does anyone know

[Karis]

i found a young hegdgehog (approx 5 weeks old) on tuesday in broad daylight on a busy street so i brought him home, he only weighed 140g and after inspecting him he seemed fine, there were no ticks or fly eggs and he had no visible injury. Until last night he seemed to be doing really well, coming out for a few minutes every couple of hours in the daytime for something to eat and drink (beef whiskas & water) and at night coming out of his bed for a wander round the house. Last night however he didnt come out at all and seemed very dozy and let me handle him more. I put him on a hot water bottle and kept my eye on him but there was no change. I got up this morning to find him sprawled on his belly and not breathing, he's obviously dead! I am really upset because for 3 days and nights he seemed lively and well. Can anyone tell me what might have happened to him???

[Beekeeper]

Hi Karis, I am really sorry to read that your hedgehog has died but i do admire you for trying to help it.

The fact that you found him in broad daylight seems odd, maybe he or she had an internal injury, there was one doing the same thing a couple of years ago in my garden, he was wandering around aimlessly totally ignorant of all around him and was obviously ill, he was finding food to eat so i left him to it for a couple of days but he dissapeared after that so i assume he died as well.

Perhaps it was an illness of some sort, unfortunately the truth will probably never be known but maybe someone here can shed some light on it.

ian