April 16th, 2011 - One to go

  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

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!!!

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

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

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

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.

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!!!

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

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.

More pics to follow this post. :)

NEW BABIES!!! :)

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Update on Harry2

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

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

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. :)