Hedgehogs

[Birdsinmygarden]

Can anyone help me?

Should my Hedgehog be in hibernation by now? He is still merrily wandering around the garden!!

[galanthus]

Mine has been in hibernation for around 3 weeks, however, as always he will be wandering around at some point for the odd few days, he/she even put in an appearence for xmas lunch last year Apparently if they have enough weight and there's enough food available they will wander out intermittently. Tho if yours is very small he could have probs with the current cold weather

[mh68]

Originally Posted by Birdsinmygarden

Can anyone help me?

Should my Hedgehog be in hibernation by now? He is still merrily wandering around the garden!!

Ours is still out feeding most nights,although if we continue to get a few frosts it shouldnt be long before it starts hibernating.

Mark H

[The Black Rabbit]

You can still set your clock by my office hog.
As Mark said though, another night or two like last night, and the clock will stop for a while I suppose.
Doug

[mystic meg]

Alot of Hedgehogs have gone into hybernation, due to the last few days, if any are still out feeding and weigh 1.1/2 pounds they should be ok to leave as long as they are feeding normal times ie after dark. If there are any h/hogs out in daytime they should be picked up and taken to your nearest wildlife rescue centre, this is not normal behaviour. Any h/hogs weighing less than the hybernating weight again should be picked up and ditto as above.
We are currently looking after 75 h/hogs, these are the late litters probably born october time, most of these weigh between 5 to 16oz. these will be overwintered, due to the cold weather alot of them are coming in with hypothermia. We expect to continue to receive more small h/hogs through to December.

[paulchandler6]

Have not seen mine for 6 days now, so I guess he/she is in hibernation. I'm certain as well that its hibernating in a large Pampas Grass in the garden, so its well sheltered from the elements.
It certainly put on weight in the past few months.

Paul

[Cazzie]

Originally Posted by Birdsinmygarden

Can anyone help me?

Should my Hedgehog be in hibernation by now? He is still merrily wandering around the garden!!

Like the other members have already said... he/she will go into hibernation when it's ready! If you are concerned about it's size though, then please do as Meg says and catch it and at least weigh it to make sure it's heavy enough to get through the winter - 600+gms is best.

If you're feeding it, then keep feeding it until you don't see it out and about for at least a week or more ok!

I'm confident all my 3 are actually hibernating now, although tonight I noticed a disturbance of the leaves in the entrance to one of my boxes and I 'think' Raquel has been out tonight even though there's a frost on the ground. I still have a dish of food out just in case she's hungry!

[The Black Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Cazzie

Like the other members have already said... he/she will go into hibernation when it's ready! If you are concerned about it's size though, then please do as Meg says and catch it and at least weigh it to make sure it's heavy enough to get through the winter - 600+gms is best.

If you're feeding it, then keep feeding it until you don't see it out and about for at least a week or more ok!

I'm confident all my 3 are actually hibernating now, although tonight I noticed a disturbance of the leaves in the entrance to one of my boxes and I 'think' Raquel has been out tonight even though there's a frost on the ground. I still have a dish of food out just in case she's hungry!

Our office Hedgehog is hibernating now too Cazzie!
Doug

[mh68]

Ours has been out tonight i think, the plates been cleared anyway.

Mark H

[Cazzie]

Hope it's got a nice cosy box to snuggle in Doug - did you make it one?

Hafta laugh, whilst I'm typing this I'm feeding Henry kitten kibbles through the wire on his Rabbit hutch rofl!

[The Black Rabbit]

[quote=Cazzie;198734]Hope it's got a nice cosy box to snuggle in Doug - did you make it one?

Hafta laugh, whilst I'm typing this I'm feeding Henry kitten kibbles through the wire on his Rabbit hutch rofl! [/QUOTE

I'm afraid I didn't Cazzie!
He (she/it?) seems to be most content outside in a thick bush, tightly packed with leaves, in the courtyard.
This is a clever hog - it climbed another bush just before the floods came in July!
Doug

[davetee]

I supected during the summer (I use that word loosely) there was a Hedgehog visiting my garden. I decided to leave some mixed nuts out last night and setup a camcorder to see what the visitor was...and I was right it was a Hedgehog. I'll keep leaving food out for it until it stops eating. Whatt are the best foods for a Hedgehog?

[The Black Rabbit]

Dog food aint bad!
(but there are some real hog fans on WAB who'll know much more...)
Doug

[mh68]

As Doug says , dogfood, also cat/kitten food, cat biscuits, scrambled egg, bread soaked in water,mincemeat,guinea pig food, as well as special Hedgehog food available from some pet stores or online.I`m sure others will add some more to the list

Mark H

[Cazzie]

I'll add a couple of extras Mark.... raisins and crushed peanuts! (ones for birds btw, not salted!)

[mh68]

Originally Posted by Cazzie

I'll add a couple of extras Mark.... raisins and crushed peanuts! (ones for birds btw, not salted!)

Knew i`d miss something out, cheers Caz

Mark H