Hedgehog baby

Zahnradfee

1010

My garden likes to surprise me with baby animals this year.
In summer there was already the baby hare drama (https://imgur.com/gallery/CmcdQco) and today I found a juvenile hedgehog.
It's starting to get cold here and he was wandering about and looking too small to get through winter. Hedgehogs are nocturnal and usually only move around during the day when they are hungry. So I was concerned.

I dug up earthworms for him and he cronched them up with gusto. I felt a little sad for the earthworms. Must suck being eaten alive.
I decided to take the little baby home and do research on how to care for it until I can send it into hibernation.
Thankfully a late shop had open today (on Sundays the normal shops are all closed) and they carried cat food for juvenile cats, so I bought a package.

Here is the baby gobbling down some of that cat food. He fell asleep several times during his meal.
The internet says that hedgehogs need at least 500g at the beginning of November to get through winter.
But it also says that hedgehogs still give birth in September and then nurse their young for 6 weeks. And that the young hedgehogs are already leaving the nest and exploring the area when they still weigh about 150g and are still being nursed.

This baby weighs 140g and now I am uncertain if mom is still around and if he would be able to put on enough weight before frost sets in.
He is already eating on his own, so that's good.
I suppose I have to call a wildlife station and ask what they think is the best course of action. Either I will let him go free again and feed him every evening, or I will have to keep him here in the house. The problem is that they often stop eating when it gets colder, so he might not continue putting on weight if he's outside.

Right now he is resting in the belly pocket of my hoody to warm up. Young hedgehogs are used to mommy's care and the presense of their siblings. This little one is not shy at all, which is weird for a hedgehog. Usually they roll up or hiss at you. So I assume this one is so young that he still expects parental care.

UnitConversionBot

500g ≈ 1.1 pounds or .079 stone

2 years ago |

150g ≈ .0236 stone or 5.29 ounces

140g ≈ .022 stone or 4.94 ounces

tegzay

You really shouldn't handle wild hedgehogs with bare hands. They are known for their fleas, tics and rabies. Personally I would have left it outside and built a quick hedgehog shelter using boxes/wood and lining it outside with a black bag or something. If you're really stuck for foods, they are ok with tinned kitten meat & a bowl of water as they're lactose intolerant animals.

Ah, btw., rabies in hedgehogs is rare, even though it can occur.

This one does not have fleas, which is kind of astonishing. It looks healthy and alert apart from being too small to achieve 500g in November. I would have left it if it was about three times its size and weight. I fed it kitten food already, as I wrote, and I can also give it egg tomorrow. Will call a hedgehog station tomorrow to figure out what the best course of action will be for this animal.

Kittensandyarns

I've heard of cats making the decision to move in with a random human, this is the first time I've heard about a hedgehog doing the same.

I don't think he made the decision. He is just too small to have a good chance at surviving winter. And if I had left him, he would have vanished and I could not help him any further.

Sorry, just joking. I think you're doing the right thing in taking care of this little guy. I've heard of people having hedgies as pest control and then setting them free in the woods if they get too many or isn't needed anymore, thinking they'll survive. The lack of lice and willingness to be handled by human and the fact it's alone makes me suspect it's not 100% wild. I hope you can find it a nice winter nest if it's healthy and fed enough to make it through winter.

I found one internet source that said that young hedgehogs want body contact. They are used to being in a nest with their siblings and mom. And that there usually is no danger that they become too used to humans; they would become wild again when they are adults and get rewilded. Adult hedgehogs are solitary. It's similar with baby hares - they are social and sweet when they are young, but become wild when they grow up.

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