West Wales Hedgehog Rescue

06/08/2024

Obviously not our usual type of patient, but this is still a great education point.
This grass snake was brought in to us yesterday trapped in garden netting. It had obviously been stuck there a while due to the extensive wounds and amount of fly strike and maggots under its scales. We’ve removed as much as we can and sent it off to a wildlife vet where it will receive proper treatment. Getting stuck in garden netting can happen to any wild animal, and does also happen to hedgehogs. Therefore it is important to either avoid using it in the garden, or raise it off the ground so animals like this can’t get stuck in it.

25/07/2024

15/07/2024

It’s been a busy week for us with all the hoglets we have received! They’re all doing great and putting on lots of weight.

Big thanks to Rhi Vernon for the donation of puppy mousse, they really burn through it!

We even managed to capture on of our hoglets ‘self-anointing’. This is an interesting behaviour that lots of animals do, in this case this little one chewed up her food and licked it all over herself - messy little things! I will put a video of it in the comments too.

🦔

08/07/2024

We have had a large influx of hoglets this weekend so unfortunately we are at capacity for the time being. We are still happy to advise/give names of other rescues.

We will update here when we are able to start taking hedgehogs again - thanks!

01/07/2024

Had this beautiful little one brought into us this evening. It was found by the road alongside a sibling who had unfortunately had been hit by a car and didn’t make it.

Luckily this little one seems to be doing great so far and is really gobbling down the food we’re giving him! He probably won’t be with us too long if he keeps going at this rate 🦔

14/05/2024

We had a lovely visit today from our friends, Teresa and Linda, who visit us every year.

Not only did they bring another batch of the knitted hedgehogs we sell to help fund West Wales Hedgehog Rescue, but they also brought a whole trolley full of treats for many of our animals.

We want to do a big shout out to these ladies and the many others that support what we are building here. You give us strength! Thank you! 😊

18/04/2024

We’re getting ready here at West Wales Hedgehog Rescue for Hedgehog Awareness Week!

Taking place between the 5th and 11th May, here on our social media we will be sharing lots about hedgehogs!

Over at Borth Animalarium, we will be taking over their Education Room, where we will have colouring in activities, as well as a chance to design us a poster all about hedgehogs! The best one will receive one of our lovely knitted hogs, and all of them will be put up at the zoo!

10/04/2024

We're proud to be partnered with People's Trust for Endangered Species a new national survey!

The National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme (NHMP) is a new approach to counting and we need your help.
🦔
Want to get involved?
Learn more 👉 buff.ly/3wZYcjD

The is run by us & People's Trust for Endangered Species, in partnership with Nottingham Trent Uni, ZSL Hogwatch, Mammal Web and Durham University and co-funded by Natural England.

📷 Hedgehog spotted as part of NHMP

10/04/2024

Have you found a hedgehog?

Use this guide if you find a hedgehog in need. After these steps have been followed, then bring them to your local rescue or vet.

This info will be pinned to the top of our page if you need to look back!

20/02/2024

03/11/2023

Are you having a bonfire this week?

We ask that you build them on the day of, or if you are pre-building it, that you thoroughly check it before hand in case of any sleeping hedgehogs.

To hedgehogs (and other small animals), a bonfire looks like a safe, cosy bed for them to start their hibernation in, so is important that they are vacated before you light.

21/09/2023

There goes our first hand-reared hedgehog!

Her finders took her back to their garden this evening and released her into a hoggy house. They're going to feed her for a while until she sorts herself out, and we all hope she will thrive out there!

We wanted to thank her finders for taking her back (and buying her this very stylish house to live in), and for trusting us to look after them. Our staff have worked very hard getting these guys back out and we are so glad to see them back out there 😁

16/09/2023

An update to our pair of hoglets (although not really hoglets anymore!).

We are glad to say that the older sister is finally ready for release! She hit her goal weight of 600g this week and has maintained it throughout, so she will be going back with her finder sometime next week. For reference - they were about 60g when they were first brought in!

Her brother is still a fair bit smaller (350g) so he will be with us a while longer until he's a good enough weight to go back out there. If he hasn't hit the correct weight in time for winter, he will be staying with us until the spring when there would be more food for him.

Unfortunately bad news with our hog with the bad leg. After a week of antibiotics and painkillers, there was no improvement to the leg. It was still swollen and quite inflamed, and due to her being older (ginger in colour, bad teeth and nails) we decided the best course was to have her put to sleep. We hope she was comfortable with us at the end, and she definitely enjoyed the free food I think!

12/09/2023

We can't thank all our supporters enough for what they do for us and Borth Animalarium. Teresa and Linda who make us these lovely toys to sell, and everyone who has donated us food, equipment and medicine, there's too many to name.

Without support from you we wouldn't be anywhere, so I wanted to take the time to thank you all. 🦔

Thank you to our dear supporters, Teresa and Linda, for this latest batch of knitted toys. There are glittery hedgehogs, owls and an adorable little rabbit called Roger, all on sale in our gift shop! All funds go towards keeping our animals and hedgehogs fed during the winter.

08/09/2023

Two admissions over the last week 🦔

The first is a hog who has had an injury to its hind leg. They aren't in the best shape, looking at the state of their teeth and nails we think it's quite elderly too. We think it's been hit by a car due to the injuries to his right side, but he's on a cocktail of medications so fingers crossed he will get better!

The other came to us last night, with what we assumed was dehydration due to the very hot weather we are all experiencing at the moment. It unfortunately did pass away over last night, but we made sure it was comfortable.

With the weather how it is at the moment, we can't stress how important it is to leave a shallow bowl of water out wildlife.

31/08/2023

Look how much these little ones have grown in the last 6 weeks 🦔

#🦔

25/08/2023

To help out hard-working Wildlife Rescues we have purchased 3 incubators to give away!
In this August Bank Holiday Giveaway 3 Wildlife Rescues can each win:-
🦔 24 tins of Brambles Meaty Hedgehog Food
🦔 8 x 850g bags of Brambles Semi-moist Hedgehog Food
🦔 A Brinsea TLC 30 portable incubator with in-car charger
Nominate your favourite Rescue to win as a Comment below, competition ends Monday 28th August at 11.59pm
Like & Share to spread the news 😃
NB: Brambles Pet & Wildlife will NOT contact anyone who makes a nomination. If you are contacted saying you are a winner, it will not be us so please DO NOT engage with any such communication.

17/08/2023

We'd been called to check out a hedgehog nearby to Aberystwyth Marina this evening. The hedgehog they found was all healthy, and the finder requested that we move it a bit away from the main road.

Once we had found a nice spot for it to go, we headed back and then spotted this little guy in a front garden!

We've logged both of these into the Big Hedgehog Map - https://bighedgehogmap.org/ - if you ever see a hedgehog (alive or dead) please log it into this map, which will help give an idea of their numbers.

17/08/2023

Our little guy enjoying his breakfast!

(sound on!)

09/08/2023

Two little hoggies having breakfast 🦔

We are hoping these two will be ready for release this autumn, and we are really pleased with how they have done over the last few weeks in our care!

04/08/2023

Come find our stall at Borth Carnival this afternoon!

We have hedgehog prints drawn by one of our own volunteers, as well as soft toys and hand designed greeting cards. You can also enter our raffle to win a load of hedgehog goodies, including a hedgehog house for your garden 🦔

Hope to see lots of you there!

03/08/2023

We will be at Borth Carnival tomorrow! (Friday 4th August) 🎈

Come and find our stall where we will have a raffle you can enter, as well as a few bits to purchase to raise money for West Wales Hedgehog Rescue!

Hope to see you there 🦔

24/07/2023

I wanted to take the time to thank everybody for donations to the rescue!

First of all, all of our food and kitchen roll from quite a few of you 🦔🍽️

And to Teresa, who has knitted us these amazing (and very colourful!) hedgehogs to sell in the gift shop at Borth Animalarium!

Thank you everyone 💞

11/07/2023

Having these two guys in has really burned through some of our supplies! They're eating like crazy, and we're using loads of kitchen roll to clean up their mess 😅

We're running low on Royal Canin Puppy Food Mousse and kitchen roll, both if which you can find on our Amazon Wishlist! 👇🏻

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3SAEPXBIPJ6SK?ref_=wl_share&fbclid=IwAR2X7GzE4guEXVBgMvUQRcS0A0-kIUdS1pMz1GcG3nSt9WXnLHVJ8E3MeOQ

If anyone can send us some over, that would be great! 🦔❤️

08/07/2023

Baby alert!

Two of these little ones came in this morning. Their finder had been finding them about her garden throughout the week, and had attempted to put them back in the nest when she found it. However, mum had not returned after a couple of days, and after she fed them herself through the first night, they were brought here this morning.

They haven't even opened their eyes yet, but are taking milk formula very well, and even a small amount of puppy mousse.

The hedgehog from last night went to the vets this morning, but could only see an emergency vet. They think it may have a fractured leg, but does not seem to be in too bad of a way. She will be taken to a wildlife vets early next week to have the leg looked at properly. She has been eating well too

07/07/2023

A late night arrival at the rescue!

We estimate this one to be no more than 4 weeks old, going off her weight.

This very little lady was found today on the side of the road, quite literally splayed out and not really moving.

Once we'd taken a good look, we realised one of her back legs is out at a funny angle, and she can't walk properly. We will be taking her to the vets as soon as possible tomorrow to have the leg checked out - in the meantime she has had some fluids (despite not being at all dehydrated!) and some well earned rest on a heat mat.

Other than the leg injury, we cannot find anything more to worry about, so fingers crossed it is something we can sort out! 🤞🏻

07/07/2023

Is anyone able to collect and bring us a hedgehog from the Blaenpennal area? I currently have no transport options and neither does the finder. Thanks 👍

EDIT - Transport arranged, thank you to everyone who offered! We really appreciate it 😁

25/06/2023

And here's our big boy released!

Wanted to thank his finder for letting us release him back into their garden ☺️. It's really important we re-release hedgehogs back where they came from, as they know their area!

Enjoy the vid 🦔

24/06/2023

Wanted to thank the person who donated us these items from our wishlist! Not sure who it was, but whoever sent them, thank you so much 😁

You can find more items that we need here on our Amazon Wishlist 👇🏻🦔

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3SAEPXBIPJ6SK?ref_=wl_share&fbclid=IwAR1FqiDL428ESiDhGkETEVEH22l2qBYCEgS5hE_xzk4J9pkUrYfe9E-QNt0

22/06/2023

This absolutely massive hedgehog came into us today! They weigh over 1kg, which was a stark difference to our last patient, who was only 400g.

Currently unknown if male or female, because it will not let me uncurl it to check 😅

*Edit - was found to be a male*

So what's wrong with it? Well we don't really know...

When we picked it up from the vets, they had received no sort of history from the finder, and we don't even know where it came from!

This is why it's so important that if you found a hedgehog, whatever rescue you take it to, tell them as much information as you can. Where exactly you found it, what did it look like, how was it moving etc? Any information is better than no information!

For now, they seem to be doing well, and there's no obvious injury or illness. There's a good chance they could have nothing wrong at all, and the hog may be able to go back out soon, we will just monitor for a day or two to see if they can.