New baby sighted at feeders
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Hello all
I am new here and not had much change to get on and chat.. but today I felt the need as I have concern.. Ive been feeding hedgehogs in my garden since we moved here in Feb this year.. and have since built them a home out of an old wooden toy box with lid.. divided into two recommended sized homes with their own door and tunnel in.. and one has taken up residence .. taking the straw from one into the other.. anyway.. the one in house is this years young and last night arrived at the feeders with a baby in tow. very small as fits inside food bowl of 4ins dia.. it was feeding.. but I’m concerned will it survive this winter? I want to help as much as I can but I also don’t like to interfere with nature
Hi WildlifeWonder
Welcome to the Forum.
You are lucky having a youngster there! I wouldn’t worry too much about it at this stage. They do tend to put on weight pretty quickly when they’re small and the little one will probably have time to put on enough weight for the recommended minimum weight of 450g before it needs to hibernate. Some leave hibernation as late as December. So at this stage I would keep feeding the little hog and just keep an eye out. If it’s still looking very small in, say, November, you could try weighing it. But if you continue to feed it (and provide water), I imagine it will soon be big enough.
Some hogs decide not to hibernate at all (even if they are heavy enough). I suspect they are mostly the current year’s hoglets – they certainly have been here. They haven’t seemed to be bothered by the cold and continued to visit in well sub-zero temperatures and even snow. If the hoglet doesn’t hibernate, just continue to provide food and water as normal – you might need to put the water somewhere it doesn’t freeze, if you can.
In general, hibernation is a dangerous time for hogs, however big they are and not all will survive. But likewise it’s very stressful for hogs to be kept in captivity so not all over-wintered hogs will survive either.
Good luck. Hope the hogs continue to do well.
Hi,
Thank you so much for your reply, I will keep feeding them all and reduce if it doesn’t all get taken, but tbh the blackbirds and other birds eat up what’s left most of the time anyway, as its hedgehog food i feed with and they love it also. I will keep an eye on the little one and if it doesn’t seem to be gaining weight I will seek advice again..as I say i don’t like to interfere with nature and I will never bring on indoors, if need be I will take it to a vet.They love our new houses we built, if I knew how to add image, as I’m used to drag and drop.. I could show you images and videos of them. but I’m a techno phobe.
Many thanksHi WildlifeWonder
Yes, I know what you mean about the birds. I get a gang of starlings who come down and squabble over any left over hog food!
Great news that they love the houses. You are honoured that they’ve given their seal of approval!
p.s. You can put photos on here if they are already on the internet by adding a link. Otherwise you can put them on Hedgehog Street Gallery:
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/photographing-hedgehogs/
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