Hi Stevey
They normally only come out in the day if they are very hungry. That fits in with what I recall from your previous post. It sounds to me as if you need to have a weighing session. The recommended weight needed to survive hibernation is 450g. If the hogs are over 450g I recommend, if you haven’t already, that you get more feeding dishes and spread them out a bit so that all the hogs can get the opportunity to have enough food during the hours of darkness. Whilst it might be nice for us to see them, it’s not a good thing for hogs to become used to venturing out during daylight.
Before you weigh them, I would do as Gr8mums suggests and find your local rescue. (BHPS 01584 890801 will be able to tell you). Your local rescue will be able to advise you re. the local weather conditions, etc. and ideally you need to know someone can take them in, if any are under-weight. Sometimes if a hog is only a bit under the 450g and is being provided with supplementary food, they suggest leaving it be, as it’s very stressful for hogs being taken into captivity (and it is not a guarantee that the hog will survive) – it depends a bit on local weather.
Personally, I don’t normally recommend leaving food right outside a nest box, because it can attract predators, other possibly unwanted hogs, etc., but in the circumstances you have now, I would leave it where they know where it is until they hibernate – if they do.
If any hogs do have to go away for over-wintering, make sure you can have them back to release where they came from. Please see https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BHPS-Guidance-For-relasing-Rehabilitated-Hedgehogs.pdf and pass a copy on, if necessary.
