gaps that the hedgehogs come in through. She was a bit curious about things and even checked out one of the boxes that the hedgehogs were using. Here are a couple of videos of her visiting the garden.

Luckily she hasn't stayed. We only saw her for three days. After the first day I sent Brian out to preform his duty and it seems to have worked. Apparently human urine puts them off. Since then I have been told that this is an old farming practice especially when lambing. Because lambs are so weak when they are born the foxes will take advantage and one of the old practices was to collect urine and then sprinkle it on the new born lambs to keep foxes away. Another friend told me that apparently the same works for tom cats visiting the garden. But we are still getting cats in the garden so either none of them are toms or our neighborhood cats don't seem to mind. Anyway, we haven't seen lady fox for about a week now which is great. Although I did find her rather a beautiful animal to watch.
We now have the three boys and Suzy roaming about the garden at night. And this morning Suzy was being wooed by Tyler and Harry. Poor girl!!! She didn't get much chance to eat last night so she was here at around 6am which is rather late for her to be about. I think it was the first time I had ever seen her in daylight.
We have put Sam and Frodo out on the patio in the soft release pens now. And the three girls are down in the conservatory waiting for their turn in the soft release pens. The thing is..... Frodo has decided to hibernate again. So this is going to slow things up a bit. I may have to put him back into a cage and put one of the girls out in the pen. That would drive the local males nuts for a bit. They tend to have only one thing on their minds at this time of the year. Oh and Cookie isn't alpha male after all...... Tyler and Harry keep trying for the position. It is funny to watch Tyler stomping through the garden looking for someone to rumble with or someone to woo. Silly boy gives us hours of enjoyment watching his antics.

The Boys are wakening!!!

2011-03-22T12:00:00.000Z

It has been a long winter here and a very cold one too. We had more snow this year than in any of the previous years since I moved here. Right before our first big snow fall about a week prior.... Suzy came in to the garden to eat and tagging along was a little one.... we were worried as it was too small to go through winter and she was starting to wean it.... She did put it in one of our boxes closer to the food and water, though it was starting to turn cold. This was about the first week or two of November. Another week followed and here she came again with another little one!!! So we brought that one in.... and in the same night she brought another. We couldn't believe it as it was already turning extremely cold out and we were having problems keeping water from freezing for them. The next night she brought in her last little one... and a few days later the snows came and Suzy went into hibernation. It was all rather quick and hectic at the same time. We already had Frodo in for overwintering. Not sure who's baby he was. But I am very certain that the three girls and Sam are Suzy's. We named them all after Lord of the Rings characters.... Eowyn, Arwen and Galadriel.

After trips to the vets and sending poo samples off in the post we wormed them and got them fit. The two girls Arwen and Eowyn were the hardest to treat. Arwen had fluke along with the lungworms. Which we wouldn't have known about, but Caroline at Vale Wildlife rescue centre kindly examined their poo samples for me and saw which parasites they had. Fluke is rather painful and takes a different treatment than the lungworm.

And since we are now needing to know what they have before treating them, Brian said for my Christmas present I could get a microscope. So Caroline has helped me with some internet tutorials of poo sample checking. There is a whole other universe to a hedgehog on a microscope slide. Fortunately or unfortunately, by the time the scope arrived, the hogs were clean from the parasites. So I am anxiously awaiting to check the poo of a hog that has woken from hibernation.

Suzy did make an unusual appearance on the 25th of February. We had a warm week that week. But she only showed up the one night.

And then on the 10th of March, Cookie woke up. He was a little wobbly at first, but knew to tuck in to the food we have out for them and some water. The hogs are really dehydrated after hibernation and need water. Then after Cookie, Harry woke up and started visiting again. And soon after Tyler. We have had a few little tussles in the garden so far. Cookie versus Tyler, Tyler and Harry, Harry and Cookie. :) Boys will be boys.

Cookie's first night from hibernation.

Cookie and Harry.

Tyler.

This will be Tyler's second year hibernating and Harry and Cookie's 1st year. Harry overwintered inside the previous winter. Cookie is still showing the signs of a youngster with the dark ears. I am so pleased all three boys are doing well. Now hopefully Alex and Merry will show up and the others too. :)

Unfortunately we have had an unwanted guest to the garden for the past week here too. A very young vixen. She is absolutely lovely looking and we were surprised to see her on the video last night with one of the neighborhood cats. Both seemed a bit timid of the other. And to me it looked as though both cat and fox were watching a hedgehog moving about off camera. Hopefully she won't bother the hedgehogs or the cat. We had heard that a man's urine could help put foxes off, it worked for one night, but she was back again last night. :( So not sure what we can try this time. Maybe I need to cut some of my hair and leave it about. Brian is working on editing a video of her and we will post it up as soon as possible.

Oh and the little ones we have been overwintering....... All are fit and fat and as soon as the temps allow will be going out to the pens for soft release. :) We over wintered the first year- one hedgehog Tiggy. The next year it was 3 - Tiny, Benjamin, and Harry. This year it is 5 - Frodo, Sam, Arwen, Eowyn and Galadriel..... I truely hope that doesn't mean this next winter it will be 7!!!!! We have no more room!!! As it was we had to go out and buy 2 more cages! I wonder if Brian and Jingles would like sleeping in the loft! LOL

October 24th, 2010

2010-10-24T09:06:00.000Z

Brrrrrrrr it has turned cold here now. The hogs are all dropping like flys, and one by one heading into hibernation. We only have Suty and Suzy on the camera at the moment coming in for a feed during the night. We had thought Suzy had gone into hibernation as she went missing for a few nights. But she returned. And since has been feeding up again. Brandy went last week and she looked ready to go. She was looking a bit large.
   Talking of size, we have a new border, little Frodo. He showed up between the windows getting done and the Boiler being installed. I caught him and brought him in a day before the boiler men showed up. He was only 450 grams at the time or there abouts and wasn't big enough for hibernation. If he would put some weight on he might be ready in a month or so, but he is proving to be a bit difficult. I wormed him and thought he would start gaining, but he hasn't and has pretty much kept about the same weight. He is around the 470 grams mark at the moment and has been as heavy as 480 some. But keeps around 475. I will be worming him again next week as the eggs if there were any would be hatching out. If afterwards he doesn't gain, I will have to see what the vet suggests.
   He has had a run outside this morning in the pen and hopefully the chilly autumnal air and the exercise will give him an appetite. He reminds me alot of little Alex. Who well could be his father. I really wish there was a do it yourself dna testing kit. This would help in trying to figure out what baby belongs to which parents. I have since changed my mind on little Suty and think that she is actually Henrietta's baby along with Brandy. Suzy when she is near them runs. Henrietta on the other hand acts like she knows them and will feed along side them. Their colouring is more like Henrietta too. Merry looks more like Suzy and Tyler. It really would be interesting to find out who was whose baby. But one good thing is we have had 4 babies this year in the garden. So it looks like we are doing something right.
   I wish my little friends a safe hibernation. And Please EVERYONE Check your Bonfires before you light them. It is very difficult for carers to save ones that have burns, though we all give our best to save everyone we can. And if you find a hoggy, please get it help immediately. Don't wait to see if it will get better, they usually don't. So the sooner a carer can get them the better chances they have saving them. We just can't work miracles though we wish we could.

October 4th, 2010

2010-10-04T13:25:00.000Z

Still no hedgehogs inside at the moment. We are still waiting for the windows to be installed this week. And then the boiler next week. So I thought I would do a bit of tidying up. And have decided to make this blog totaly dedicated to our hedgehogs or hedgehog related. I will be moving things from this one to what used to be my garden blog, because it seems the hedgehogs have taken this one over.
We have been having loads of wet cold weather at the moment and the poor hedgehogs really don't like being out in it. We have a feeling Tyler has now definately gone into hibernation as he hasn't been seen on the camera now for over 5 days now. And the others have only been coming in for a quick bite and then back home to bed. Merry has been using Bag End(one of our hog boxes) to sleep in between coming out for a quick bite and then back again. He has even spent a few days inside the box. Cookie we have only seen once last night so we are wondering if he isn't getting ready to go into hibernation too. Brandy is a regular visitor to the feeders and she is now putting on lots of weight and will be up to size for hibernating soon. Harry who was a bit diffcult getting to go into hibernation last year is still wide awake and visiting the feeder. At times he looks a bit lost because he has no one to biff up. The girls are even begining to ignore him as they are busy trying to feed up.
We still haven't seen the little one again. I hope he/she is okay and that mum is still looking after it. We are still putting out 6 bowls of food a night, but now they are begining to leave some of it. So it won't be long and they will be disappearing one by one. It is such a sad time as I really do miss seeing them on the camera. I hope they all do well and we see them in the spring.
Once our major DIY projects are over I hope to contact Sue and see if there are any hedgehogs I can take off her hands to look after and overwinter here. I wouldn't know what to do with out a hedgehog in the house during the winter.

September 28th, 2010

2010-09-28T13:41:00.001Z

The hedgehogs are busy eating and getting fat before they head off into hibernation next month. Our regulars have changed again and now we tend to get just Suzy, Henrietta, Suty, Cookie, Tyler, Alex and Harry from our regulars..... we have recently added two new ones.... Merry and Brandy and as of last night there is another new little hoglet running around the garden.

The boys have pretty much called a truce and have stopped beating each other up so much. It has now become more of a shoving match between Tyler, Harry and Alex. The girls are being brave and ignoring the boys and filling up on food. And the youngsters have been eating lots too along with keeping us amused with their nest building and wondering what they are up to.

Our DIY is still to happen.... We will be getting the new windows installed next week and the new boiler hopefully will be going in on the 14th. But if I can catch the little one it will be coming in regardless of the diy going on. We have had a few confusing nights of who is who as the marks have faded a bit. So I have been trying to bring them in for a quick check up and parasite removal along with a mark top up before they go for their long sleep. I will miss them greatly when they go into hibernation.

Sorry for not keeping up with the posts. Since I have had a bit of time off from the hogs I have been indulging in one of my other favourite pursuits and that is card making. Hopefully I will be able to get all my Christmas cards made up before Christmas gets here this year.

Update on the hoggies.

2010-07-21T18:13:00.004Z

We are bursting at the seams here at the moment. We have 7 hedgehogs in care inside and only 3 cages!!! First off is Pip.... Who I think I mentioned has a broken leg. She is our adult hog inside. We have been taking her to the vet for a check up on her healing progress. And after our last visit Brian had mentioned maybe some hydro therapy. So I called Tiggywinkles and they suggested a routine. I have had to adjust this to suit our situation. So Pip goes swimming every morning in the bath tub for about 6-7 minutes. I have noticed a little improvement and she sometimes uses the foot rather than drags it. And one morning while swimming she did spread her toes. So I hope it will just be a matter of time and it will be usable for her. We are off to the vets on Monday for a check up.

The Triplets

The Triplets as we call them are growing fast!!!!!! It is like they do it right before my eyes and I blink and they have gotten even bigger. They are now in a big cage and love trashing it. They have a banquet in there of dried kitten biscuits, wet kitten biscuits, goats milk and water. And sometimes Brian sneaks them in a digestive biscuit. They love playing with things and will spend hours gathering up small news paper strips to build their nests. Also card board tubes with a slit down them are loads of entertainment for them. Today I gave them the ball..... It is a red ball meant for cats, that has a slider thing in it so you can put little cat biscuits in it. They thought that was super. So easy to please.

We also have our little grand hoglet in at the moment. I am treating her for lung worm. I am sure her mom has it so could well have passed it on to her. I would treat mum, but not sure if she is pregnant and whether I should while she is so. Not always an easy decision. She doesn't much care for being in, but hopefully she can be released back out in the garden soon. We named her Suty after her mum Suzy and Tyler her dad.

Spike

Poppy

We also received two new babies yesterday. My friend Linda called asking for the hedgehog rescue. I told her not to be so silly. LOL She was dead serious, though I think she was teasing just a little. Anyway, last year Brian and I went to do a talk at one of her Beaver scout meetings. Well one of her Beavers parents found a baby hedgehog. She wanted to know if I would take it in. I said I would.... and just mentioned they might look for more as sometimes there can be more. Glad I did.... And glad they looked. As we now have two. Dubbed the twins. Poppy a little girl and Spike a little boy. It was a good thing they paid attention to our talk and sought help for them immediately. Both had fly strike and fleas. To me though the fleas are a nuisance and not nice for the hogs. They can be easily dealt with. A bit of rid mite powder for birds and it does the job. But the fly strike is another matter. They are eggs and if the babies got warm then the eggs would hatch out into maggots. I did get one maggot off them. I really hate those. So Linda gave me a hand and so did Brian and we managed to get them off the babies. Took a bit of time but I think we got them all. I even used a new product called F10 that is for killing maggots. Not sure if it worked on eggs or not. but I tried it any way. Once we got those off then I put drops in their ears just in case any were hiding in there and we gave them some rehydration fluids and a nice warm bath of salt water to help get rid of anymore that might be around. Thanks Linda for delivering them to me and your friend for finding them and getting them help. Also for helping me. Sometimes two hands just aren't enough. After they settled and we weighed them we gave them their first feed of goats milk and Hills Ad. They are now slowly putting weight on and gaining strength. We estimate them to be about 3 weeks old. And I would say they had been without mum for a day or two. Who knows what happened to her. We are experiencing a drought here at the moment so it could have all been too much for her. So if you can, please not just fill up the bird bath, but also a bowl of water or two around your gardens at ground level would help. At the moment they are asleep in a little carrier cuddled up in some warm fleeces on a heat pad. And are being fed every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Hopefully it will be a progression of releases so that the cages come available at the time they will be needed. Other wise we may have a hoggy or two in some large cat carriers here.

And as a bit of enjoyment I thought we would share this video with you of Alex. It was really hot the other night. And Alex must have missed his nap during the day.... LOL Poor boy just couldn't keep awake. Lovely that he felt safe in the garden to be able to sleep like this in the open. We brought him in last night and he weighed in at a whopping 834 grams!!!!

Our Grandhoglet!!!

2010-07-10T17:25:00.000Z

We are the proud Grandparents of little Suty!!!! Our very first baby hoglet that has come to the garden. We think this baby is the result of Suzy and Tyler's mating back a few months ago!!!! I know Suzy had babies, but not sure where or how many. They say that one in 5 wild babies make it to become adults. That isn't very good odds at all. But I am so pleased to share our little bundle of joy with you all. :)

The boys are doing well and growing!!!! Draenog now weighs in at 230 grams and Jake at 210 grams and little Cookie Monster is 180 grams. We have taken them outside a few times to dig about in the grass and they are starting to be weaned from their milk. They still get their special milk, only now it is watered down a bit and they are eating moistened kitten biscuits and starting to drink water too.

Pip is still on restricted movement and is trying to keep cool, poor little girl. Monday we should know more about her leg and foot. She is getting better at letting me give her her meds.

Some of the hogs have gone missing from the garden and the other night Tyler did come back as did Brutus. Off and on we see Harry2 also. The regulars to the garden are Henrietta, Harry1, Suzy and our new lad-Bilbo. Bilbo was limping a bit when he arrived and looked rather thin. But now is limping lots less and has filled out too. There must be someone else in the neighborhood that is looking after our little spikey friends too. As both boys that returned looked in good shape. We have had an exceptionally dry spell here and no rain in over two or is it three weeks now. I put water out for our little ones under the bushes and in a few spots in the garden. Jingles has taken up residence under the Rhubarb plant. LOL I think the leaves shade him and it is cool there as I keep it watered.

Hope you all are doing well out there and keep cool!!!!

Baby video

2010-06-25T15:49:00.001Z

The babies are now 12 to 13 days old we think now and it is our 11th day of having them. They all almost have their eyes open. Little Cookie is slightly behind the other two. They all now have names, thanks to some of the kids of my Ebay group. :) Jake, Cookie and Draenog. Jake was the smallest when he arrived and is now the largest. They weighed about 30 grams on arrival and Jake is now 70 grams. :) Cookie is now our smallest at 60 grams and Draenog weighs about 66 grams today. :) And today they have been eating from little jam jar lids. They are also getting fur on their little legs and around the edge of their spines. I don't think they can hear yet or they haven't made any motions to let me know that they can hear. I think that will happen in the next few days.

NEW BABIES!!! :)

2010-06-21T17:47:00.006Z

Okay we have babies. :) I will update the blog soon, but wanted to share the photos of the babies with you all. :) We took charge of three lovely little boys last Tuesday. Sue from the Tiptree Hedgehog Rescue contacted me on Monday and asked if I would be able to help them out and take in some babies. They were found after their nest was destroyed and there was a fourth, but unfortunately it was found dead. We will be looking after them until it is time for them to either go back to Sue or time for their release back to the wild. No way are they pets or will they ever be pets. But for a short time I can be their mum and Brian their dad. :)

:) Hope you enjoy the photos. I will be back to post more when I get the chance. ;)

New baby self Anointing.

2010-06-21T17:44:00.000Z

Sorry for the delay in posting..... We have babies!!! And these are baby babies. Their eyes aren't even open yet and we have now had them for about 6 days. We started out on 2 hour feeds and are now doing 3 hour feeds, but takes about an hour to feed. LOL Reminds me of when I had my twins. Brian is getting marginally more sleep than me, but we are coping and it isn't for very long.

We have three babies all boys. I will try to get some pics up soon of our new hoglets. And at the moment we have a name for one of them. :) I am letting some kids name them.

We may well have more babies nearby too as we think Suzy has had hers, and quite possibly so has Henrietta. :) Not sure about Holly and Millie.

Well off to start supper before the next feed. :)

June 6th, 2010

2010-06-07T10:58:00.000Z

Alex has returned to the garden again. :) And we were finally awake when he visited so I was able to bring him in for a check up. Other than one tick that I couldn't reach and a few fleas, he seems in perfect health. :) His missing eye area looks good and no infections at all. And he seemed to recognize us a little bit. I didn't want to stress him out too much. So a quick powder with some rid mite to kill the fleas and some neem oil around his skirt to keep the ticks off him. And he was released after a quick cuddle. Jingles was keen to see him too and is always around when I inspect the hoggies. :) Here he gets a bit of a surprise.

We are still trying to see if Suzy has had her little ones, but no news yet. :)

Harry and George

2010-05-25T10:47:00.000Z

Harry is doing really well and has lost weight. He is now at a good weight and is one of the top boars. He runs around alot chasing the girls and doing the manly thing of fighting with the boys. In this video he is dominating George(A new boy on the block). And what he does next surprised both Brian and I. It looks like he tries to bite George or taste him!! And then he starts the Self Anointing. This is what they do when they come across a new smell or taste. So I guess with George being a new boy he is bound to taste different.

We are starting to see all sorts of different hedgehog behaviour on our videos and find it all very fascinating. And with the babies to come we expect there will be even more new actions to view. This morning I could finally prove that hedgehogs do leave a urine scent trail as I was exercising Harry 2 he did a wee on one of the paving stones as he was walking. It wasn't a one off as he did it again. It wasn't alot, but more of a dribble, so that should indicate that he is leaving a scent trail. By the way he is doing great and we are maintaining his diet with the new food and weighing it in the mornings. :) So I can make little adjustments if need be to keep his weight down. He is a clever boy and really quite a character. He goes for a wander in the mornings around the garden so he doesn't go stir crazy and has something interesting to do before sleeping the day away. He always treks over to my raised beds and wanders through the Chard and leeks. :) Then tries hard to go into shrubs to escape. But mom is ever watchful and he hasn't succeeded. His wound is now a scar and I keep hoping that the fur and spines will soon grow in. I have noticed a spine on his head in the wound area, but he needs a few more before I give him the all clear. Otherwise he would just open the wound up again if he should fight with one of the boys.

As mentioned in an earlier entry, we are expecting baby hoggies here. :) I am so looking forward to having the girls bring the babies to feed. At the moment the girls are tucking the food away. Suzy is here most nights 3 and 4 times a night eating for England and drinking loads of water. Henrietta has changed her behaviour slightly and is more settled. Millie doesn't appear all that often and is of a good size. We haven't seen Holly, unfortunately, but with the appearance of Alex, that means nothing. She could well have found herself another home and people to look out after her. We do have some folks in the neighborhood that do look after birds and with all the Spring Watch programs on the telly, there probably are folks around looking after our hoggies too. :) Please could all remember to put water down for them and food too if you can. And dry cat biscuits are great as it doesn't get the flies like the wet food. But wet food is good if you change it daily, or rather nightly. :) Don't put it out till just going dark that way it doesn't get fly blown.

Latest count for hogs visiting our garden is 14 with 9 in one night being our record. :)

Millie Finds a new use for the Tunnel

2010-05-25T10:26:00.000Z

Millie, one of our girls has found a new use for the tunnel. :) The boys have been a bit on the amorous side of things and chasing the girls all over the place. And we are soon to be Grand parents as Tyler and Suzy are expecting. And we are pretty sure that Henrietta and quite probably Millie too will be having little ones. Anyway, here Millie is using the tunnel to keep Tyler at bay. :) She is a clever girl!!!!

Alex comes for a visit

2010-05-25T10:21:00.000Z

We had another visit from Alex. :) We love seeing him on the camera. He is a bit unsure where things are and sometimes bumps into things on his blind side. But he at least knows there is food and water if he needs it. We were worried that he might not have survived after his release, but were afraid to say. But since seeing him on the camera, I am really happy to see him alive and doing so well. I have yet to catch him and give him a good check up. But it looks like he is doing well. :)

May 7th, 2010 Update on the hedgehogs.

2010-05-07T11:32:00.004Z

Hi all, Sorry for the lack of blog posts. I was having problems putting videos from YouTube onto my blog, but it seems that they have worked it out now and I can again start putting up some videos again.

We have had some very busy nights in the garden lately and I will post up a few videos after I catch up on what has been going on.

First off our little Harry2..... Well as you can see from these photos he is much much better.

His wound is healed very nicely and now we are waiting on his fur and spines to grow back in.

He is weighing in around 1150 grams and is on a maintenance diet. I am trying very hard not to give into his sweet little begging eyes and feed him more, as I don't want him to be overweight. At the moment we are bringing him in during the night to his cage, as I don't want him causing himself a mischief during the night out in the pen. I don't want him rubbing his poor head or nose on the bars or having the chance of another hedgehog poking him with their spines on his fresh new skin. So we will continue this for a bit longer and then we will let him have a bit of time in the pen and then hopefully he will move to his new home soon. I will definitely miss this little chap as he is so sweet and chunters to me. :)

We released Harry1 into the garden and I was a little bit worried about him being overweight. But he has been steadily loosing some or I should say converting the fat to muscle. :) He dashes about here and there and on his first night out he met the girls!!! So he is having a really super time in the garden. We didn't see him on the camera last night, but that isn't anything to worry about as I am sure he is somewhere curled up snoozing or busy having fun being a hedgehog and doing hedgehog things.

We haven't seen Tiny for a few days now so not sure where he has gone off to. But he does know the area as he comes from here. He too was a bit overweight, but was slimming down with his nightly forays out and about. It is good to know that when they get hungry they do return and know that we have fresh food and water for them and they can top up.

As I mentioned the girls are out and about. We still haven't definitely identified Holly or Millie yet. And they well could be elsewhere nearby. But we have identified Suzy our little one eyed lady hog and Henrietta. Henrietta was having a bit of a hard time and was looking a bit thin, so we brought her in for a bit of TLC and I had the chance to worm her. She will be released this Sunday night in the garden. She was around 400grams but is now over 700 grams and ready to get back out in the garden and doing hedgehog things. :)

So far we have identified, Brutus, Gus, Tyler, First(Headly), a new hedgehog to the garden Mr. Stripey Bottom(who could be one we had brought in before our camera), Spikey, Henrietta, Tiny, Harry1, Suzy and our little wayward Alex. We had a very exciting morning watching the video yesterday. Tyler has been trying to seduce Suzy, and the night before was interrupted by First. Videos to follow of his courtship. Well yesterday's video that we won't be posting due to modesty, Tyler succeeded. So hopefully we will have the patter of little hoggie paws this summer. Anyway, Suzy was in hogwarts and Tyler had joined her there. Then all of a sudden another one eyed hog appeared! Brian thought that Suzy had done a Houdini act and some how escaped Hogwarts and was now feeding in the tunnel. But then we saw Suzy leave Hogwarts! My heart jumped, could it be Alex!!!! It was. He even still has faint markings that we placed on him before his release. He looks a bit small, but fit and healthy and very feisty!
And along with this excitement of Alex's return, Tyler and Suzy mated. Again hoping for little hoggies this summer. And then Spikey seemed to go through Puberty and become an adult too. He started rushing about like a thing possessed and instead of being the whipping boy, he started rumbling with the other boys!!! The tables had turned. Spikey biffed Alex, after Alex had biffed him. Then he had a go at Harry and even First. We are unsure if there is like a hierarchy in the males or a pecking order of who wins the rumbles. Usually the younger smaller ones will just curl up and let the bigger older males do the pushing around. Once the aggressor is finished they usually uncurl and go on about their business. We have seen Spikey being on the end of this treatment since his return to the garden. And then there was this transformation over night of him becoming an equal to the others.

I managed to bring in Suzy last night and give her the once over. She had a few ticks on her that needed removing and some fleas too. I put her back out into the garden, but may well bring her in, once we have a free cage to put her in. She sounds a bit rattly and that could be Lungworms. So I will worm her and get rid of them so she and her babies can have a good healthy start.

I also haven't been bringing in alot of them at night because I have an injury to my right hand. We have had a stray female cat who was here once before take up residence in the garden. We know who she belongs to, so I tried to catch her. Big mistake. I should have had my gloves on when I attempted. She got me with her back claws and my right middle finger on the top has a gash in it almost to the bone. I have been keeping it extremely clean and trying hard not to use it and cause the wound to open. But it is difficult. And I am treating my wound with some of the same things that I treated Harry2's wound with. It is healing, and I now have some rubber gloves to put on when I deal with the hoggies, so I can start bringing in some more to check.
We did manage to catch her and take her home, but this morning on the camera there was a black cat again..... I really hope they haven't let her out again!!! We don't need her about the garden when the babies arrive and she is eating their food! Besides frightening our squirrel and birds. :(

That is about it so far, I did have a call from a lady about a hog, but she didn't show up, so I don't know what has happened there. Also a friend nearby is looking after a few and has a sickly one in at the moment. Sounds like Lungworms again with her and she didn't come out of hibernation at a good weight. We think she could have pneumonia too. Fingers crossed for her. This is why I am a cage down as I have loaned it to her to look after her two newest hogs.

Okay off to rest the finger now, as it is aching a bit. Watch out for the videos to be posted here, or you can always go check them out on YouTube, under Mr. Jinglecat. :)

The return of little Alex.WMV

2010-05-07T11:28:00.000Z

Update on Harry2

2010-04-19T16:20:00.007Z

Harry2 is doing better and better everyday. We have another vet appointment for next Monday. And I think that may well be the last one as his wound is healing up really really nice.

This photo was taken on the 12th. And this morning there is more new pink skin than red wound on his head. His nose still has a bit of a sore, but it is also healing well. I have figured out a way to wash his wounds without having to touch them much. I fill up a large syringe with water and chamomile tea and squirt it where I want. Harry does like it to be slightly warmed. I also use HibiScrub on a cotton bud and he seems to like that. Harry is getting used to me giving him medicine and putting cream and medicines on his wound too. He doesn't always like it, but I think deep down he knows I am doing him good, as he will usually lay his spines flat when I am working on him. And sometimes he will hold his head up so I can get a good look at his wounds. Although since he is starting to feel better he is a bit more feisty now and I do have to watch out as he will sneak the prickles up without much notice and he isn't afraid to try giving me the occasional nip either.

Here he is enjoying a snooze in his bed. :) I think he is smiling!! He loves cuddling up in his nice warm fleeces.
Harry came in weighing just 496 grams and now he has more than doubled that. He is up to 1094grams. And is on a new maintenance diet. I struggled with Harry1 and his diet, and I don't want another fat hedgehog on my hands. So I am really trying hard to figure out a diet that will keep their weight down while in care once they have gained the required healthy weight. I think this is becoming an issue with lots of us carers on the forum. When they have to stay in care for longer then they don't get the same sort of exercise to burn off the calories they take in and so you end up with a rather large hedgehog. They will soon burn off the fat once released. And I won't release them unless they can curl up into a ball. Harry2 hasn't a problem there as he does the ball thing and hides all his bits from me. That makes looking after his tail a bit of a problem, but luckily it is looking fine and the syringe trick works great. These photos are of Harry2 outside having a bit of exercise. And they were taken on the 15th. You can tell the wound has healed even since the 12th and like I said this morning the wound looks even better.

I am trying to make sure he gets his bit of fresh air and exercise along with his new diet. The diet we are using is a mix of the diet Iams cat biscuits and normal Iams biscuits. Along with a new hedgehog food that has dried fruit and nuts in it from Pets at Home. I still give him his vitamins too and probiotics as he is still getting antibiotics and we are now worming him also. He had a coughing bout the other day so the worming meds are doing good, and hopefully he will have gotten rid of all lungworms before he leaves. When he does go, he will be a whole new hedgehog and ready for anything. :) Hopefully he won't run into any more strimmers.

Jingles loves watching after Harry while he is out exercising and he looks after all the hedgehogs in the garden. And when Harry was first brought in Jingles stayed by him to let him know he was being looked after by friends. He does seem to know when the hedgehogs aren't feeling too well and he worries over them like I do. This morning during exercise time Jingles and Harry actually had a tiny bit of play and a chat. :) I think he likes the hoggies as much as Brian and I do.

Although Harry2 is out during the daytime, Hedgehogs shouldn't be out during daylight. So if you run across any out during daylight hours please put it in a box and get it some help straight away. You can contact the BHPS and they can help or get you in touch with someone who can help. And if it is hurt or ill, get it vet treatment straight away. Waiting will usually end up with a dead hedgehog as you need to act quick with them. Just like Harry2's finder did.

Spikey's return to the Garden

2010-04-10T14:07:00.005Z

This is the video I promised to post. It is of Spikey's return to the garden after hibernation. Notice that StripeyBottom doesn't seemed to be bothered by him. And then Tyler is curious but again not aggressive to him. And you can see how aggressive StripeyBottom can be. So it is a bit of a puzzle why they treat Spikey this way.

April 10th, 2010

2010-04-10T11:38:00.004Z

We have been busy with hoggies here lately. Where should I begin......

Harry2 Update..... Harry went for his second vets visit last Thursday. And Gail his vet was really pleased with his progress. Between the visits I had spent the week trying to build him up in case he had to have surgery, but it looks as though that won't be needed. Gail had also called me mid week to let me know about a medicine I was asking about and to see how he was doing. He went from a dehydrated starving and infected little boy at 496grams up to a healthy, apart from his wound, 920gram hedgehog. :) He has a good appetite and is now being wormed against any parasites that might be lurking inside him. I started out cleaning his wound with camomile tea which I drew up into a large syringe and then flushed out the wound and then I would wipe it down with cotton pads and cotton buds. Gail had suggested some aloe vera gel, but I didn't have any at the time so used Camomile cream and vaseline until I could get some. We picked up some gel and found it must really sting. He would buck and poo when I tried to apply it. So I started mixing up the camomile, vaseline and a little of the aloe gel. This seemed to work and wasn't so painful for him. During the time of giving him his meds and cleaning his wound on his head, I found two more wounds. One in his ear and his poor tail. The tail one is proving a bit difficult to treat as he keeps rolling up into a ball. But I am trying and I am very patient. I have also given him a couple of baths to clean him up and to help keep any infections down. I am keeping his bedding super clean and if he makes a mess it is cleaned straight away. He has had a few trips outside to keep his spirits up and to give him a bit of fresh air and exercise. I think he enjoys the wander round the garden. :)
During the week I also contacted a lady from the Hedgehog forum I belong to. I had read where she had taken in a hedgehog that had a really severe Strimmer injury. He had been named NoFace and I know she had helped him, so I emailed and asked for advice on treating Harry. This information I gave to Gail and she is so brilliant. She read the info and we are now treating him with the same meds that Rachael has used on NoFace. This morning his wounds are still there, but they do look better. :) It is going to be a long time before Harry2 will be fully fit again, but he is doing really well.
He is a right little character too. He is a noisy one. And when he hears me he starts chuntering immediately. At first I thought it was a greeting, but now like another Forum member Clayts suggested it means Ohhhhh no here she comes again... Wonder what tortures she will put me through now!!! Poor little boy. I do feel so sorry for him when I put the meds on him or in him. But it has to be done and he is a good little soul, even when he tries to nip me.
Please everyone just look for hoggies when out mowing or strimming. And frogs and other little creatures too!!

Tiny, Benjamine, and Harry1 Update..... Well Spring has arrived. And these three are raring and ready to go.....
We decided to splurge and buy another soft release pen. And the lovely seller on Ebay sent it to us in a few days time. So we are now a 2 soft release pen family. :) I had Harry in the first pen, and had hoped he would have lost a little weight while he was in it. But Harry likes his food too much and doesn't much care for exercise. He is a big boy!!! And while he was in the pen I fixed the doors on the hutch so that they couldn't get hurt on the wire of the door by putting some wood panels across 3/4 of the door. They still get air and light from the top 1/4 and are safe from harming themselves now. And once that was done then Tiny and Ben went into the hutch. After a week of them all being outside and after the new pen arrived, we moved them again. This time Harry went back into the Hutch, because the other two were ready to be released. And then Ben and Tiny have been in the pens, side by side on the patio. Yesterday, Ben went back to his original home with my friend Linda. She had found him back last autumn on her front door step and now that he is well and fit, he will be released in her garden. :) I know she will look after him as she has been super and has been very helpful bringing me papers for the hoggies and finding me gardens for release and taking an active part in my aim to help the hoggies.
Ben and Tiny will both be released tomorrow night. We try to release on a Sunday night after all the weekend gardeners are finished with the mowing and strimming. This gives the hogs a weeks break of getting onto their feet before they have to be on the alert of this danger.
Since Tiny was found last Autumn here in our garden he will be released here tomorrow night. He is definitely ready as he has been leaving his pen a right mess in the mornings for me to clean.
Once we get the other pen back, then we will connect the two pens and give Harry a huge pen to get some exercise in and hopefully bring his weight down a bit. I won't release him until he can fully roll up into a ball. At the moment a little bit of his tummy shows. I have been giving him exercise and even taken to let him swim around in the bath to help him loose a bit of weight. But he is such a contented little soul that it is a chore to get him do do much exercise at all. I think he would have done better if he would have hibernated during the winter, but we just couldn't get him to do it. He kept waking up after three or four days time. I will need to look into a food that they can eat but doesn't put on alot of weight. I know once he is released he will definitely be loosing some of this weight and not have a problem. So hopefully all going well next weekend Harry will also be ready for release. :)

Now this brings us to the Garden hoggies. :) Brian and I have been excited viewing the night cams videos in the morning and having countless discussions about who is who and glad they are coming round after hibernation. Though the inside guys have been hibernating, they have ready supplies of food and water and warmth just outside their nest boxes. The garden ones aren't as lucky and upon waking they must seek out these things. We have vigilantly put out food and fresh water all winter long here, just in case a hog woke and needed it. We were finding it difficult to keep the neighboring cats away, but luckily Brian's brother and Sister in-law, gave us some hedgehog food for a Christmas present. We started using a bit of this mixed up with the Iams Kitten biscuits that we use for food, and the cats didn't like this!!! :) So a huge big thanks to them for this super present as we now will be cutting back on the food bills here. Our Neighborhood has some of the healthiest looking cats ever!!
Anyway, as you have seen in some of the previous videos the hoggies have been waking up and giving us great amusement and debate. We use a water based Eco friendly tipex to mark them with and this will wear off in time. And some have worn off to the point we don't know who they are any longer. We kept thinking that one of them was Spikey as he was a feisty little boy and so thought that the one we marked with stripes on his bottom was him with out his S mark. But one morning Brian called me down to look at the previous night's tape and there was Mr. Stripey Bottom and a wobbly Spikey. Spikey had woken up from hibernation that evening. So who is Mr. Stripey bottom???? Well we did have Brutus and Gus last year..... But which one is it? And where is the other one? We are still unsure which it is and probably won't ever know for sure.
We noticed on the video that the older hogs were leaving Spikey alone.... This is unusual behaviour, because for the past few nights we have been watching rumble after rumble. Usually poor Tyler being the brunt of the other two's aggression. He has however done a little bit too. But none of them went after Spikey. So we are unsure if it is his age, not sexually mature enough yet to be a threat. Or if he is ill, or just woken from hibernation and wobbly and they can tell this? But it is very unusual in our eyes at the moment. I guess when we get to know more about them, it won't be so unusual.
Last night I decided to check on a few of them so wanted to stay up and grab them from the garden. I had brought Mr. StripeyBottom in for a check up a few weeks back and marked him. But there was a tick I just couldn't get off him, so thought I would get it last night. It was a good thing I did decide to bring him in. The poor thing had 19 huge ticks!!!! They are all now well and truly dead. And he is a happier hedgehog running around the garden now. I think I will be checking them all every other week to keep these ticks under control. I also give them a light dusting of Ridmite to keep the fleas off them. You do have to be very careful on what products you use on hedgehogs as they can end up doing more harm than good.
I also brought in Spikey. And we got 7 rather huge ticks off him. One thing being outside has definitely toned down his attitude. He was a hissing huffing bucking little guy when we released him, and last night he only huffed once. So Brian and I have decided, partly because he has lost about 200 grams and still a little wobbly to keep him in for a little R&R for the next couple of nights. He put on 60 grams almost over night and this morning was a bit more his old self with the huffing and puffing and bucking.
Tyler is doing really well in the garden and so is First(Collin who we think is Headly). Still no sign of the girls. We do keep hoping we will get a glimpse of them one morning when watching the tapes.
Besides the hoggies, we have seen a few more newts and the mice who we think are a little wood mice have been back a time or two. We are also looking after a few squirrels who visit our garden besides all the lovely garden birds.

Hope you enjoyed the update and there will be loads more to follow in the near future. And I will shortly be posting the video of Spikey's return to the garden. :)

March 31st, 2010 Warning of graphic photos of injury.

2010-03-31T17:44:00.011Z

We got our first hedgehog needing help the other day. The phone rang and Brian answered. He came to get me from my card making session to let me know a man was on the phone about a hedgehog he had found. The man explained that he was a gardener and he had found a hedgehog in his van. Apparently it had hibernated in there since last November. He said he had a bag of garden rubbish in his van at that time and that must have been when the little one had got into his van. So since November the poor thing had had no food or water until the morning of the 29th when he found him sitting on his drivers seat of the van. He said he thought the little one had an injury too. So I told him how to get here and he brought little Harry the 2nd. He was very very thin and dehydrated and definitely has an injury. I think it is possibly caused by a strimmer. So please folks check before you do any strimming or mowing. I have some photos that I will post here, and they are not pretty so be warned now.
Anyway, first and foremost was to get him some food and water. But little and often. The next thing was to call the vet to book an appointment. He was going to need at least some antibiotics if not stitching up. The poor little thing drank his fill and I put him out some Science Diet Recovery food and he ate that readily. I also made up some recovery fluid of water with salt and sugar.... 1 litre of water, 1tsp salt, 1Tablespoon sugar. I also heated up our microwavable heat pads and keeping him warm in some fleeces with the pads nearby. And unfortunately the weather has now decided to change and go cold again. So we are keeping the heating on in the conservatory too for him.
We took him to the vets and she examined him. And gave us the antibiotics. She was too afraid to give him an anesthetic so she could look at the wound and clean it up. She listened to his heart and found he had a heart murmur too. So sent us home with instructions on how to clean the wound with some plain water or camomile tea. It has natural antistheic properties. And we are to try to build him up so that if the wound doesn't heal right then she will be able to do something with out the thought of him dieing on us in the process. He is putting on weight and getting a little better in himself. But we still have a very very long way to go. He has a very sweet nature and allows me to pick him up without my gloves. I am finding when you get hoggies that are this ill they tend to lay their spines flat. Although when I put on some ointment on his cut he does prickle up a little. I am very very careful as it is so close to his eye. And from the photo he does still have his eye.

Also a big thanks to the man who found him and got him some help straight away. If he had been left any longer I don't think he would have any chance at all. A hedgehog in trouble needs help immediately. Don't sit and watch it. Pick it up and get it to a carer or a vet straight away, please!!!

Our new little boy has a guardian too.... Jingles is watching over him and is now sleeping out in the conservatory with him. Jings in his box ontop of some fleeces next to the cat flap and Harry is in his cage all tucked up.

Here is our little guy and be warned about the photos......

Tyler gets spooked.

2010-03-26T20:18:00.001Z

This is Tyler sporting his new markings. It was really windy and wet .... And spooks were moving about. A nice night to be snuggled up in a nice warm box with some fresh straw after a nice meal and a drink or two.

Tyler and Ginger Cat

2010-03-26T18:27:00.001Z

This is a night before we marked Tyler. We thought it was our Tyler, but wasn't sure. After a few nights ago when we brought him in and checked him over and marked him. (He now looks like a ladybird in Brian's oppinion. LOL) We now know it is our little baby boy. He weighed in at 754 grams after his hibernation and he felt good and solid. :) And looked in good shape. The only problem I could find is he smelled of motor oil. That was a little worrying. But hopefully as this video will show, he has a new place to sleep. :) And the poor young Ginger Cat is starting to get used to them now. Though he has been very curious about them to start with. :) Enjoy the cat and Tyler playing hide and seek here. :)

Surprise!!!

2010-03-26T17:34:00.001Z

Sometimes we will be watching the video while having supper or between flicking between channels on the telly. Last night sent both of us into fits of giggles..... So I wanted to share this with you all....... Good thing Hedgehogs don't fly. :)

This is our first garden hoggie check.

2010-03-26T17:09:00.001Z

This is our First hog that has reappeared in the garden this year. We thought he was one of the girls, but have since found out it is a male. He weighed in at 930 grams and to me felt too skinny. After much discussion we think it is Headly from Last year, but who will be sporting a new name and new mark. He is now dubbed Colin First. (Could be something to do with one of my fav actors Colin Firth. LOL)
This guy knows me as when I picked him up, he didn't roll up. He sniffed and sat still for me, except when I went to put his markings on. He has the flight instinct and so did Headly last year. What was really weird was he trusted me so much to lay his spines down and didn't give me a prick. I could hold him in my bare hands. Usually I only trust the babies to do this. The only other one to do it was Jamie who was so very very ill.
Anyway, Colin has visited a time or two since his marking and check up. I will keep a close eye on him and make sure he is eating okay. I am sure you will be seeing more of him. :)

Our first Rumble in the garden for 2010

2010-03-22T16:29:00.001Z

This is our first rumble of two hoggies together. Again we are still not sure who is in the garden yet. But we think the one getting biffed is possibly Tyler. And the one doing the biffing this time could be Henrietta. But as of yet we need to catch them and check them over. Their marks have mostly washed off since last autumn so it is really difficult to see who is who from the video. Hopefully when we bring them in we will be able to make out the leftover marks a bit better.

The Three boys who have been overwintering with us are now starting their soft release. Harry is in the pen. And spent his first night out last night. His food wasn't touched this morning so that could indicate he has gone back into hibernation again. He spent the winter in and out of hibernation. And would only go into it for the most about a week and then wake up.
The other two, Ben and Tiny, are now in the hutch. They will be going into the pen as soon as Harry is released. Or if he goes into hibernation then we may put Ben into the pen. As they are both awake and raring to go. I would like there to be just a bit more natural food available for them before we release them. Ben will be going back to Linda's garden and Tiny will be released here in ours. Photos to soon follow and more videos when Brian gets them edited. :)
Besides the hoggies and the fox, we have had a mouse or two on the video, but too hard to see on YouTube. There has also been we think a toad, A newt, beetles, worms and moths, besides all the neighborhood cats.

Fox!!!!

2010-03-22T16:17:00.001Z

We had a surprise on the morning we viewed this video. And luckily we haven't seen him back since. Foxes can hurt hedgehogs and cats, so I don't like him being in the garden, but like I said we haven't seen him since this video. So hopefully he has moved on. I do feel so sorry for him as it looks like he has a broken leg. If he had shown up again I would have called the RSPCA or some one to come and get him. As I don't like seeing any animal in pain or hurt. He doesn't really look in pain with his injury so we think it could be an old injury possibly. And how he got into our garden is a mystery, as the fence panels are 6 ft high and only hedgehog sized gaps in the fences. The cats can get under the gate, but I wouldn't think anything much larger than them could. We have wondered if maybe he hurt his leg jumping over the fences in our neighborhood. But it looks like he is on the search for easy food as with that leg he would have problems hunting.
We will keep a close eye out for him on the video. But we hope we won't see him again.

They're Back!!!

2010-03-22T16:07:00.001Z

Well as of the 10th of March our hoggies have returned. We are unsure who they are yet, but think it could be Henrietta or Holly. We are leaning towards Henrietta. But this is our first night of the return of the hoggies and the first time I think this young cat has ever encountered a hedgehog. :)

February 1st, 2010

2010-02-01T11:19:00.003Z

Hi all, just a quick update on how the hedgehogs are doing. Tiny has been hibernating all winter with just the occasional night out eating and drinking. But has been in hibernation almost solid. The other two boys. Keep waking up and then going back into hibernation. Harry being the one who wakes the most. I am starting to think that I will need to bring him in soon and start giving him some exercise because the diet doesn't seem to be working and he just keeps gaining weight. I know once he gets back into the wild he will loose most of it, but he has been a bit of a problem with his weight gain. Although he seems happy enough otherwise.
I had a hedgie friend suggest we check our outside boxes on a really cold day that way the ones in the boxes won't wake while I look at them. But when I checked the boxes had been used, but the two I checked both were empty. So I have no idea where the girls have gone. But there is still a few other boxes around the garden and a few other gardens around that they could well be holed up in.
We have put food and water out nonstop all winter, just in case one should wake and need nourishment. But all we seem to be doing is feeding the neighborhood cats. Who have become quite agile in getting into our cat proof hedgehog food boxes. Cats are amazing how they can twist and turn and stretch to reach that little morsel of food. And these are pampered well fed cats.
We have been looking after our garden birds and the two squirrels that come up most mornings for their peanuts. Brian has one almost tamed so much that when he sees Brian he runs to the back door for his nuts. :) Our blackbird Mr. Hoppity has stuck around all winter too and has kept an eye on the food and the garden. We have also been lucky to have a small flock of sparrows who have also stuck around and a lovely robin. The others come and go according to the food level. :)
Brian, Jingles and I have almost gone into hibernation along with the hedgehogs and with that horrible snow that we had hardly ventured out of the house. We both just started noticing the light coming back and staying well past 5pm. So hopefully spring is just around the corner and we can get back outside doing our walks and tending the garden. :)

The boys are Hibernating!!!

2010-01-03T10:11:00.003Z

Happy New Year everyone. :)
Well good news..... Harry has finally succumbed to hibernation!!! We were struggling to find out why he hadn't gone into hibernation yet, I guess he just wanted to see what the winter was like and so was keeping awake. Tiny has been in hibernation for over a week now without coming out.... and Ben has gone back again. They seem to go into a semi hibernation where they will do it for a few days and then wake up and eat and do their business and then go back in again for a few more days. Tiny so far here has the record for the longest stint.
So while the boys are all hibernating I will be taking a bit of a break until we have news to report. I may have a few bird and squirrel videos to post here when Brian gets time to edit them. :) We have two squirrels visiting the garden and the birds get their Peanut butter sandwich every morning too. The squirrels have discovered the peanut butter sandwich also and enjoy it as well as the birds. We watched a very acrobatic squirrel yesterday eating nuts from one of our feeders, the net bag type. And he was hanging upside down to get to the nuts and eating them hanging there. How do they manage to swallow while upside down??? Amazing creatures. :)
Hope you and all your family have a very safe, prosperous and Happy New Year.

Jingles meets Squirrel.WMV

2009-12-27T15:48:00.001Z

While Tiny and Ben hibernate. And hopefully Harry will soon follow them.... Jingles and Mr. Squirrel have been entertaining us on the camera. Here Jingles and Mr. or is it Mrs.... Squirrel meet in the garden. He is such a good boy and luckily likes the critters and birds as much as we do. He now sits in the kitchen watching bird TV. I have to make sure he is asleep before I am able to watch normal telly.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T09:02:00.001Z

Brian, Jingles, all the hoggies and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Hedgehogs don't make good pets!!!!

2009-12-11T16:26:00.003Z

This Season's Must haves

The above link is to an article put out by the Northwich Guardian about the new latest pet craze here in the UK. This is something that should not have been published and definately shouldn't have been published around Christmas. Pygmy African Hedgehogs are not what I would consider as an ideal pet. And it is illegal to keep wild hedgehogs as pets. Hedgehogs are nocturnal creatures!!!! Keeping them awake during the day is not good for their health and neither is being kept in a handbag. They have a very special diet and if you don't know what that is then they can become malnurished and complications can set in with the poor things. The two species of hedgehogs are way different from each other and they need different diets so you can't be feeding them the same as our wild hogs. What is going to happen when the WAGS get tired of the little hedgehogs pooing in their handbags??? They can't be released and shouldn't be released back to the wild, because these little creatures come from a different country altogether.... they come from a desert region not the chilly climes of the UK. You can't housetrain them. Honest they go where and when they like and the more mess they can make the happier they are.
I do think they are cute and I do love the wild ones in my care, but that is just it..... they are only in care for a very short period of time and then back to the wild they go. They are reared up to a healthy weight and then go into soft release before they are released into a safe garden and back into the wild. But the ones I look after are just that - Wild. The Pgmy ones are coming from breeders and all sorts of problems can arrise if the breeders aren't respectible. Rather than carry around an animal like this in your handbag, why not open your wallets and give to the British Hedgehog Preservation society so that everyone in the UK will be able to enjoy hedgehogs now and for the future!!!!! Do something that is actually going to be something worthwhile rather than some fashion craze that will be out of fashion next month!!!!!
Make a donation to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society!!

The Daily Mail has also published an article, but personally I feel that they should really go after these people alot harder to prevent them advertising these poor little creatures as pets.
The Daily Mail

It isn't fair on them!!!!

Ben gets a new nestbox

2009-12-11T11:52:00.001Z

Yesterday, the boys were all given new nesting boxes so they can start hibernating if they so choose. My friend Linda got me some paper boxes and they make great nest boxes as I can remove the lids without too much disturbance when I check to see how they are doing. This also gives them more privacy and they can really start to build nests now. Tiny has been sort of semi hibernating so I moved him and Ben to each other's cages. The one Tiny is in now is a little smaller than the one he was in. This video is of Ben in the new cage and with his new nest box. It doesn't take him long to figure it out.
I think it was a bit of too much excitement for them all as when I got up this morning all three cages looked like they had parties going on in them. Hopefully they will soon settle down and start hibernating.

Hoppety 04-12-09.WMV

2009-12-06T16:21:00.001Z

The outside hedgehogs are all hibernating and the inside ones aren't really doing anything much at the moment as they are in a state of almost going into hibernation. Tiny has actually gone into hibernation for a day and then woke back up. They are all in the conservatory at the moment and I try to disturb them as little as possible now in the hopes they will soon go to sleep. We have dropped the temps in there down a bit. It is still warmer than the outside temps at this time of the year.
We do keep an eye out for hedgehogs each morning on the camera, but so far all we have seen are leaves blowing in the wind and the neighbourhood cats coming for a nibble. It is actually amazing how the Ginger cat can distort his body to get at the cat food in the tunnel.
So while the hedgehogs are in winter suspension here is a video of our Black Bird Hoppety. This chap has been visiting us now for about 3 years. We know it is him as he has a slight problem with some feathers on one of his legs. He is such a lovely black bird and he keeps a keen eye on the garden.
Besides Hoppety and the goldfinches, we seem to have about 14 or so sparrows that have taken up residence in one of our bushes this year. They are so lovely to watch along with the other birds that visit the garden. And recently we have been having a pair of squirrels visit the garden. We toss them some Monkey nuts(peanuts) out on the lawn and they gather them up and then burry them under the conifers. So funny to watch them do this. They never seem to eat them, just bury them. The entertainment value is well worth the £1 we spent for the bag of peanuts.
So it will be a bit quiet here on the hedgehog blog until something new happens. And probably won't be much until the spring. But I will post from time to time to let you know how they are all getting on.

The Three boys.

2009-11-26T16:59:00.001Z

Harry is under the footstool. Tiny is still carrying his blanket about. Although he did have a look see in the red igloo house. and Ben is playing in the leaves and in the tunnels. Tiny and Harry were still a bit on the sleepy side this morning.

Ben having a wander

2009-11-26T16:52:00.001Z

This is Ben again having a bit of a wander and trying to get Tiny to come out and play. :)

Hedgehog playpen

2009-11-26T16:51:00.001Z

While I clean out the cages the boys get a chance for a bit of socializing in the playpen. They also like having a few toys to play with. Ben is the one coming out of the tunnel and Tiny is hiding under the fleece.

November 23rd, 2009

2009-11-23T10:16:00.006Z

An early Happy Thanksgiving to all living in the US. I think it is this Thursday coming up. Brian and I are getting a bit lapse about celebrating it over here now. And I am a bit busy trying to get ready for Christmas here so we may well give it a miss this year. But I want to wish all my family and friends in the US a Happy Thanksgiving anyway.

Well the hoggies are doing well. Gail has been released at my friends house and is now on her own. I think my friend was a bit disappointed in other than when she put her into the pen she hasn't really had a chance to see much of her. You don't get to see them much unless you get a night camera as they only come out when all is quiet and it is dark. Even then you have to have it pointed in the right direction in order to catch them. We train ours on the food dishes in hopes we will catch them eating. And this past week we have not seen Spikey on the camera here, so I have a feeling he has finally gone into hibernation. We did manage to see an earthworm one night so if there were any hoggies out I am sure he wouldn't have made it very far. The weather the past couple of weeks has been rather nasty, with loads of rain and wind. So it is probably a good thing Spikey has decided to hibernate now.

Harry a few days ago.

Little Harry is no longer little. As of this morning we weighed him and he is 912 grams!!!! And is really quite the little tubby boy. Although he can still roll up into a ball. We think he could well be getting ready to hibernate too. But he will be doing so inside. He was moved downstairs into the conservatory where we can control the temperatures a bit better for any hibernation inside. He did do a bit of nest building yesterday and didn't quite want to wake up this morning for his cage clean.

Harry again. We have had to turn his box on the side so he has a bigger hole to enter into his box now. :)

Luckily when we were offered a cage by a gentle man from Freecycle, he also gave us four panels for a rabbit run. Brian put some hinges on some of the panels and a hook and eye on them too, so now they are really quick to set up. This we have been using in the conservatory to give the boys a bit of exercise while their cages are being cleaned out and they are also socializing with each other a bit. I think this makes for happy animals to have new experiences and they don't get too bored inside before we can release them back to the wild. The weather has been really awful lately and our garden a bit of a mud pit so they aren't getting outside for exercise at the moment. They don't tear up their cages as much when they get exercise or a bit of time in the pen. We have found that we do need to put news papers down as there have been the occasional accident, but it also stops Harry from trying to burrow under our rug. It is amazing how strong they can be. We also have a tunnel in there for them and a rattan foot rest that they can hide under and some toys. I have noticed the change in the two youngest ones it has been really good for them as they seem alot quieter and more relaxed. Harry couldn't be bothered and just patiently waits to be returned to his bed. He will actually climb into our gloved hand so he can get back to his bed that much quicker, another indication that I think he is ready to start hibernation.

For some strange reason Ben wanted to crawl on top of Tiny.

I guess he was a bit excited meeting his new friend for the first time. Tiny in the corner and Ben off to the right.

Tiny, the little hedgehog we found visiting our food bowls who wasn't quite up to size is not so tiny any longer. He is around the 650 grams mark and little Ben who my friend found is really doing well now. He is about to catch up with Tiny in weight and is around 615 grams. We figured since all three are close in size and the two smaller ones will soon catch up to Harry before long that we will keep them where we can start lowering the temps for them to go into hibernation if they decide to. And for us, the conservatory is the best place for them here. We do have the hutch for a back up, but that is totally outside and no temperature control on that. We could also put them in the pen with boxes if need be, but at the moment we are just seeing how they get on and letting them enjoy the 5 star treatment.

Spikey and Jingles

2009-11-18T13:37:00.001Z

Spikey is still wide awake and exploring the garden. Jingles is out every night keeping an eye on the hoggies in the garden. And checking out the plants too.

Spikey and Gail

2009-11-09T10:12:00.001Z

This video was taken on the first night Gail was put in the soft release pen. We thought it was cute them meeting nose to nose at the pen. Gail has now gone to live with my friend Barbara and has a lovely little home there and a robin friend already. :) Hopefully she will stick around and make new friends with the hedgehogs that visit Barbara's garden. I will miss her, but I know she has gone to a nice place and will have a happy life. I wish her all the best for her future. :)

November 5th, 2009

2009-11-05T10:25:00.005Z

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. :)

spikey comp

2009-11-03T18:00:00.001Z

Spikey's Release. I hope you all enjoy the video Brian has put together.

Tiny 31 10 09 Off Home

2009-11-01T11:08:00.001Z

And one more time he shows up on Friday night. So Brian and I decided to stay up last night to see if he would return......... And yes he did!!! :) And early too!!! :) So we brought him in and checked him over. Found out he was a he and de flead him and took two ticks off. He weighed in at 515 grams so will stay a few nights with us to fatten up a bit more. He is a lovely little boy and can poo for England, which looks healthy by the way. :)
Little Harry who is no longer little either is now a whopping 578 grams. He was doing a little coughing yesterday, which worried me a little, but it could be he is just coughing up the lungworms or he could have something in his throat that could have caused him to cough. I will keep a keen ear towards him today.
And tonight is the big night for Spikey. :) We plan to release him tonight around 10pm in the garden. We will have the camera poised in his direction.
As for the others, well I think they have all gone into hibernation now. We haven't seen Millie or Henrietta for a few nights now and Holly for a week or so now. I hope they are tucked up safe and are having a lovely hibernation. I will be ready for spring and the return to the chaotic garden escapades, not sure how we will manage to get through winter with out our hedgehogs on the camera.

Tiny 31 10 09 Drink

2009-11-01T11:00:00.001Z

And again he comes for some more food and a drink!!!!...........

Tiny 31 10 09 Tunnel

2009-11-01T10:59:00.001Z

And he returns yet again the same night.......

Tiny 31 10 09 Food Box

2009-11-01T10:57:00.001Z

We had almost given up on Tiny as he hadn't appeared for two days here. And then on Friday night this all happens....

Frog and Black Fluffy

2009-10-30T15:24:00.001Z

More adventures of Frog! :)

Frog 2 10 09

2009-10-27T13:41:00.001Z

This is all we had on the video after we went to bed at 1.45am. I think it was too wet for hedgehogs.

Harry being fed his Chicken Soup.

2009-10-27T12:55:00.001Z

Harry was feeling a bit under the weather. We think he had worms. So he went off his food for a bit. I thought he felt a bit cold also so I made him up some Special recipe chicken soup. Chopped up chicken thigh, broth, some Hills AD, some Iams Kitten biscuits, a pinch of vitamins and probiotics. The first night we had to start off with a syringe feed, but he soon got the idea and advanced to eating from the spoon while sitting snuggly in his fleece pouch ontop of the hot water bottle. He has now put his weight back on and his poo is starting to look a bit better too. :) I will be keeping an eagle eye on him to make sure he doesn't go off his food again or think about going into hibernation just yet. He is still too small for any of that.

October 27th, 2009

2009-10-27T10:21:00.003Z

Well it looks as though Spikey may well be going into hibernation along with the rest of them here. Henrietta is only showing up occasionally now and we haven't seen Holly for about a week and Millie since the other night when we remarked and weighed her. We desperately tried to stay up last night to see if we could catch the Tiny visitor, but after two movies, lots of water and trips to the loo and a bowl of cereal.... we didn't have any luck. At 1.45 am we packed it in and called it a night. It had started to rain by this time and when it rains we hardly see any hedgehogs, so we will need to try another night. However all was not lost and we do have a great video of Frog hopping about the garden. :)
I think little Harry is on the up now. :) I gave him some worming meds and his dosage is finished for now. I will repeat it in a fortnight so that we catch any eggs hatching out if there are any. But he has been spoiled rotten in the meantime. I boiled him up a chicken thigh and mixed this with some Iams kitten biscuits and some Hills AD and his vitamins and Probiotics and tried to get him to eat. Well the first night we went the syringe feed route with mainly juice and Hills. Then we progressed to eating from a spoon!!! I also have been putting in the hot water bottles for him to keep him warm so any ideas he may have of going into hibernation are put out of his mind. He is just too small yet for any of that. And this morning we weighed him and he came in at 494 grams. :) So we are still keeping a close eye on him, but he seems to be doing well for now. :)

23 10 09 Tiny visits

2009-10-24T16:02:00.001Z

Our new little visitor to the garden!!

Henrietta biffs Millie

2009-10-24T15:04:00.001Z

The new kid on the block decides she is the boss of the garden. Only I think Millie knows she is just a little young and hasn't learnt her manners yet. :)

Spikey enjoying his new surroundings.

2009-10-24T15:03:00.001Z

Spikey gets over excited about his new house and his new pen. :)

01 Holly meets Millie

2009-10-24T15:02:00.001Z

Holly and Millie meet up after their release in the garden. There is a little argy bargy, but once they realize it is their sister they go about eating together. :)

October 24th, 2009

2009-10-24T12:00:00.008Z

We have had a busy couple of days here this past week. With some moving and rearranging. Henrietta was released on Monday and has been visiting the garden since, all except last night. But it was raining last night, so not sure if that was the reason she didn't show up or??? Holly has been here most nights, but on Thursday night we only saw her once, so think possibly she has finally succumbed to hibernation. Millie was the only one to show up last night at the bowls. And a shock when we noticed a new little hedgehog on the camera on Thursday night!!! I stayed up as late as possible last night and was up at 2 am the time he showed up on Thursday to see if he returned, but he didn't. Again I think the possibly the rain put them off. However we did see frog there this morning. :)

Little Harry has been going out for his exercise each morning and strolling around the garden.

We are in the process of worming him as he is a bit perplexing at the moment. He caught up with his weight a day or so after he arrived and then he seems to eat a little one night and then the next he eats lots. Last night he seemed to have eaten alot but actually lost a little bit of weight, so we are keeping a close eye on him and will get him to the vets if he continues to loose weight.
He seems fine though and acts okay, so it may well just be worms. I plan to boil him some chicken tonight to see if he gets his appetite back.

Since Henrietta is out of the soft release pen, we moved her box under some bushes where she was seen to be hanging about in. And that freed up the pen for our next occupant.... Spikey. Although I think he quite enjoyed the hutch. Here he is on moving day....

Just out of the hutch and covered in straw.

His new pen set up under the Hazel nut tree.

I gave him a bit of exercise and a stroll around the garden while Brian put the finishing touches to the pen.

Hopefully you can see how big he has gotten compared to the straw bale and the stepping stone. He is well over 800 grams now.

He was so excited about his new pen and house he started self anointing. Here he is licking his house and biting it. And then another self anointing session. He is really enjoying the extra room of the pen and being on the grass and dirt. :) He will have a week to go and then he will need to be released.

And we have a knock on effect here.... that then freed up the hutch top floor and so...... since Gail is close to 800 grams and had been in the conservatory getting used to cooler temps. She then went into the hutch.

This is also the first time she has seen straw.

I think she likes it as she buried herself into it straight away. And that evening she pulled every bit of straw into her nest box area.
Hopefully tonight on the camera we will see the hedgehogs who aren't hibernating tonight and if possible, catch our little visitor and bring him in if he/she is underweight. One good thing though is they can eat and drink plenty in our garden and top up on the reserves they need for the cooler temps.

03 Henrietta veg plot

2009-10-24T11:55:00.001Z

We moved the camera back to it's normal position watching the food bowls. And this is after Henrietta has left her area. She is now in my raised garden bed. Watch above the tunnel for her to figure out how to get down. :)

02 Henrietta off

2009-10-24T11:53:00.001Z

Last Monday night we released Henrietta into the garden. This video shows the moment she realizes she has been set free. She seems to stop just at the boundry where her pen was and then progresses slowly past not believing her luck. :)

October 20th, 2009

2009-10-20T11:22:00.003Z

Last night Miss Henrietta was released into the garden. She was up to 834 grams in weight. We let her come out first and have a bite to eat and a nap before taking the pen away at around 8pm. And we caught her on the video night camera coming out to find she had freedom. :) Once Brian edits it I will post that on YouTube. :) But here she is the night before we released her getting a check over to make sure all was okay for her to be released. :)

Henrietta
*****UPDATE******* Videos of Henrietta being released can be viewed here.......
Henrietta's release
And she heads straight for my veg patch..... I think we need to put some more steps around it for her...
Henrietta explores the garden.

Last Sunday we got a new little boarder. :) His name is Harry. A lovely family brought him to us to look after and hopefully he will be going back to them when they get moved to their new home. He had some ticks of which some of the smallest ones I have ever seen before. They were no bigger than the size of the tip on a pin!!!! Harry is really really good and let me take them off him, even the ones on the inside of his back legs and his tummy. Either he is a very friendly hedgehog or I am getting better at handling them. :) He is a bit on the shy side as most hoggies are so it may well take me a bit to get some good photos of him. After I gave him a bath to remove some poo that he had rolled in and deticked him, I put him on the heat pad to dry off and check for anymore ticks. He was really enjoying the warmth of the pad and the fleeces.

And then we moved him to his new cage. He thought he was in heaven!!! The look on his little face was lovely and he snuggled right into the fleeces and had a good sleep and then he tucked into the food I left for him.

The tube he likes to crawl through as all of them do. And the ball is one of those that you can put cat biscuits in and they fall out when it moves around. He has had his worming meds now too and gets his vitamins put on his food along with his probiotics to keep his tummy in order.

Here he is sitting on the cat blanket for his photo. It can be very difficult sometimes taking photos of them as they sure don't sit still sometimes.

Here he is rolled into a ball and hugging my thumb. I do have to wear gloves to hold them sometimes as those prickles hurt!!!

I thought you all might enjoy seeing a close up of the prickles. You can see the new ones starting to push through his skin. I think it is like toddlers at the teething stage and this can be slightly uncomfortable for them as sometimes they start to get really huffy at this stage. I give them evening primrose in their food to help with the dry skin and to help with the prickles coming through.
Anyway, I will try to get some better photos of Harry soon and some of the others.
Spikey is now living out in the new hutch and from what I can tell is enjoying it. :) Gail is soon to join him out in the bottom half of the hutch I think possibly later today once I can get it sorted. She is now 710grams so it won't be long and she will be released soon too. :)

Harry in his cage

2009-10-20T11:21:00.001Z

Harry in his cage. Going through his tube and then snuggling into his fleeces. I covered him up after the filming and he went to sleep all snuggly warm. :)

Thank you Pets at Home!!! And Companion Care!!

2009-10-15T19:50:00.003Z

Yesterday Brian took me out for a Pizza. We hadn't been out for over two months here and we were going to celebrate his 75th birthday with a Pizza, but unfortunately we weren't able to get out then. So we went yesterday and boy was the pizza and starter and afters yummy!!!! Well done to our friends at Pizza Express.
We just got in and the phone rang. It was our vets office, Companion Care, they said that the Pets at Home had a hutch for us. It had been returned and was damaged and we could pick it up in the morning. So Brian and I went and picked it up and after a quick trip to the farm shop we immediately started putting it together....

We still have one or two modifications to make for the hedgehogs. But Wow!!!!!!!! A huge Thank you to both our lovely Vets who look after our little spikey friends and to the Pets at Home store too!!!!!

October 13th, 2009

2009-10-13T14:06:00.005Z

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.

Millie Front

2009-10-13T14:04:00.001Z

This is Millie all grown up we think. We released both her and Holly on the same night. First thing Millie did was run down the path and out the gate. She was ready to explore the big wide world. Brian brought her back after I worried that she was out near the road too early in the evening(we live on a close). So she wandered about the garden a bit more and then went out the gate again. So we let her go on her own explorations. She has come back with different marks than what we put on her. I haven't been able to catch hold of her to double check it is her, but after many hours of debate between Brian and myself and rewinding videos and watching them over and over again, we are probably 90percent sure it is her. She seems to be a bit of a party girl. :)

Holly Front

2009-10-13T14:00:00.001Z

This is Holly from the Quads, all grown up now. She has been released in our garden for about a week now and she has been here everynight eating, drinking and sleeping. She has even met up with Suzy one night. She spent a few nights in her own nest box and then decided to give a few of the others a try, and has decided to buld up the straw bed in Hogwarts which is under the far bush top right. The box is well hidden from view, but we do see her gathering straw and going into it from time to time. Not sure if her sister is staying with her or not.

Brutus gets the brush off

2009-10-06T16:22:00.001Z

Brutus the Bully tries it on with Suzy our one eyed girl hedgehog. She shows him what she thinks of him.

October 6th 2009

2009-10-05T19:04:00.009Z

I used to keep up with my food blog, but since the hedgehogs came along I haven't had much time to cook let alone write about it. So here is a recipe for fixing some fine Hedgehog grub.
Take as many bowls as you have hedgehogs. Fill with Iams kitten biscuits.

Pour on Hot water from the kettle.

Add a good helping of Sheba chicken and turkey terrine.

Sprinkle over some vitamins and pro biotic powder. Mix well with a fork.

And there you go, gourmet hedgehog food!!!! I can't believe we had 6 hedgehogs in at the same time!!!!

The Girls have been released!!!! We weighed the girls the night before that way we didn't disturb them on the night we wanted to release them on. Millie weighed in at a whopping 920 grams and Holly at 820 grams!!! That is well above the recommended amount they officially say to release them at. They usually will loose a little once released from all the running around they get up to. And with the cold nights the extra weight will help them survive.

Millie
We moved their nest boxes back under the hazel nut tree and put the board across the top of the two houses. It was raining last night too, so that is good for releasing. It means little beasties are out and about for them to munch on.

Millie all curled up.
We did video them with the new garden cam and watched them this morning. They had a lovely time wandering about and Millie actually went up and said hello to Suzy. :)

Holly rolled up in a ball.
And we did see one of them go back into their nest box (for some reason they are sharing one). Hopefully the other one is in there too. We didn't want to disturb them by looking. There are several other nest boxes in the garden too. And we will be setting up the camera on them tonight and then later onto the feeding area. :) Hopefully they will stick around like Tyler has.

Here is our little boy. I haven't met a hog like him before. Very very huffy and independent. My friend's beaver troop has finally given him a name and I think it is a very good and apt name for him. Spikey.

Hedgehogs do something called self anointing. They do this when they taste something new or smell something new. They start salivating and then transfer this saliva to themselves twisting and turning to try to put it onto their backs. Well Spikey sure does enjoy self anointing!!!

He loves going outside for a run in the pen and it seemed like everything he came along set him off self anointing.

I have found that mint sprigs will set them off usually, but he was doing it after tasting twigs and dirt and grass too.

Be warned and don't let this cute innocent photo of him (butter couldn't melt) give you the idea he is a sweet soft hog. He is not!!!

See those teeth! He knows how to use them. And that rock. Yup he has bitten that rock! He went after my toes today when he was outside. And had a bite of Brian's wellies.

The girls on the other hand are sweet.

This is Henrietta who is now in the conservatory. She will be going into the soft release pen later this week. I weighed her this morning and she is well above 600 grams. She loves wandering around the garden and likes to climb into my raised beds. She was struggling a little and so Brian gave her a step up Brick. :)

And this is little Gail. She is getting on really well. And is just under Spikey in weight. It is almost like she isn't here she is that good of a little one. Not much trouble at all. And a sweet little thing.

And here is Jamie. She came to us last Monday. We still can't quite figure out exactly what is wrong with her. She is an older hedgehog. I normally take in little ones to rear up, so she is my first adult to look after. She is very frail and gaunt. Tires easily. And weighs almost as much as Spikey. The finder found her wandering in a busy road like she was drunk. The poor thing has had babies, but I don't know how recent that was. She was completely dehydrated and has some broken spines on her head and neck area. We aren't sure if she has been caught into something like a chain link fence, or if she was hit by a car.

I immediately started her on re hydration fluids and rang the vet for some antibiotics. And I have been feeding her by syringe almost ever hour that first day even through the night. She seemed to pick up and so I put food in for her to eat on her own, but then she went down in weight again. So rather than loose her, I have been syringe feeding her since. We are now on 4 hour feeds and she is now taking around 25 mls per feed and is keeping some weight on. I do try to get her to eat on her own, but she just isn't interested.

After a couple of days I thought she might like some fresh air and something familiar like grass and dirt. She did perk up and it gave her some new life.

You can tell from these photos how ill she is.

I have also been keeping her on a heating pad and give her a heat lamp treatment when we have to wash the food off her. She has perked up more since these photos were taken and is eating much better although not on her own yet. I feel she is an old girl and as such deserves all the molly coddling we can give her. And to me she is well worth all those nights of getting up in the wee hours and feeding her. She has been wormed and deflead. I think it was the worse case we have had with flea infestation. And I removed one tick from her. I know we have not had rain for three weeks and for her to be so dehydrated I am worried for her babies. Hopefully what ever brought her down did it after they were weaned.

As she gets better her littler personality is coming out and I am growing quite fond of her. Even Brian I think is too, though he calls her a he all the time. :)

October 4th, 2009

2009-10-04T09:36:00.004Z

We have anxiously been waiting for Autumn Watch to begin here. As we love the program and the presenters are pretty good about getting everyone interested in wildlife and nature. Well this time round they have asked for videos of wildlife. And I sent them in the one of Brutus rumbling poor Gus in the garden and they have it posted up on their web page. :) How cool is that!!! Autumn watch Movies Now if we could only get Simon King to stop saying that Slugs are Hedgehog's favourite food!!!!!! They aren't!!!! Come on you lot at Autumn watch and pay attention to what is being said on the message board about hedgehogs please. :)
All the babies are doing super and growing rather quickly here. I will try to get some new photos of them today when they go out for some exercise later.
Jamie is still holding her own, but I am feeding her every 3 to 4 hours now to make sure she keeps weight on and doesn't loose anymore. She did seem a bit brighter this morning around 5am. I even heard her crunching a few biscuits during the night. I sleep with her next to me so I can take care of her during the night. And we have been kipping down in the lounge so as not to disturb Brian's sleep. Jingles is also sleeping with us and guarding us. He makes for an excellent watchcat. :)

October 2nd, 2009

2009-10-02T16:36:00.004Z

Update on Thor and Ace. My friend Linda stopped by with George on their way home from work and football practice. George is the lad whose garden the boys were released in. He said they released them on Saturday night and that they have been coming back and eating the food during the night. And he had got to see them once. So the boys are doing well. And they have such a lovely garden to live in too. :)
Well we had the camera aimed at the girls last night so missed seeing any of the garden hogs arrive. They seemed to both do quite well in their pen and enjoyed eating. There was a bit of nest building going on too, where they go around collecting straw or leaves in their mouths to take into their nest boxes. I plan to give them some more straw tonight as the temps are dropping here a little more tonight.
I thought we had turned a corner with Jamie, but she has gone back down again. I have started giving her fluids by syringe and keeping her warm. She looks better than when she arrived and had perked up there a bit. Maybe she will come round when it turns night time with her being nocturnal. I am hoping for the best.
The others are all doing just fine and putting on lots of weight here. And growing.

The boy finally has a name. My friend's Beavers has decided to name him Spikey and that is really quite an appropriate name for him. I have been on the end of a few of those spikes. :)

And today is Brian's 75th Birthday here. We are planning on celebrating here at home quietly the pair of us, Jingles and the hedgehogs. :)

October 1st, 2009

2009-10-01T12:04:00.004Z

Update on the hedgehogs.
The girls, Holly and Millie are still piling on the weight in anticipation for their release on Sunday or Monday night. Brian says, Monday is supposed to be a better night, so we may opt for that.
Henrietta is in the conservatory cage piling on the weight there and acclimatising to the cooler temps at night.
The boy is about to get a name, as the Beavers will choose one tonight for him. :) He is a real handful. Quite huffy and puffy and hissy and bites. Not seen or had one like him before. He has had to move to the large cat carrier today, because Gail is now in the smaller of our cages, and she is doing really well and a little sweetie. Jamie is now in the large cage. She was quite feisty last night when I was up checking on her during the wee hours. She was trying to climb out of the carrier and even huffed at me a time or two. Not sure what did it. But we did end up giving her a nice warm lavender bath and putting her under a heat lamp afterwards to warm up yesterday afternoon. And I swear I saw her smile. I think getting the flea powder and dirt off her and what ever else there was could only be a good thing. She was smelling quite foul and I thought if she wasn't going to make it she would go at least feeling clean and relaxed from the bath. She is looking loads better and is actually eating biscuits now. Though she still isn't out of the woods yet. I am quite happy with her progress so far. :)
The cam is still going well, and we watch it every morning on fast forward to see what has been going on in the garden at night. I am a little worried. Gus has now been missing for 3 nights now. Suzy went missing for a night, but is back. And now Brutus has gone missing for the past two nights. Tyler has been showing up every night as have some of the neighborhood cats. And Jingles is ever watchful over the garden and the hoggies. Still no sign of little Alex. I sure do miss him.
I actually took time out yesterday and cleaned one of my raised beds and planted it up for winter. :) And we seem to have loads of birds back in the garden again. Most mornings they are hoovering up the leftovers from the hoggies and also we are putting food out for them too.
Please remember to put water out for wildlife and also some food out for the hoggies. :) You can make a huge difference in their survival. :)

Please put water out for Wild animals

2009-09-30T13:34:00.002Z

Hi all, just a quick post. This little lady hedgehog who is so poorly is really dehydrated. And I think that if everyone puts out a bowl of water each morning and night for our wild animals it sure could make the difference to an animal in need. That doesn't just go for here in the UK, but all over the world, especially with the way the climate is so weird at times. And not only you do it, but tell your friends and family too, and have them to put out a bowl of water also. You all can make a difference please.

September 30th, 2009

2009-09-30T09:55:00.001Z

Our lady hedgehog Jamie is still with us. She ate and drank a bit on her own last night at 2.20 am. I am still going in every two hours or so and encouraging her to eat and drink a little. The antibiotics are kicking in too. So keep your fingers crossed.

September 29th, 2009

2009-09-29T20:38:00.002Z

We have just taken in a very sick adult female today. I have only up until now had in babies other than the one adult we took to Essex Wildlife hospital. This one we ended up taking to the vets, but they were full up and so we ended up bringing her back with us along with some antibiotics. I have been feeding her fluids every hour and she is finally getting a bit stronger. This last feed she refused and just wanted a rest I think. So have left her for a bit longer. We have named her Jamie after her finder. So Jamie if you read this she is still hanging in there as of when this is posted. We deflead her as she was really covered with the horrid things and I did find one tick on her which is now dead. She looks to have had some babies, but I don't think they are recent, but rather older ones. I hope they are okay.
Well anyway, if you all don't hear from me for a bit, it is because I am desperately trying to save our little lady.

September 28th, 2009

2009-09-25T07:44:00.022Z

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.

Tyler and Brutus Rumble in the Tunnel

2009-09-24T13:50:00.001Z

Brutus goes after Tyler, who tries to escape by hiding in the tunnel........ Well you can tell that didn't save him. Usually the pair of them get on alot better than Gus and Brutus.

Sunday 20th, September 2009

2009-09-20T10:32:00.002Z

Sorry for not updating the past couple of days, we have been rather busy of late.
The quads are doing super!!!! And will be starting their soft release tonight. Thor weighed in at 645 grams this morning and Holly the lightest of the group weighed in at 510 grams. So they are definitely ready to start the process of being released back to the wild. :)

Last Thursday was a really busy day here. After being up the night before with little Tony and him passing away. Brian and I took him out to a lovely spot and buried him. We even gave him a few little flowers. That morning I received a phone call from my Hedgehog mentor and he said there was a lady here in town who had found a little one and it was at a vets here in town would I mind taking it in. So I rang them and arranged to pick up the little one at around 1.30. Poor little might was covered in fleas. So Brian and I set about immediately putting her on a heating pad as she felt cold, and defleaing her. We used Johnson's Rid mite powder for Birds. Works great and the fleas immediately started abandoning ship. I expect we got rid of well over a 100 on her. Poor little girl. She wouldn't uncurl and I don't really blame her, so we gave her some water in a carrier box and placed her on a heat pad and left her to get used to things with some lovely warm fleeces.
And then we had to take Ace and Millie to the Beavers(very young scouts) meeting. The boys were so enthusiastic over them and were excellently behaved around the hedgehogs. My friend had told them before hand that they had to be extra quiet so as not to frighten them and that they were not allowed to touch at all. First off I gave a little talk about hedgehogs and we had a questions and answers session and the boys told me their experiences with hedgehogs. Then in small groups they were allowed to come into the back room to see them. And they were just so curious about them and asked questions and were just overall fascinated by them. So hopefully we will have some future hedgehog carers or at least some youngsters that will care about them. Unlike the lot that one of the guys on the forum was posting about some horrible kids killing hedgehogs by nailing them to some fence posts. This type of behavior really worries me. So the more that we can share with our kids and educate them about our wildlife can only be a good thing for ours and theirs future.
I am hoping in the future to work a bit more with the scouts and the hedgehogs. They made a donation towards some food and medicine that is greatly appreciated. :) And I will post what the money goes towards when we get the chance to get out and shop. They are also doing a small paper drive for us here too. :) As I seem to go through alot of newspapers. Especially with the quads at the size they are. :)

When we got back and settled little Ace and Millie in their cages and gave them a cuddle and treat to let them know they were little stars. We checked on little Henrietta and she had uncurled for a further examination. I had noticed some blood on her spines, but it was from the fleas and she wasn't hurt with a wound anywhere. I then gave her some re hydration water and a little of the special milk replacer. And she ate that all. I was then able to check her over more and cleaned up a foot that had some muck on it. I kept feeding her every two hours and gradually went to three hours, increasing milk and amounts. Even all through the night. I spent the night on the sofa bed with her next to me. She then had some Hills AD added to the milk the next day and a warm bath, which she thoroughly enjoyed. The flea dirt was awful and it couldn't have been very comfortable for her. They get new spines in all the time and the baths help the skin just a bit as I add a little baby oil and lavender to the water.

Here she is right after she uncurled for us.

Henrietta eating in her carrier box. She preferred being inside it to eat rather than a clear box. I have taken the fleeces and heating pad out so she could go to the toilet there too.

Here she is at one of the feeds with her little friend. We give the single ones a little stuffed hedgehog toy so that they have something to cuddle. :) She is doing much better today and is now up to 220 grams which is a 24 gram increase since coming in. And is now sleeping away in her nice warm fleece lined carrier box downstairs on the coffee table. :)

We are in the process of converting the conservatory over to a Hogspital. :)

Our first casualty.

2009-09-17T08:12:00.002Z

We have lost our first baby. Poor little Tony came in covered in fleas and fly eggs and maggots. I cleared him up of all of those, and we got him to the vets for some antibiotics, but unfortunately it was too late. He did perk up a bit and I thought we were winning the battle, but unfortunately between 3 am and 4 am last night he passed away. He went all snuggled up warm. Jingles kept me company during the night while I was trying to keep the little one going. But unfortunately when the flies arrive it is usually too late. Mum must have abandoned him knowing something was wrong. Maybe we could have helped if he was brought in just a day or two sooner, but we never know for sure. The finder was great and got him here as soon as possible.

This was little Tony when he was first brought in.

And this was after I cleaned him up and got him on fluids.

Rest in peace little Tony.

September 16th 2009

2009-09-16T19:21:00.002Z

Just a quick update pics to follow tomorrow or when I get a chance. The quads are doing really super. And Thor has reached the 500gram mark!!!!! Two of them are off to visit the Beavers tomorrow. I will be taking Millie and Ace. And our new little one will be going but just for me to keep an eye on him.
Yup you heard right we have a new baby. His name is Tony and he was 124grams when he came in. He is very sick and was even more so when he arrived. Severely dehydrated and covered in fleas. He also had fly strike. This is my first time dealing with that. And I felt like I needed to hurry to get those awful maggots off him. I got all that I could see and I did go over him quite a bit and often to check they are all gone. I called my mentor Derek and got his advice and I called and made an appt. with the vets. We got him in to get him going on some antibiotics. They are such a great group of vets there. They have seen that Brian and I are serious and plan to help these lovely creatures and are giving us a discount on our fee. Also going to see what they can do about chatting to the pet shop folks for some things for us also. :)
Anyway, Tony is being given fluids and monitored closely and checked to make sure no more maggots are on him or in him. The poor thing must have been in agony. He is now dry and warm and has had several feeds. So fingers crossed for the little guy.
Alex has been released and that stupid hog Brutus did have a go at him. Unfortunately I think he has frightened Alex off. We are watching the camera waiting for a glimpse of little Alex.
Tyler spent the day in Bagg End and we are hoping that he will hibernate here with u s.
Okay must finish supper. I will try to update more tomorrow.

Update on the hedgehogs. September 12, 2009

2009-09-12T13:22:00.008Z

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. :)

Rumble in the garden.

2009-09-07T13:50:00.001Z

Here is another video taken in the early days of setting up the camera. That is poor Gus getting attacked by an unknown assailant.

DSCF4793

2009-09-06T20:28:00.001Z

More of day 5 and the quads after eating.

Day 5

2009-09-06T20:25:00.001Z

They are growing so quick!!!!! They almost fill the whole bottom of the box now!

DSCF4791

2009-09-06T20:24:00.001Z

Time for the hedgehogs to go inside. So they are learning to get into their "Hat" or rather Pouch.

DSCF4790

2009-09-06T20:22:00.001Z

Ace and Millie going for a walk together and Thor self annointing still. :)

DSCF4789

2009-09-06T20:19:00.001Z

Holly and Thor self annointing and curling up into balls.

The quads outside.

2009-09-06T20:17:00.001Z

Their first time outside in the outside play pen. :) Notice the bull dog walk where they put their front shoulders out. :) Also Some self annointing going on with Ace after he chewed on a piece of rosemary.

Ace wanting a piggy back ride

2009-09-06T20:13:00.001Z

Ace gits a piggy back ride from his sister and they do a bit of the hedgehog march that they seem to do after eating. :)

Chaos after eating

2009-09-06T20:09:00.001Z

This is some of the fun we watch right after they are finished eating and before they have a bath before bedtime. :)

DSCF4781

2009-09-06T10:11:00.001Z

Ace self annointing after eating some kitten biscuits.

The quads again. :)

2009-09-06T10:10:00.001Z

Babies having a bit of a tussle into which way to go after eating. :)

Ace having a bath

2009-09-05T17:46:00.001Z

This is how I clean them up after they become a bit mucky in the food box. Since they were little I used a small cream cheese container. Now we have moved up to a deluxe bath tub and are using a Cart D'Or Sorbet container. The bits floating in the water is some lavendar. Only the best for our hedgehogs. They fight to be the first for a bath. Afterwards they get a tummy drying and then Dad gives them a more thorough dry and a cuddle. By the time we reach number 3 it becomes rather hectic and they are in their pre bedtime box and poor Dad is trying to cuddle, dry and keep the poo off the bathed ones. It can be quite comical at times here.

And Yes I do sing to my hedgehogs while they are in the bath. LOL

September 5th, 2009 or Sleepless in Hogsville.

2009-09-05T17:04:00.000Z

The babies are sure growing fast and all are developing into lovely little hedgehogs. They have on average had a 60gram increase since they were found only 5 days ago. Both Brian and I are still running around feeling sleepy and tired, but we are getting there. They had their first night without a feed in the middle of the night. Yeah!!! They are now trying some more meatier food with less milk added, and have tried kitten biscuits now too. They have done the self anointing thing already too. Along with the hedgehog slide. That is where they put their chins on the ground and slide. Also another trait I have picked up on is the stretching of the legs out back as they walk with the front ones. Not sure if just a stretch or if it is a way to scratch a belly itch.

We have been trying to take loads of photos and videos of them as I can't get over how quickly they are growing!!!! I looked back to day 2 video and noticed how small they were. And today's video I could see how much they have grown. When you are in a sleepless sort of state little things seem really important. And it seems we are living for the moment. As each feed is such an important step forward for these little guys and we want the best for them.

The camera is also going well and in the morning now around here after the first feed of the babies, Brian and I sit with a cup of coffee and scan the nights tapes, trying to mark where a hedge hog is on the tape. We hope to edit these onto the computer soon to share with everyone.

Brian did bet me the other day that we couldn't go one full day without saying the word hedgehog around here. :D It is amazing how quickly your life can change.

Here are the photos of the babies and you can see how quick they grow.

This is Day 2

Here we are on Day 3

And this is day 4.

Wait till you see the video of day 5!!!! You will be amazed. Videos to follow shortly of their feeds and some of the fun they have here at Hogsville. :)

The quads on Day 3 eating. :)

2009-09-05T17:03:00.001Z

The snuffling noises are them sneezing or trying to blow the milk out of their noses while eating. They are still trying to figure out how to eat from bowls/saucers.

Babies eating on day 3

2009-09-05T16:58:00.001Z

They are eating Milk replacement and Hills AD with a little rusks added.

DSCF4745

2009-09-05T16:56:00.001Z

Meal times can be a bit messy.

Babies eating on Day 2

2009-09-05T16:55:00.001Z

All eating peacefully in their lunch box. :)