Spikey's Hedgehog Rescue - sick hedgehogs

Hogarth's / Spikey's Hedgehog Rescue

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Hogarth's (Spikey's) Hedgehog Rescue

Sick, injured and orphaned hedgehogs - Information page 1

WHAT WE MEAN BY "SICK HEDGEHOGS"....

OUT IN THE DAY means that SOMETHING IS WRONG!

We use the word "sick" to describe any hedgehogs who have become shocked, infected or ill from injury, dehydrated, starving, poisoned, or have contracted some disease - such as, for example, Lungworm. The early stages of sickness or disease are not usually obvious (to someone uneducated about hedgehogs). The ones that end up in our care, are usually very sick, and require immediate veterinary attention!

Hedgehogs are almost totally Nocturnal - they are active only at night, from dusk, onwards, and spend the daylight hours asleep. So, if you find one out in the day, SOMETHING IS WRONG! Very sick hogs/ hoglets found by members of the public, are found wondering (and often wobbling) about in daylight, either in their gardens or on the road - which of course, puts them at even greater risk!

Sick hedgehogs can be found at ANY time of the year - yes, those we take in includes baby hoglets even at Christmas or in January!

If you find a sick hedgehog, please, wearing a pair of gardening gloves, pick the poor hog up and carefully put him/her in a small cardboard box. Sick hedgehogs and those in shock, need WARMTH. Within the bottom of the box, place a hot water-bottle, well wrapped in a towel....obviously, the hedgehog placed on top of the heat-source, not underneath it. Then, phone us as soon as possible! We have two main numbers - 07796 365029 (manned 24 hours) and 01455 614013. This covers quite a wide area, but if you are outside these numbers' area, please give your telephone number, so we can call you back as soon as possible with a contact number and address for your area. Where ever is possible, someone will come to collect the hedgehog.

If you can't get hold of anyone the first time you call, try again a bit later on - because, it is likely the Rescuer will have been called out, or someone is already calling, simultaneously. However, the 24-hour number is available on hand, even when called out.

You are, of course, welcome to contact us again at a later date, to find out how your rescued prickly friend is getting on. Our aim is to save as many hedgehogs as we can! But, sadly, we can't save them all - some are just too weak or sick to survive, although we always TRY OUR VERY BEST TO HELP! The most vulnerable are the tiny babies - when found orphaned, they require warmth and food, very quickly!

He/she is likely to be infested with fleas and/or ticks. If so, DON'T PANIC! Hedgehog fleas are a species in their own right; they are not dog or cat fleas, and won't stay on a dog or a cat. Ticks are the small bluish-grey "nodules", which seem to be most commonly found around the eyes and behind the ears. Fully-gorged ticks will be about the size of a pea. Over the years, I have received some very bad cases, whereby the poor hog is absolutely covered in ticks - this is dangerous to an already badly dehydrated hedgehog. The easiest (and least messy) method of removing ticks, is to grip the body of the tick with a pair of tweezers, then turn anti-clockwise, until the mouthparts lose their grip. DO NOT PULL from behind, otherwise the mouthparts will be left embedded in the skin, and will cause infection. Removal of ticks can be very difficult and time-consuming, and is best left to the Rescuer you have called out; it's always a race against time to save very sick hedgehogs!

We hope at the end of this Website to list as many Rescuers contacts as we can, including those already on our Membership.

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Hogarth's / Spikey's Hedgehog Rescue