Hi Chris R
Yes, you are right to be cautious about intervening. There is no need to weigh the hogs at all, unless there is a problem. Mostly you can leave it to mum to look after the hoglets until they are ready to fend for themselves. It is really only much later in the year that a few may need to be weighed – when it has got to hibernation time and some late hoglets have not reached a reasonable weight to survive that. But the hoglets which are around now, should have plenty of time to put on sufficient weight. They grow quite quickly.
It’s important not to stress the hogs any more than is absolutely necessary. My own personal guideline is that, with hedgehogs, we should keep our interactions with them to a minimum and only intervene if it is for the benefit of that particular hedgehog or hedgehogs as a whole. Otherwise, I believe, they should be left to get on with their lives as wild hedgehogs. It’s fine to offer them appropriate food and water and potential homes to nest in, but anything which unnecessarily habituates them to humans, not so good. Sadly, not all humans are hedgehogs’ friends.
If you find hogs out in the open during the day, that is when you need to consult your nearest carer. You can get contact details from BHPS 01584 890801. You cannot tell whether a hog is well just by looking at it, so it’s best to describe any behaviour which you see, if they are out during the day, and take advice. You can give much more precise information to someone on the phone than you can give on the forum. Hopefully, the hogs there will be ok now that you have started feeding and providing water and that they are now remaining nocturnal. It is possible that they were out because they were hungry/thirsty, in which case your providing food and water will have been a great help to them.
