didnt know they existed til mrs ex-p googled it….. we’ve been having hedgehogs in our back garden for a few weeks now, nearly every evening when we let the dog out theres at least one, sometimes two or three, babies too.

the dog gets a bit excited and has rolled on them before and caught fleas but he generally does as hes told and doesnt go near them if we tell him (we hadnt seen the one he rolled on).

anyways, we want to encourage them in the garden, so ive made a little ‘hedgehog house’ out of a wooden box, made a tunnel to the opening, bought some hay and will stick it between the shed and garage when im home on thursday.

ive read that they prefer cat biscuits and water in the winter, but just wondered if anyone here has done similar and can answer a couple of questions please….

1. is a box full of hay with food and drink also likely to attract mice and rats? i want hogs in there, not vermin. if so is it just pot luck or can i discourage the rats in any way?

2. the house has a hinged lid. id be tempted to open it to see if its being used but apparently if it is, then this may encourage them to eat their babies. how do i leave food and drink for it if i cant open the lid?

3. my gut feeling is i wait til i see them on the lawn, then maybe make a bit of a food trail leading up to it, with more food inside. that sound about right?

thanks

Waste of time, they should just learn to share the hedge.

You’ll never discourage rats or mice, you feed hedgehogs you will feed everything in your garden.

If they have babies it’s be a good idea to over winter them or take them to a rescue ctr, small won’t Last the winter, they should be around 800g iirc to have a chance.

Over wintered dozens of hedgehogs over the years. Lived on a nature reserve and my Aunty used to run a wildlife rescue centre so we were well placed for release in the spring. Even our local vet will ring us up to look after recovering/underweight hogs.

We’ve had a house for a couple of winters now with a hibernating hedgehog in it. We’ve not used food, they just seem to find it.

They’ll most likely have sorted out a place to bed down this winter already, it’s getting quite late for them I believe.

Mrs B exchanged quite a few emails with the Hedgehog Preservation Society when sorting things out for our hog.

thanks.

If they have babies it’s be a good idea to over winter them or take them to a rescue ctr, small won’t Last the winter, they should be around 800g iirc to have a chance.

yeah, been reading about the ickle baybeez, and having to be a certain weight to survive, but we’re not advocating picking them up and weighing them are we??

thanks for the link mrblobby, i may well give em a ring.

I would, but if you’re not comfy with doing it see what they say at the HPS.

To be fair, if they’re toddlers then they have no real chance unless someone takes them in.

If you do take them, keep them in the shed, not the house or garage as they flipping stink. They’re proper crapping machines.

To be fair, if they’re toddlers then they have no real chance unless someone takes them in.

Under 600 grams and they are unlikely to survive hibernation.

We have a juvenile I’ve been weighing periodically. If he’s still under weight his week, the local wildlife shelter has agreed to take him (or her) in over the winter.

ff, where do you keep him? how do you weigh him, kitchen scales in a box or something? how often? are you not worried about ‘overhandling’ him?

You’ve got it nailed there, in a box on kitchen scales.

If you weigh them now and they’re under weight, over winter them, or take them to a rescue ctr. You won’t need to weigh them again.

You’ll probably have to handle them weekly if you do over winter them yourself when you clean out the hutch. Do it, its great, and youre pretty much guranteed theyd come back next year.

That’s what we found anyway.

great stuff thanks. one other thing, it says to keep them fed and watered, change the bedding (hay?) regularly.

ive made one of them wooden boxes with a little tunnel to keep the weather out. theres no chance of getting any food and drink through the tunnel, and i wouldnt want to keep opening the lid and disturbing any hibernating hogs. how do we all keep em fed, watered and clean?

They won’t need it if they’re hibernating.

If it’s cold enough for long enough for them to hibernate leave them to it. If it’s not, feed/water them at night when they’re active.

how will i know if theres one asleep in there without opening it up and disturbing it?

ff, where do you keep him? how do you weigh him, kitchen scales in a box or something? how often? are you not worried about ‘overhandling’ him?

He did move in to a HH house I put in the garden, but has since moved out and is somewhere else.

I noticed he is quite small so after discussion with my local HH rescue centre have been weighing him, garden gloves and kitchen scales. The freeze when handled so are quite easy to weigh. Yes it’s a bit unpleasant for him but better than freezing to death which is the alternative. Main problem is finding him as they have a big territory and only spends a few mins walking across our lawn each night….

The other problem is he won’t touch cat/dog food (I’ve tried loads of varieties), but does eat sunflower kernels, so I leave those out for him each night.

Here is his having dinner

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB2FUFvq45k[/video]

Last weigh in was 365g which is too light….

well since i put the box out, its been all quiet, just my luck eh? saw one hedgehog last night but it didnt go anywhere near the hog house while we were watching, but….. the cat biscuits we left out near the house had gone. could be a cat tho 🙂

i could do with one of them night vision cctv’s too, be good to see who takes the food and whether the house gets used. how much are they, big spends?

well since i put the box out, its been all quiet, just my luck eh

Will take a while for them to discover it.

Try stuffing it with dry leaves to make a nice bed for them, also put it somewhere quiet, they don’t like being disturbed.

Our IR camera is a Crenova thing – £70 on Amazon.