My new rescue hog

[Prickly Pair]

We have a walled garden, so it has just started to be used as a home for hogs that won't survive in the wild. We have just taken delivery of a nearly white (not albino) hog. We are hoping he will grow darker spines over winter, now that he has recovered from his various ailments, so that he can be released.

The rescue centre gave us a lot of good advice, but having seen all the great responses on this site, i thought it would be good to get input from here as well.

Our first - Vyvyan, named after the Young Ones character (you need to be middle aged to remember Vyv), is a feisty teenager, delivered to us at at 900grams. We have a hog home which he has taken to and has no trouble getting back to.

So here goes - questions from new hog parents.........
1. We put both wet and dry food in the feeding station. He doesn't seem to touch the dry food (cat biscuits and mealworms supplied by the rescue centre, which he was eating when they were building him up). Presumably this isn't a problem, and he just eats what he wants?
2. How often should we pick him up to inspect and weigh him - we don't want to disturb him any more than necessary?
3. How can we tell when he has gone into hibernation, and what monitoring do we need to do when he is hibernating?

We are expecting a second hog - Tripod, a three legged hog - this weekend. We will have a hog home ready for him.

4. What is the likliehood of the two hogs clashing?
5. It isn't practical to split the garden to give them seperate areas, so do you have any tips to make sure they are both going to be ok?

Sorry to bombrad you with all these questions - any tips would be helpful.

Thanks,
Prickly Pair

[Hedgehoggy]

Hi Prickly Pair, welcome to WAB. Not having been faced with this scenario before, I’d recommend phoning St Tiggy’s for their expert advice in this situation. St Tiggywinkles house their permanent residents together, but their enclosed gardens are spacious and as natural a habitat as is possible, the hogs are also monitored closely and females and males (as far as I’m aware) are not kept together.

Do you know the gender of your two hogs? Imho, it’d be unfair to confine a female and male in an enclosed garden as the female will not have the option to escape the advances of an amorous male come the spring; the resulting consequence could be extremely stressful for a confined female and could result in her killing her babies.

Two single-sexed hogs should be fine in an average-sized garden, but more than one feeding station may be advisable just in case one hog is very dominant/greedy and prevents the other from getting his fair share of food. Likewise with the hog houses. A choice of wet and dried food should be offered in the first instance, but if the wet food continues to go uneaten, just offer dried food (which should be available 24/7, as well as fresh water). The advantage of dried food is that it won’t freeze during cold weather, or suffer fly strike during warm weather.

Dried food and water will need to be available throughout the winter too because not all hogs hibernate right through till spring, many rouse and will go out in search of a top-up of food and water.

In answer to your other Qs, it’s important to weigh them daily to begin with (keep a weight chart), then if they both continue to gain weight nicely and you’re happy with their progress, you could reduce the weigh-ins to every few days up until they hibernate. The weigh-ins are an ideal opportunity to check the health of each hog, remove ticks, etc, and to check that their houses/bedding aren’t damp or parasite-infested and need replenishing. Also, leave plenty of extra bedding in a waterproof container next to each hog’s house so they can help themselves.

Regards hibernation, you’ll notice less and less food being eaten until finally it is left untouched. It’s essential not to disturb a hibernating hog, but as your two are captive, a one-off check to ensure they’re hibernating is reasonable. Very, very gently slide your hand into their nest, taking great care not to damage their hibernaculum. If they’re hibernating, your hand will either be greeted with a very slight bristle of spines, or a hiss! – indicating all is well and normal with your hibernating hogs.

Good luck with your two new lodgers. Any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask, there's always someone on this forum who'll be happy to help

[Prickly Pair]

Thanks for the help - a lot of sensible advice that i hadn't found on the internet, which i will put into practise.

With regards to gender, they are both males. My worry was that they might fight. I have already created two feeding stations, so hopefully they should both be able to get their fill before hibernating.

I'll get the wighing scales out now and start daily weighing when he comes out on a night. I'll also get the bedding checked.

The garden is about 350 square metres, which sounds pretty small to me, given that they roam two miles a night. What do you think is a sensible limit to the number of hogs we should take?

[Hedgehoggy]

Glad to hear they're both same-sexed So long as they have a choice of feeding stations and their own accommodation to retreat to, things should be fine - just keep an eye out for any constant butting/rolling each other around your garden! Regular weigh-ins will alert you if one hog isn't feeding as it should be.

Hogs, especially males, can and do roam up to distances of 2km per night, but disabled hogs kept in enclosed safe gardens with a constant supply of good food and weatherproof shelter adapt very well. I’m really not sure how many disabled hogs you’d be able to house in your garden, that question really is one for St Tiggy’s, unless one of our other hog rehabilitators on this forum with permanent residents is able to answer that for you.

As your hogs are permanent residents in your enclosed garden, and there is no worry of them running off if disturbed, I see no reason why you can’t initially weigh them during daylight hours until/if they go into hibernation – it would be much easier for you to check the hog over, as well as his house/bedding during daylight. This practice is no different to what I (or indeed other carers) do with the hogs in temp care (N.B. I would never deliberately disturb one of the wild hogs sleeping in a hog house in my garden unless I had good reason to). As winter approaches, and you notice the hogs tightly packing in more and more bedding into their houses, then don’t disturb them at all, just wait for them to appear (if at all) at night to quickly catch and weigh them.

At weigh-in sessions, take a cardboard box/similar along with the weighing scales, to place the hog in when weighing and keep hog secure in the box while you check/change his bedding, then return hoggy immediately back into his house.

You mentioned you have an almost white hedgehog, is it a ‘blonde’ hedgehog per chance? I’d be very interested to see a pic of your hog if you could post a pic here

[P.S. My last post should have read ‘If they’re hibernating, your hand will either be greeted with a very slight bristling of spines, or a hiss! = very slight movement of spines at point of contact.]

[Prickly Pair]

Thanks Hedgehoggy.
I think that Vyv might be getting towards hibernating. Two days ago he started really packing the nesting materials in. I have made sure he has plenty to work with. When i disturb him in the day i do get the bristling, the hissing, and some good aggressive snuffling! Inspection today showed no fleas or other problems on him or in the nest. My worry is whether i would spot problems if they existed - is there anything inparticular i should be seeing?

He is still coming out at night, so i will keep feeding, weighing and inspecting him until he stops coming out.

I am not sure how to attach an image, but i have changed the avatar to show Vyv. If that doesn't work, i'll think of another way of putting the picture on the site.

[Hedgehoggy]

Btw, a hedgehog named Vyv, I like that! (and I do remember its origins, but what age is middle-aged these days?!).

Does sound like Vyv is preparing for hibo. He may have what I call a ‘practice run’ for a few days here and there before he fully goes down.

Because your hogs are in a safe enclosed environment, you shouldn’t need to worry about the usual garden hazards hedgehogs face on a daily basis, i.e. pesticides, slug pellets, rat poison, strimmers, netting, ponds which they can’t climb back out from, pet dogs, etc., so the only immediate problems I can think of which you’ll need to check for (and remove) are ticks, mites or a heavy worm burden (hedgehog fleas are host-specific and are harmless to a hog, just a tad irritating!). Your 3-legged charge will need the added check of his stump to ensure all is well in that area. If others can think of anything else to add, please do so. Other than that, enjoy your two new residents and thank you for caring for them.

P.S. Thanks for adding the avatar of Vyv, but as it’s so tiny I’m unable to get a proper look at him! Try these instructions for uploading a photo to the site:
How do I upload images? | Wild About Britain

[Prickly Pair]

Hedgehoggy - see attached pics. Having looked at web photos of blond hogs, i don't think that Vyv is blond. What is odd is that his spines are white with black tips rather than (what i think is the norm) black with white tips!

[Hedgehoggy]

Thanks for posting the pics As you say, Vyv isn't a blonde hog, but his spines do appear to look lighter in colour than the average hog, although it's hard to tell by a photo taken at night - a daytime pic would be better... if you get the chance! . Vyv's spine colouration won't change over the winter, hogs don't moult like most animals - they shed spines like we humans shed hair, so quilling is a long process.

He's certainly a very handsome and healthy looking hoggy

[Prickly Pair]

It looks like i am too late - i had the camera at the ready, but it seems that he has decided to go into hibernation. He hasn't been out in 2 nights, and he is definately in there.

We weighed him the night before he went into hibo - 740g, so he has a chance.

We will keep an eye on him and make sure there is food available if he pops out. Any tips on how to monitor him over winter would be welcome.

Cheers.

[Marcia]

Hi Pricky Pair,

I've just caught up with your thread and I just would like to say that it's really nice and generous of you to home those "un-returnable" hedgehogs. You're doing great with them and I wish them well.

Hedgehoggy is already giving you great advices so I'm sure you're prickly friends will be more than fine.