Hedgehog become inactive – Hibernation or concern?
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We found a hedgehog in the garden in early December – laying in the grass during the week where everything was covered in a thick layer of sleet/ice.
Weighed 500g so we took it in the house for a few days, then put it outside in a covered hutch with a generous amount of hay for nesting and gave it a decent meal twice a day/unlimited access to water.
4 weeks on and it’s now 580g which is good – It was very responsive, had no visible ticks etc, and finished all of its food every day. Bedroom area is nice and clean/dry and when I picked it up for a weigh in each week it was nice and warm in its underparts.
Noticed today it hadn’t touched any of its food after ~10 hours which was odd, so I opened the bedroom area and it let out a few loud snorts. I was concerned so I took it out for a weigh in and it curled up the tighest I have ever seen/snorted a few times when I picked it up.
Put it back next to the food bowl with fresh food in and nearly 3 hours later it was still sitting there in the exact same spot curled up which is very unlike it, completely still and if I poked a spine it shuddered.
I picked it up and put it back in the bed area where it was originally / covered it over with some hay as it was, and it made a loud snorting sound when I touched it to pick it up again.
The evenings haven’t been particularly any colder than they have the last couple of weeks – Should I be concerned or is it possible it has closed up shop to hibernate for a bit?
Also unsure if taking it in was the correct choice – I since learned that the recommended advice has changed in recent years on how to treat wild hedgehogs you find…Since I was younger I was always told if they are under 600-650g during winter months they are unlikely to survive.
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