Newly rescued baby
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I have taken on care of a baby hog, under advice from a local Carer
. Had seen it with Mum, but today was asleep in the middle of the lawn during the day. I’m advised it’s well but under weight at 300g. Happy to feed and care for her indoors. Is it possible to overfeed them? Can they tolerate wheat, eg some weetabix with warm water, so far eating dried meal worms and peanuts.
Thanks for letting me join, and any advice M.My understanding is that Meal worms are a BIG No No due to low Calcium to Phosphorus ratio. This can then cause Metabolic Bone Disease. Calci worms are an alternative which they love (used sparingly ). Peanuts and sunflower seeds are not dangerous, but probably not the best diet for a hoglet. I would guess that is forum is split between those providing purpose Hedgehog food and using a cat food.
Hi MnS
Welcome to the Forum.
Did the person who told you the hog was well but underweight not advise you what to feed?
As alanfrew says mealworms are definitely not good, especially for hoglets. They have an imbalance of calcium and phosphorous causing calcium to be leached from the bones which can lead to deformity in hoglets and weak bones in adults. Peanuts also not brilliant as they have a slight imbalance so not good feed in isolation or with another foodstuff which also has a bad ratio. Weetabix does not sound good to me. You would probably be better off feeding the hoglet cat/kitten food, kitten biscuits or dog/puppy food. But ideally you would be able to take the advice of an expert on feeding hoglets in care if they have advised you to care for the hoglet yourself.
Don’t forget to provide water and be aware that hogs are very good at spilling it, so you may need to check from time to time that there’s still some left in any bowl!
I believe hogs in care can overeat, but once the hoglet has reached a sufficient size, and if it is otherwise well, it should be released back into the wild where it was found. There is still plenty of time for it to put on sufficient weight before hibernation.
If you cannot get advice from the person who has already advised you, I would try to get advice from another carer. You can find details of your nearest ones from the BHPS on 01584 890801
Meanwhile this is some advice about feeding from Vale Wildlife.
http://www.valewildlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Feeding-wild-hedgehogs.pdfGood luck. I hope the little hog does well – but please change it’s diet sooner rather than later.
Hi
A 300g hog is not a baby. If it was sleeping in the open then there IS something wrong with it.
If there is nothing wrong with it then it needs releasing immediately
I suggest you find another carer and quicklyThanks Nic,
It was really only the first night I wasn’t sure about until I could get to the shops. I now have meaty cat food and hedgehog nuggets, which she eats well, and supply fresh water all the time. It has been wet and windy here and I think she would be too chilled outside, and being in Scotland I doubt if she would have been up to weight to hibernate in time. I will continue to monitor her weight weekly to see how it goes.
Thanks folks, MHi MnS
Glad to hear the hog is eating the cat food, etc. It’s not very clear what the position is with regard to this hoglet. Was it checked over by a carer? Did they advise you to keep the hoglet in, or just to offer it food? 300g is not unusual for a hoglet at this time of year. It may not need to hibernate for another month or two and hoglets do put on weight very quickly. Hedehogs are used to cold and wet. I have had hoglets here (over the required 450g) who didn’t hibernate visiting all winter at minus 6 degrees centigrade and possibly below.
I think you should speak to either the carer you spoke to before or another carer and discuss what is best to do. It’s very stressful for a hog to be in captivity, so you wouldn’t be wanting it to be in captivity if it didn’t need to be. On the other hand if the hoglet was potentially unwell (sleeping out in the open during the day can be an indicator of that) it needs checking over, as Stef suggests (if it hasn’t beeen already).
Hi, re the hedgehog rescued a couple of weeks ago, I was advised to keep it indoors. she now weighs about 500g She seems fine and energetic, but same carer has advised she need to be about 550 to 600 and to then put her somewhere cooler to hibernate, but still “in captivity”. Should we consider putting her outside now, with supplementary feeding? I suspect we do not have as much available food now, despite a large garden, as she was dehydrated and very hungry, and we still have a couple of adult hogs about as well. We had a frost on Saturday night.
I also found another one yesterday, a bit larger, but very thin and wobbly weighs 500g but I’m sure should be more. Have kept it warm, and it has drunk a little water, but not eating fresh cat food or hydrated hedgehog nuggets. Again suggests a lack of food outside? My carer is not able to take it just now, and an SSPCA officer is coming to have a look later today.
Thanks.Update : SSPCA officer has taken the sick one to wildlife hospital for vet attention.
He advised to put first one outside now, with supplementary feeding, husband constructing a shelter if she chooses to use it.Hi MnS
It’s good to hear that the first hog is getting it’s freedom back. I hope all goes well.
Well done for getting help for the other little one. I don’t know whether you can find out how it’s doing. Ideally, if it recovers you should get it back to be released where you found it. Fingers crossed for it.
Re. the shelter – hogs aren’t best known for being grateful, but they seem to like to keep us guessing, so you never know it might use the shelter. Nice that it will have the opportunity. Well done husband of MnS! Hope he realises this might only be the start of hedgehog related construction projects!
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