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Today Aolani fought her way to me.

She must have been trapped in either a garage, garden shed, or a cellar shaft or window or some sort of hole, for several days and either people found her there today and just set her down and let her walk off assuming she’d be “fine” or they just didn’t care, or didn’t know they just finally set her free from her trap.

She was extremely dehydrated, starved and weak. Flies were starting to circle her laying their eggs on her. Flies are attracked to cold meat.

She was fighting her way to out yard to be found and now she has been getting intensive care since I picked her up at 2pm. She’s getting infusions and very tiny small portions of food to not make her blood pressure crash and possibly kill her. J

She has rectal bleedings so she either has a lot of parasites or she has a bacterial infection of her intestine so she got a first small dose of antibiotics today and of another anti-parasite med and now its time to pray she fights through the night.

Please keep your fingers crossed!

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Have you ever seen an X-ray of a hedgehog?

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Remember Dobby I told you about?

Here are pictures of his purulent eye and nasal discharge.

Did you know hedgehogs, being nocturnal, have great sense of smell but are not as dependant on their eye-sight? It's not that they see very badly, but a bild hedgehog can survive in it's known territory depending only on its sense of hearing and smell.

This is what it must have been like when Dobby had his eye all gooed up by the purpulent snot coming out of his eye and also nose.

Luckely, after a thorough teeth cleaning and antibiotics Dobby could be released into the wild again after hibernating in 2024.

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Hedgehog in need 101

If you find a distressed or hurt hedgehog active during the day, meaning she/he is:

walking around in the blazing sun in the middle of the day,

is limping or shows signs of injury,

is screaming (if you have ever heard a hedgehog scream for help, it is a sound you will never forget),

has flies around it during the day,

is not roling up upon confronting it carefully,

does not run away upon confronting it carefully,

THIS HEDGEHOG NEEDS YOUR HELP AND WILL DIE WITHOUT IT

What to do?

1. Secure the hedgehog

Hedghogs do not (despite common belief) spread diseases or parasites. Pick up the hedgehog carefully (with your hands, small gardening gloves or a towel) and place it in a box, any sort of box you have but bigger then a shoe box. It must be taller then the hedgehog is and big enough for it to turn around in. Hedgehogs are excellent climbers so make sure it really is tall enough. Keep the box open so she/he gets enough air and place in the shade. Keep flies away by draping a thin layer of cloth or moquito net over the box.

Depending on the season hedgehogs will need different things. If you find a weak and tiny baby in winter, she/he will need a source of warmth, so here a hot water bottle (or just a plastic water bottle wrapped in a cloth/towel) filled with tap-warm water is good!

In summer, when a hedgehog is dehydrated it needs to get out of the sun asap!

2. Offer the hedgehog a bowl of water

Do not offer a weak, unstable and dehydrated hedgehog food. They will eat too much and it will cause their blood pressure to fall as the disgestion tries to digest the food and will cause the hoggie to pass out. You can how ever offer less then a quarter teaspoon of wet cat food (no wheat, sugar or other grains added).

3. Contact a wildlife rehab, or better hedgehog rehab.

Do not bring the hedgehog to a vet that hasn't dealt with hedgehogs before. If it is necessary as the hedgehog is injured:

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES let the vet give the hedgehog ANY SPOT ON medication.

This causes severe brain damage and is a cruel and painful death within 3-7 days.

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This were Dobby's first couple of minutes in his outside enclosure after he had spend months indoors after treatment and hibernation.

Do you see his little overbite? His lower jaw stands out more then in other hedgehogs and is also slightly misaligned. This does not seem to bother Dobby at all and gives him no trouble what so ever.

It does give me an easy identification for Dobby.

Did you know that hedgehogs are completly nocturnal? They wake up shortly before dusk and go to sleep before dawn.

If you see a hedgehog that is awake and actively walking around during the day, it is mostly a big red flag that this hedgehog is sick and needs help.

Picture it like humans wandering around at 2am helplessly searching for something that might make us feel better when we are feeling sick.

Sometimes it is possible, as the sun sets later and later in the summer, that you see a hedgehog walking around before the sun has set and he might be ok, or it might be a mother quickly leaving her nest and babies for a snack or something to drink.

But if you see a hedgehog walking in plain sight in the burning sun, this hedgehog needs help! QUICKLY!

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This is Velma.

Velma came to me with her sister Flea and her brother Freddy in 2021.

I treated Velma and her siblings against parasites when they first came to me and then after they reached the appropriate weight for a juvinilehog, hibernated in the safety of my garden shed.

Did you know, in Europe where the brownchested hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is native the appropriate weight for hibernation is considered to be around 700-750g?

A hoglet is born weighing around 12 grams in July to September. The hoglets stay with their mother who cares for them alone, until they weigh around 150g when they start going on outings with their mother. During this time, she teaches them what is good to eat, what is bad to eat, and where good food spots are. At around 180g the hoglets disperse and find their own territories and continue living their lives in solitude.

So hoglets have a very short period of time to gain enough weight to be strong enough to survive the winters and hibernate.

Velma has been a regular guest at the feeding station ever since she was released, also often sleeping on one of the houses in the garden. Velma might have had her first babies last year, though at no time she seemed to be nursing, but often it is very hard to tell on some females.

This year, Velma has not ben spotted yet, which could also be due to her markings vanishing (can be seen in the video, very subtle orange tips of her quills on her forehead). Hopefully Velma will return and have a healthy litter of hoglets.

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Did you know what hedgehog paws look like?

Hedgehogs, like any other animals, can have patches of lighter skin, like we would see on our dogs and cats for instance.

This is Dobbys paw as he hurt one of his nails in September 2021, but in these pictures everything is ok again :)

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This is Ruby.

Ruby was born 2022 and found her way to me in November weighing only 200g (picture 1).

Ruby was suffering under the "regular" parasites, being coccidia, lungworms and capillaria types (aerophila and erinacei) which were weakening her and not letting her gain any weight which, for a hoglet being born this late in the year is very important.

Later she also developed skin fungus which is a common thing to happen when the immunesystem is down and weakened from parasites.

Skin fungus shows as grey scaly, shedding skin, where when untreated or the hog has had it for a very long time, the quills start to fall out (pictures 2+3 + last ).

Skin fungus often is also occurs at the nose like seen on the last picture. Hedgehogs, being little piggies, are sometimes not the cleanest eaters, especially when in human captivity and being fed cat food, which is not their natural diet, but has the closest protein content to their natural diet which is insects.

Did you know, for a long time hedgehogs were seen as omivores (and are still by many) but their main diet is insects. When there aren't enough areound hedgehogs have shown to be oppertunistic and feed on what ever is around. Which has been recoderd in the past to be bird eggs fallen from nests or frogs. But their main and perfered diet is insects!

After treatment and sucessfull first hibernation into 2023 Ruby was released back into the wild and was a daily visitor at the feeding station. Ruby was easy to identify by her very curious manner and always being right by my side when I'd fill up the buffett and being first at the plates.

Ruby has not been sighted so far this year. Hopefully she has had a good hibernation though and has returned but her marking just came off.

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While in captivity, it is good to give hedgehogs some chicken wings/legs sometimes. As these keep them busy, clean their teeth and are tasty and a good addition to their diet - so a win-win-win!

Did you know, that hedgehogs are actually insectivores? But as insects are reducing more and more due to the use of pesticides, the natural main food source of hedgehogs is reducing, in effect causing a major decrease of hedgehogs.

All the hedgehog babies that were brought to me in winter/autumn 2023 were given names from House Stark… it just happened that way… it all started with my little (possibly blind and very strong) Arya.

Here we see Bran the Builder (an industrious architect, builds the most beautiful nests) enjoying a chicken leg. Bran is easily recognisable by his bright silver forehead.

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Dobby first had to get used to his new sleeping bag and inspect it carefully! 🔍 (As in biting it...)

In the end, he was able to come to terms with it and slept very well in it 😴

Dobby is a several year old mature male hedgehog, I've known him since before 2018, but this was the first year I started marking hedgehogs to keep track of the population, so i can only definetly say he has been around since then, but probably older.

Did you know a study has found that the european hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) can get up to 17 years old? Sadly humans often "happen" before thats possible, so only few make it that far, as they get run over, or hurt before.

I had to take in Dobby last year as he had one-sided purulent eye and nasal discharge. Often this is a typical symptom when there is an infected tooth or jaw issues, so a vet examined and cleaned his teeth but seing no major cause of infection. So, as the secretion continued, vets that I work with and I thought there might be a bone fragment in his head tissue somewhere causing the secretion. So after X-rays and more check ups, bone fragments could be excluded from the possible causes (pheeew!) as these would have ended with euthanasia.

After another very very (VERY) thorough tooth cleaning session, and pulling of some teeth the cause of infection was found and with another round of antibiotics Dobby was able to be released into the wild this year after a good long hibernation!

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Bran was still looking for live mealworms between the wet food and the dried black soldier fly larvae… unfortunately he has already eaten them all…. 😋

Did you know, hedgehogs are excellent hunters by using their sense of hearing and smell? As hedgehogs are notcurnal their eyes dont play such a big role and arent as fine-tuned as the other senses.

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Hedgehog vs. flour beetle

The beetle should have gone the other way...

Did you know, the diet of hedgehogs consists of approx. 30% beetles, 43% caterpillars, 11% beetle larvae and earwigs and 8% earthworms?

Snails and slugs, contrary to popular belief, are an absolute emergency solution when no other food is available.

It is often said ‘Oh, but I saw a hedgehog eating a snail on the patio!’ Yes, that's quite possible, but only because it probably can't find any other food.

The extinction of insects is depriving this insectivore of its natural food, so it is important to feed it high-quality wet cat food without added sugar and wheat!

Nature-inspired garden design WITHOUT MOWING ROBOTS is also the key to protecting and saving this native wild animal, which have been in this world since the Cretaceous period!

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While I’m on the topic of hedgehog facts, The UK hedgehog is actually endangered or close to being endangered (about a 33% to 77% decline in certain areas.) and it is expected that they could go extinct in the next ten years. It’d be tragic for the UK to lose one of their most iconic and charming animals. So if you would like to help save some hedgie lives please consider donating to animal conservations in the UK they provide weak hedgehogs who won’t survive winter hibernation a warm place to stay and rescue them from life threatening injuries and illnesses and release them safely back into the wild.  Here are some good places you can donate to help the hedgehog and other animals! 

https://www.wildlifeaid.org.uk/helping-wildlife

https://littlesilverhedgehog.com/yorkshire-hedgehog-rescue/

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Little Flea came to me in 2021 with her siblings Freddy and Velma after she was found hypothermic and slightly apathetic at 180g in November. After a lot of drone milk to build up her strength and the necessary parasite treatments, she had a good (albeit late) first hibernation.

However, her ‘baby quills’ just wouldn't fall out the following year and her quills were to light for quite a long time… (picture 2+3) but then it was finally time and the adult quillls came through (picture 4+5)!

Flea is a regular guest at the feeding site and can therefore be checked regularly to see if she is ok.

In August caught my eye due to with green diarrhoea and a weight of only 600g. A perennial hedgehog can definitely weigh up to 1,000g at this time of year, especially as this is the time of year when they are pregnant and have offspring. It is therefore important to consider whether you should take in a female hedgehog at this time of year, as it cannot be ruled out that she may currently be nursing babies. After much deliberation and a steadily decreasing weight, I decided to take Flea back in, diagnose and treat her.

Flea had coccidia which required antibiotic treatment. After the treatment she finally managed to reach a weight of 900g!

In September, shortly before her release into the wild, she suddenly and unexpectedly lost a lot of weight… Flea gave birth to 5 little hedgehogs. Unfortunately they were premature and far too small and didn't make it. Unfortunately one of the many setbacks you have to face as a hedgehog carer…

However, Flea was released back into the wild in good health and was spotted at the feeding site again this year after a successful hibernation and seems to be in good condition :)

We hope for healthy and successful offspring this year!

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Hey everyone,

I'd like to introduce my new blog, where I will be sharing content on the hedgheog rehabilitation that I do.

Who am I?

I am a student, graduated with a B.Sc. in Biology and a M.Sc. in Marine biology in Germany.

Hedgehogs have been part of my life, my whole life. When I was little they were already diligently fed in the garden by my mother and we helped them through hibernation if they were too small to survive hibernation on their own.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 and university was pretty much put on hold, I, like many others, began to engage even more intensively with my environment (even more than a biology student already does). And so one evening I realised that one of my one-year-old hedgehogs that I had helped hibernate the year before (Biscuit) had a strange crust on his shoulder.

And so began the endless research into what Biscuit might have. I visited vets, who were unfortunately useless as they were not hedgehog experts, contacted animal shelters, hedgehog centres and associations until I finally got help from the latter and the diagnosis was clear: skin fungus.

With the help of hedgehog experts, I began to bathe and treat Biscuit and once the skin fungus had been combated, he could be released back into the wild, healthy and lively.

I started to take a closer look at my hedgehog guests in the garden and slowly slipped into hedgehog care (and with me, involuntarily, my parents as I live at home).

Over the years, with the help of hedgehog experts with decades of experience (from hedgehog networks, forums and scientists), I learned more and more, and word quickly got around to neighbours (both human and hedgehog) that I care for hedgehogs and so more and more hedgehogs ended up at my place until the guest loo became a mini hedgehog station (much to my parents' chagrin).

Medication (whether antibiotics, fungicides or infusions), visits to the doctor (x-rays, dental care), release enclosures including cat and rat-proof feeding and sleeping houses, or simply food have to be bought and that adds up quite a bit.

Over the last year (feeding starts around March to around December, when young hedgehogs born too late are still on the move) I have fed:

wet cat food (820€ Carney, high quality without sugar or added grains

plus mealworms and meal beetles (own breeding)

and dried soldier fly larvae for €117.56 (4x €29.39) = A total of 937€ for the food alone.

Plus visits to the doctor totalling €362.12

Food supplements (e.g. biotin or probiotics, lactase) €82.94

Medication 472,35€

Summing up to total costs for last year of = € 1,854.97

This does not even take into account the fact that some weakened hedgehogs need special rebuilding food (a/d Hills Diet for €3.20 per 200g tin) or rearing milk (Royal Canin Baby Cat/Dog 2x €23.90). As well as outdoor enclosures (5x Trixie 41,49) incl. sleeping (2x 35) + feeding houses (2x 60€) are needed for rehabilitation and reintroduction. Fortunately, my parents are covering the heating and water costs.

As a full-time student, this has been quite a hit to my savings, but I am happy to take it on myself for a good balance of rescued hedgehogs.

However, I need financial support so that I can continue to take in and rescue hedgehogs in the future. I am grateful for every small donation so that I can improve my deficit from last year and realise purchases that are necessary this year (such as new outdoor enclosures and sleeping houses).

Me and the hedgehogs thank you for everything you can make possible