suprise hedgehog

[Hedgehoggy]

Originally Posted by nibbler

Both hedgepig and hedgebaby have just been for thier tea.
I have weighed littl'un and he is 270grams. He seems very healthy
(not to mention the cutest little thing I have ever seen).
On no! What do I do now?

At 270g he'll be forced to fend for himself within the next few days. If mum doesn't have more babies back in the nest, she'll go off and prepare for hibernation, so the kindest thing you can do for this little fella is to bring him indoors now. He'll not be able to reach 600g in time to hibernate. Sadly, many underweight hedgehogs never wake from hibernation

Go get him now and I'll talk you through what to do for this evening.

[nibbler]

OMG! He's gone. I have had a look and can't find him.
Will you be able to help me tomorrow?
What will I need?
Where do I keep him? we have a garage accessible from the house but
it gets quite noisy as there are always people in and out of it.
Spare bedroom? too warm?
Shall I buy a rabbit hutch or something? I presume he will stay awake
all winter.
I do have the time as I only work part-time and will be very dedicated
to looking after him.
Thank you for all your advise hedgehoggy I hope I can help him.

[Hedgehoggy]

Don't worry, he'll be back again. Mum has taught him where to get the good food you leave out. A guinea pig/rabbit hutch in your warm spare bedroom would be absolutely ideal. Then, once he reaches a good weight, if it's too late to release him on a mild winter's day, you could move the hutch to somewhere cooler such as your garage to let him hibernate safely there and then release in the spring.

As a temp measure until you can get hold of a rabbit hutch, place the hoglet in something secure like a high-sided large cardboard box, cat/dog carrier (or your bath as an emergency temp measure!). Hogs are good climbers so whatever you put him in will need to be secure. Line the base of the box with newspaper, at one end of the box put some food and water in small heavy based dishes which can’t easily be upended, and at the other end of the box place an old handtowel/fleece for the hoglet to snuggle into to use as bedding (hay/straw is an excellent bedding material which you'll be able to pick up when you get a hutch . At 270g if being kept indoors, he shouldn’t need additional heating.

Then, once you’ve done all that , have a read of the guidelines on Marc’s website on how to overwinter autumn juveniles Wildlifeonline - Caring for Hedgehogs

There are quite a few members on this forum who'll also be more than happy to help you, so don't worry, you won't be alone!