MUM HOG WITH WHITE FACE PATCH AND NEW HOGLETS – ADVICE PLEASE

[Marion]

A week ago we were dismayed to see a hoglet foraging around in the garden at night. A couple of nights later it appeared again alone at our feeding station and took food and water. Mum appeared, they ate and drank together and it eventually followed her off into the bushes. This scenario has been repeated a few times except that there are now 2 hoglets. They are probably slightly less than half her size and I wondered about their chances of survival. We would rather not disturb them at this stage by picking them up/weighing etc. (We are pretty sure they are living in the garden).
(By chance, we were recently donated a hedgehog house which has already been set up in a good place – but that will only accommodate one hoglet!)Also we have noticed that Mum appears to have a white patch or scab on her forehead and we think one of the hoglets may be similarly affected.
Any ideas/ suggestions for our dilemmas would be appreciated

[stef]

Hello Marion
The white patches could be ringworm but without seeing it it’s impossible to diagnose.
You really do need to weigh them. They will be scared but they soon get over it.
I don’t know where you are but with the weather so mild I wouldn’t be thinking of looking after anything over 400gms at the moment especially as you are feeding them.
It may be that it would be an idea to scoop up all 3 of them and have a carer check them over if they are less than that or you are worried.
It never hurts to do that and put them back if no concerns are found

[Marion]

Thanks for that Stef – we’ll try to get a closer look at the white patch on Mum’s face – I didn’t know you could get ringworm on the face. We will keep an eye on the hoglets for the next few days. Unfortunately we are going to be away from home for a few weeks which is why we are panicking a bit!
Luckily our neighbours have agreed to keep supplying food and water.

[Marion]

Update on hoglets – we were away for 4 weeks in October but our neighbours kept the supply of food and water going and the first night we were back, to our joy, 2 little faces appeared together at the feeding station around 8pm. Photos showed they had also put on weight although one is slightly smaller.
They are continuing to feed several times a night and are foraging in the garden as well but appearing much earlier sometimes before 6pm and we think. going to sleep for the rest of the night after midnight. We believe one of them might be using the hedgehog house we put out. They seem healthy and can run quite fast when disturbed by hearing gusts of wind tho luckily we are not getting much of that just now and our garden is well sheltered by a tall brick wall.
We are really reluctant to disturb them to weigh them but we estimate that they are 6 to 7 inches across from nose to tail. (I used the length of the feeding dish as a measure) and are nicely rounded and fat-looking. Can measurement alone give an estimate of whether they are likely to survive?
Food and water will continue to be provided at least to December. Any thoughts would be appreciated – thanks.

[stef]

Hello Marion
I know you are reluctant to weigh them, but hogs are quite resilient little creatures and while they will run off initially they’ll be back in no time.
Measurement cannot alone tell how they are. You really do need to weigh them.
At this time of year a lot of juveniles can have quite heavy internal parasite burdens as they are stressing trying to get up to weight and you cannot see this.
If you pick them up and put them on the scales it will give you a far more accurate picture. Anything now under 400 – 450gms needs to be brought into a carer. Also when you pick them up and turn them upside down they will curl into a ball. They should be a nice circle shape and their bottoms round and not pointy ( egg shaped )
I have been a rehabillitator for many years and cannot count the amount of people who tell me their hog died because they didn’t follow advice so please do.
You will not be hurting the hedgehog but you may be saving it’s life.

[Marion]

Thanks for all the information Stef – we’ll see what we can do. They are very sensitive to noise and disturbance and may be hard to catch!
(Incidentally the white mark on one of the hoglet’s faces probably wasn’t a scab and has almost faded now to our relief).
Thanks again

[Marion]

UPDATE ON SEPTEMBER HOGS

OVERJOYED THAT ONE OF OUR TINY HOGLETS HAS SURVIVED THE WINTER IN OUR GARDEN DESPITE THE BIG FREEZE. HE/SHE APPEARED 3 TIMES LAST NIGHT AND TUCKED IN TO FOOD AND WATER. STILL VERY SMALL SO HOPE IT WILL FATTEN UP DURING THE SPRING. NO SIGN OF THE OTHER ONE YET – HOPING TO SIGHT 2 TOGETHER SOON.

[Author]

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