Hi Hettihog
Sorry to hear you didn’t get anywhere re. the hedgehog signs. But good news about the hoglet. If there is one, there may be more as well.
If you are going to weigh the hoglet, I would be prepared and have your scales ready in the garden, together with something which you can fit the hoglet into to be weighed – and gloves, of course. I find that underweight hoglets fit easily into those 1 litre ice cream tubs. Then you can weigh the hoglet with minimum disturbance. If it is over the 350g, which Stef suggested for this time of year, then you can release it. If you keep providing food, it will hopefully put on weight quickly to reach the 450g which it will need to be, a bit later, to survive hibernation.
I would have a container to put the hog into in case it weighs under 350g. So a high sided cardboard box with torn newspaper or similar so that it can burrow into it. Some people use an old hand towel. If you need to keep the hoglet until the next day, you will need to provide food and water. I usually put a fair amount of newspaper sheets in the bottom of the container to soak up any water which might be spilt.
Hogs are very clever at escaping from boxes, so if you have an old pet carrier, you could use that instead. I usually use an old cat carrying basket if a hog needs transporting – so I put the hog straight in there to spend the night.
I would be inclined to contact your local carer/rehabilitator beforehand, to make sure they have room, in case the hoglet needs taking in. Make sure that you can have the hoglet back, at the appropriate time, to release where you found it.
Good luck. Hope all goes well.
