Baby hedgehogs what to do

I’ve found a baby hedgehog – what shall I do with him?   We get calls most days just like this.  You can bring the little one in to us if you wish, we’re open 11.0am to 3.0pm – if the hedgehog is obviously ill or injured it’s best to take it to a vet for a check up and treatment first..   Here’s a checklist of what to ifhere is no sign of injury::

Observe – it isn’t normal for a hedgehog to be sitting outside during the day – they are nocturnal creatures so it usually means they are ill.   Small hedgehogs (hoglets) are probably separated from Mum and may be starving and dehydrated so this is when you should step in and help.

Keep warm – pick a bedgehog up using a towel – then you won’t feel the spines.   Put him in a cardboard box with paper on the base and filled at one end with hay, dried grass or even shredded paper.   Put the towel you’ve picked him up with in the box too, hedgehogs liked to snuggle and burrow and make a  nest.  Keep the box somewhere warm – near a radiator indoors is good.   A hot water bottle under the bottom of the box or under a towel is a good heat source.   The hedgehog will love the warmth.   This is vital if it’s a poorly or baby hedgehog.

Offer food and water:  Provide water in a shallow dish or a jam pot lid is good.   Emergency hedgehog rations (again on a saucer or shallow plate) are chicken flavour cat food, mealworms, sunflower seeds, peanuts and slivers of apple, blackberries,  A very tinty hoglet will need to be bottle fed and we have special milk for this purpose.  Goat’s milk will do in an emergency but not cow’s milk which they cannot digest.

Check for ticks:  These are grey blobs attached to the spines.   They suck the blood and make the hedgehog anaemic so they must be removed as soon as possible.   Either take to the vet or buy a tick remover (not expensive and it’s easy to do).   Have a pot of vaseline ready and pot the tick into the gel as soon as it is out.   Ticks jump and you don’t want one of these nasty blood suckers landing on you!  The grease keeps them immobile.  Don’t dispose of them in your garden or they’ll be back to bite another day!

If a hedgehog is breathing heavily or won’t eat or drink you must take him to the vet who will tell you if there is any treatment possible.   Sometimes they have been made ill be eating poisoned slugs, there is not usually a good prognosis in this case.   If your hedgehog has a cold he will usually respond well to medicataion.

Baby hedgehogs should be a good size (like a small melon) before being released  We normally keep them over the winter to be sure that they are alright before releasing in the spring.   Please don’t keep a hedgehog as a pet in a compound or in an enclosed garden – he is a wild animal and loves freedom.  Make sure you have gaps at the base of your garden fences so that the hedgehog can roam.  He likes a big territory but if you are lucky he’ll come back to see you  for supper or a midnight feast!