Hi Indy
You need to wait until the hedgehog has completely vacated the house i.e. it has moved out. If you cleaned out the hog house when a hog was still in residence but just out for the night, it might not be very pleased and move somewhere else anyway. It would be a bit like somone coming in and moving all your possessions around differently whilst you were out for the day – I don’t suppose you’d like it much!
So I would clean hog houses out during the day, but only if I was absolutely certain that the hedehog had moved on elsewhere. Hog houses are not like pet hutches that we need to keep cleaning out. They are, in effect, just another structure within which a hog can make it’s home. If we want the hog or another hog to use it again, it’s a good idea to clean it out occasionally to limit any problems with external parasites, ie. fleas and ticks (but only when a hog has moved elsewhere).
You are not meant to remove a hedgehog to clean out a hog house. Nor is it necessary to do it late at night.
Remember that hogs don’t find a place and stay there for ever, they tend to change where they sleep or make nests comparatively often.
