Hi Jacquiseall82
You could try putting a handful of leaves into the hog house to give them the idea – although it sounds as if they already have the right idea if they have been going into the box for naps. But hogs tend to prefer doing their own interior decorations, so it’s best just to put in a small amount of potential bedding and leave more of it in the vicinity for the hogs to find for themselves. If it definitely has no residents, I would give it a good clean out https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/cleaning-out-boxes/ to get rid of any potential parasite eggs and then put in a handful of leaves.
It can sometimes take a while for hogs to accept new boxes, so you are lucky they have been using it at all. But maybe later on a female might decide to use it for a birthing nest, or maybe in the Autumn a hog might decide to use it for hibernation.
Not all hog houses are used all of the time. But at least it gives them a choice if one is there. Most of the hogs around earlier in the year are likely to be males (they tend to come out of hibernation earlier than females) and males may only sleep in a hog house short term, especially if it’s warmer when they might bed down for the day under a bush or hedge (which is what they would have had to do before hog houses were invented).
Good luck, just be patient and you may get a longer term tenant. Meanwhile, happy hog watching!
