young hedgehog

flutered

we found a young and very weak hedgehog in a dog pen today, they often get in to eat nuts, the dogs were taking no notice of it, when handled it never put its head inside to hide, when left on an incline it just fell off as it was unable to climb, we have put it inside in a large bed of straw, with a supply of cat nuts, advise is required please.

TooManyDogs

It doesn't sound very well, it should be hibernating.
Give Dogs Aid a ring, they do hedgehog rescue. 087 2944310

flutered

will do thank you.

suziwalsh

Also I am happy to help or take hedgehog on if needed www.irishwildlifematters.ie also a great resource

flutered

the hedgehog has had a trip to the vet, who says the next 48 hours are critical, it has been done for fleas, it has to be kept inside, hopefully it requires feeding each day, cat food and fresh water are the vets recomendations, i will update this thread tomorrow.

John Mason

my parents are also feeding a baby hedgehog living in the garden at the moment.

are they not supposed to be hibernating at the moment?

goat2

flutered wrote: »

we found a young and very weak hedgehog in a dog pen today, they often get in to eat nuts, the dogs were taking no notice of it, when handled it never put its head inside to hide, when left on an incline it just fell off as it was unable to climb, we have put it inside in a large bed of straw, with a supply of cat nuts, advise is required please.

put him in your shed in a box or rabbit hutch, feed him cat and dog food and leave a little water, he will eat it at night, give him meat with fat on it to build him up, just old newspapers shredded for a bed, and let him loose in may , he will do fine, he is weak right now,i found the same two yrs ago, and i did this and he survived and now has a family in my garden, just replenish the food every day, and clean out every few days, you will be delighted you did it, make sure the place you put him is peaceful

Discodog

Loads of hedgehog rescue info here as well:

http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/hedgehogs.html

Basically if it weighs less than 600 grammes it will need to be kept indoors for the Winter.

Interceptor

flutered wrote: »

we found a young and very weak hedgehog in a dog pen today, they often get in to eat nuts, the dogs were taking no notice of it, when handled it never put its head inside to hide, when left on an incline it just fell off as it was unable to climb, we have put it inside in a large bed of straw, with a supply of cat nuts, advise is required please.

You've had all the advice already - wet or dry cat food and fresh water, a dry sheltered place to sleep and a vet check. They like an odd treat of banana, grapes, raisins, chopped peanuts but no milk or bread as these are poisonous.

Juveniles from late litters rarely have the reserves built up to be able to hibernate properly and most die - your intervention will make sure it survives. If you can't look after it or need someone to take it over, let me know and I'll take it.

Well done!

'cptr

flutered

harry as the neighbourhood kids have christened it, they sing a song about harry the hedgehog to it, is in fine fettle, it had a visit to the vet, who treated it for fleas, it has eaten well overnight, also had a toilet visit, we have a couple of familys of them around our property, i assume that as a corner of a field next door was cleaned up, (really piled hig wood) it nest was disturbed, thaqnks to every one for their kind words and advice, btw we have eight rescued dogs, seven rescued cats, one rescued pony, plus quite a lot of animals of all descriptions rehomed.

flutered

harry is doing very well, he has put on weight, he is also growing, he/she is a little stupid, we put he cat food in a different container which is higher up than the old one, so we had to put the old one back.

mymo

Thats great to hear, sounds like you may have made a friend there.
Come spring when you let him/her off into your garden, you'll have a slug and snail free garden in return.
Keep us posted.

flutered

we have a couple of familys of hedgehogs, they unfortunatly do not frequent where the slugs are infested, due to so many rescued cats and dogs.