Another quick update on Bessie for those of you who are following her progress.
She seems to be responding to the new anti biotic but still sneezing a bit. She is eating really well which is a good sign. Gained 39g last night.
Hopefully she has turned a corner and is on the mend.
Two more very small juveniles, 250g arrived today. Found quite close together so I am assuming they are siblings.
Ozzy and Noodle came back from foster today. Ozzy is almost ready to be released back into the wild. Noodle, who is blind, is off for a vet check up tomorrow to be sure the wounds around his neck, from being tangled in baler twine, have fully healed.
Then he has a lovely home in a contained garden waiting for him.
Thank you to Kim Bailey for looking after them both so well.
Also, thank you to Jules Helen Wilkinson for donating a super office chair for my new hogspital office.
Here is Noodle .
The lovely, very amusing Treacle went free last night.
She was such a cheeky character, very inquisitive and she loved playing with her toys. I have never had a hedgehog like her.
She will be missed by myself and the volunteers who knew her.
Good luck out there Treacle, please stay safe.
A little juvenile came in yesterday. Found out in the day.
She has a very high internal parasite burden and has refused to eat. She has started her treatment and needed to be hand fed. I hope she will start to feel better soon and start to eat for herself.
Thank you to Linda Martin who collected her from the finder and brought her in to rescue.
I am presently looking for some more hedgehog fosterers .
You will need a quite, warm room . A suitable cage and a few other essential bits of equipment.
You will be asked to attend a short training session.
If anyone is interested please get in touch.
Here is the adorable Treacle enjoying playing with one of her toys. She was very restless being confined in a cage and paced around a lot. Introducing her to toys worked wonders and she settled down well.
Treacle is such a character.
Here she is re-arranging her cage.
Treacle had a new toy from Helen.
Lovely little Treacle is a busy little girl, always on the go. Putting a companion in with her didn't work because she ran them ragged.
So I gave her a toy. She loves her pom pom and it has kept her entertained....
My little hand reared babies with a new box...
One of my little hand reared hoglets was very busy this morning practising collecting materials for nesting.
Haribo came in a couple of weeks ago. A very sweet hoglet but he was very wobbly and would only walk backwards.
I have never had a moon walking hedgehog before so I took him to the vets.
He was given some medication as the vet thought it may be a rare parasite that can affect the brain. After his five day course he still walked backwards .
I set about teaching him he must go forward as it was looking as though it was neurological and perhaps had become a habit.
With daily lessons blocking him when he reversed he seemed to realise his only option was to go forward.
Things have started to improve and Haribo is moving forward on his own now. Still a bit slow and a little bit wobbly but things are looking promising.
Muffin and Cupcake went back to the wild last night.
They were found out in the day on their own weighing 114g and 133g. On release they weigh 562g and 566g.
Thank you to their finder Sarah for coming to collect them and for all the bags of Brambles Hedgehog food and your very generous donation.
A huge thank you to everyone who has made donations into the SOS Hedgehog Rescue account.
Lloyds bank.
Acc no 79818562
Sort code 30-98-97
Your donations have been a godsend during this busy time. These sweet little hoglets have ravenous appetites for milk and puppy mousse, both of which are very expensive.
The poorly adult hedgehog that has lots of lungworm and other internal parasites is feeling a little better. He finally uncurled for a thorough examination which revealed he also has an abcess under his neck.
It can be really difficult to examine a hedgehog that will not uncurl. Sometimes it is necessary to visit the vet so as they can be given gas in order to check them. This is not without risk, especially to a weak, poorly hedgehog, so I am relieved he has become a bit more relaxed and co-operative.
He did eat a little last night and was busy scratching around building a nest this morning. I will start his course of wormers tomorrow.
Unfortunantly Haribo is still going backwards.
He is on medication from the vets and I am really hoping to see some improvement. He is an adorable little chap and it is very worrying that he hasn't,t yet improved.
I am presently up to 23 hedgehogs in care at the moment. My supplies of food for them is going fast. I am using lots of Brambles tinned hedgehog food, Butchers loaf, Whiskas poultry satchets and Royal canin puppy mousse and Royal canin mother and baby cat biscuits.
If any one can help by donating any of the above or any monetary donations, I would be very grateful as it is costing over £10 a day to feed my lovely prickly patients at the moment.
Donations to
SOS Hedgehog Rescue.
Lloyds Bank
Acc no 79818562
Sort code 30-98-97
Thank you
Here are my little hand reared hoglets. I introduced a few kitten biscuits as they now have teeth. The smell of new food caused a self annointing frenzy.
Two more hoglets arrived at SOS Hedgehog Rescue yesterday.
The first, a little girl, was found by a dog who thought she was a prickly tennis ball. She doesn't appeared to have any serious injuries, but has clearly been very frightened and doesn't want to uncurl. She has been called Candy.
The second, a little boy, was found out in the day on a road, very wobbly. He has been rehydrated and seems brighter, but is still a bit wobbly. He is called Haribo.
I have put them together as company for each other and they spent the night cuddled up together on a heat mat. Both ate quite well and gained some weight. Haribo is clearly desperately missing his mother.
I started fitting out my new hogspital today. Many thanks to my volunteer Carol Bailey who is amazing at DIY and started constructing the shelving. She has done a great job.
Haribo and Candy making friends.
After 22 exhausting days and nights hand feeding four little hoglets that arrived at only one day old, I saw this this morning.
HOORAY......
I think someone is hungry.
Here's an update on the three little hoglets who arrived last week.
After spending the last five days drenched in sweat, milk, strong coffee and hoglet wee wee, I am really pleased to tell you that all three are doing well.
Two boys and a little girl.
They are finally starting to suckle well and are now steadily gaining weight.
I fed them every two hours day and night and on occasions when their weights were not increasing, every hour.
They are almost at the stage that I can start feeding every three hours and in a few more days miss a feed and I can actually have six hours sleep....
They change appearance daily. Their brown spines are now growing, they have toenails now and they are getting lovelier everyday.
The hedgehog and her four little hoglets that were removed from behind a washing machine in an out house are doing well.
I would like to say a big thank you to Karen Bailey Amner who has been selling her beautiful home grown plants to raise funds for SOS Hedgehog Rescue.
They can be found near the stone Bridge in llangynog.
Quite a busy day yesterday .
I was asked to collect a very poorly hedgehog that had been taken to Carmarthen Veterinary Centre. They had done a great job rehydrating the little chap and removing several ticks. He was still very weak having been seen out in the day for two consecutive days. I was treating this hedgehog with rehydration fluids I received another call to collect another Hedgehog found out in the day, lay in the baking sun and in a very bad way.
I still had Mickey and the other young hedgehog found with string tightly around its neck, waiting for their food and meds.
I contacted a very kind gentleman ,Phil Brookes, who had previously offered to act as a hedgehog taxi and without hesitation he went and collected this hedgehog. Thank you so much Phil.
This little hedgehog has masses of roundworm eggs and lung worm. I have started his treatment.
He is really poorly but survived the night and ate a bit of food.
Sadly the Hedgehog collected from the vets passed away that evening.
Here is Mickey coming out of his bed to explore.
What a horrendous day. I have just seen my barbecue blowing across the lawn closely followed by my dustbins.
Please check your hedgehog houses are OK and not blowing about.
Woody is not at all upset by the winds. He is busy self anointing.
This is a bizarre hedgehog behaviour where they contort their body's and cover themselves with white frothy spittle.
It is thought that the trigger for this behaviour is when a hedgehog encounters a stimulating substance, object or scent. It is sniffed, licked and chewed and the hedgehog then spends several minutes and sometimes hours happily covering themselves with the frothy saliva.
This certainly seems to be what Woody is demonstrating so well..
Another Hedgehog in yesterday.
Found at the side of a road , freezing cold, thin and unresponsive.
Thank you to Andrew Hopkins and his wife for bringing this little chap in all the way from Neath.
After a night on a warm heat pad and rehydration throughout the night this little one, called Andy, has improved. He is still very shaky and wobbly but has eaten some cat biscuits. He does have a swelling on his tummy that will need further investigation.
Sadly the Hedgehog that came in with Balloon Syndrome didn't survive.
She was very poorly indeed, but at least she wasn,t cold and in pain and passed away peacefully.
Here is Andy this morning. Much more active but still very shaky and wobbly .
Another little autumn juvenile came in this morning. Seen lying at the side of a road, she was freezing cold, underweight and dehydrated.
The finder, Griff rushed her to SOS Hedgehog Rescue.
She is presently warming up on a heat pad and tests show she has a large burden of roundworm eggs. She is a very poorly little girl so fingers crossed.
You can see her nose is dry and her eyes are sunken due to dehydration. Also her spines are lying flat, another indication she us seriously ill.
