mullethunter Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) The last three days in a row we've come home from work at lunchtime or early afternoon to find a tiny hedgehog (about the size of my hand and I'm small) apparently sunbathing on our grass. Each time we've put him in a cat box in the shade with food and water the first day and just water yesterday and today. Last night we saw him again (assuming it was the same one) on our patio just before dark - (he ran away when he saw us at which point he was nearly in the lounge!) eating some cat food we'd left out and he looked fine. This 'sunbathing' is clearly not normal behaviour though. Anyone got any ideas what's going on or if we should do anything else? Edited September 23, 2015 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Could you try giving somewhere like Tiggywinkles a call for some advice? You're right it's definitely not normal to see a hedgehog out in the daytime, so there is clearly something amiss. They may be able to advise you over the phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 It isn't usual to see a hedgehog out in the day, especially in this hot weather. I echo the advice about discussing the matter with a hedgehog rescue set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Good idea - I'll try Tiggywinkles or similar in the morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Good plan, in the meantime keep an eye out for fly strike. Hoglets can get fly strike really quickly in warm weather. Look out for tiny cream coloured eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 Tiggywinkles recommended I take him somewhere to get him checked out, I found a place locally - and then I haven't seen him since! Hopefully he's ok and has just gone back to normal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 Well - the evening before last I got home later than normal from a long day at work and there he was out in the sun again! He had some fly eggs on him so I rang our nearest rescue / rehab centre and they said he needs help straight away. So out comes the cat box and me and little hoglet are hurtling down the dual carriageway to get to the place in half an hour. They said he was there just in time as some of the fly eggs had just hatched. When I left the very dedicated ladies were picking eggs and maggots off him with tweezers. He only weighed a hundred and something grams, so they said they'll keep him, treat him for all types of parasites and feed him up to over 400 (as long as he makes it). Then he can come back to me to be released! I'm so glad I took him - they were brilliant www.facebook.com/pricklesandpaws Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Well done. He certainly would not have made it without you. They usually pick up quickly after receiving the right care and attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 Little hedgy didn't make it. They said he started putting on weight but then went downhill all of a sudden. They think he had too many internal parasites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random_Girl66 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 What a shame your efforts were in vain. But you never know, do you, so I would have done the same and tried to help just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 What a shame. You did your best. Just to reiterate, it is never a good sign if a hedgehog is out during the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 What a sad story. So sorry he/she didnt make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Arrr, I am sorry to hear about your hedgehog. But, thank you for posting your story..I didn't know hedgehogs shouldn't be around in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 They do tend to suffer from liver fluke. Usually when you see them in the day then they are forced to go and find food and pretty much too late. But then again if caught in time there's always hope. The worst is when they try and hibernate while being underweight. They have to be kept warm all the time. Another bad sign is if their poo is green. Very sad but it happens a lot. It's good to know that rescue centres will take them in, although the nearest one to us had to turn away animals because their funding wasn't enough to cope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 Taken another one to 'Prickles and Paws' today. When we were walking home from the vets carrying the cats yesterday (annual immunisations) at about 5 pm we heard a noise like a loud high pitched bird we didn't recognise a few doors away from our house. As we passed a driveway OH said 'Look! A little hedgehog!' And so there was, and that's what the noise was coming from. I've never heard anything quite like it. Anyway, we couldn't do anything because we were both carrying cat boxes and it was behind gates, but for the rest of the evening I kept thinking 'I should've gone back to see if it was OK', but I didn't. Then this morning as we walked to work, there it was, outside the same house wandering along the verge. I sent OH back to the house for a cat box (only about 50m) and popped the hedgehog in - she was really cute and wouldn't roll up until I had actually managed to pick her up (during this time a little girl who I reckon was about 7 or 8 came past and wasn't even remotely interested - I worry about children today). For the morning I left her in the warm shed on a couple of hand warmers wrapped in socks in a pile of shredded newspaper and Easichick with a plate of watery catfood. Then at lunch time (she was curled up asleep in the paper) drove her the 20 miles to Prickles and Paws. The lovely lady said she must have got lost because she wasn't really big enough to be away from her mum and certainly shouldn't have been out in the day. But she also said that she isn't hin and outwardly looked ok, so fingers crossed this one will make it and we'll get her back just before winter or next spring as a big fat grown up hedgehog. When I left she was inside a fleece hat on a heat pad in a cosy little hutch about to have some special milk. So cute. Wish I could've looked after her myself. Fingers crossed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Better luck his time Our little hedgehog (who has been given the name Bertie) has put on enough weight to come back and be released I'm going to pick him up tomorrow. Trouble is I'll now spend the next 6 months worrying about him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 So glad this little Bertie has survived and you will be able to release him It sounds like you have a lot of hedgehogs in and around your new house Could you give us a couple of little pictures ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Yes I think there must be quite a few here I didn't take any photo's when he came home yesterday as I didn't want to stress him out any more than he already was. But here he is the day we found him He's so much bigger than that now - bigger than the plate I reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Lovely that you got him back too We had a hedgie out in the daytime last year, and I contacted Egluntyne, who confirmed that there was probably something amiss. Called up a local rescue, and got him in a box with a heat pad and some dog mince with water. Turned out that the poor wee thing had too many parasites and had to be PTS Happily, we have a new hedgepig this year, and it looks healthy. I am hoping that it has found somewhere under my woodpile to hibernate as I haven't seen it recently. Thanks to Egluntyne, I now know that hedgies out in the daytime aren't healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
