# There's a little hedgehog in our house!



## mouse_chalk (Nov 18, 2009)

I just had to post this quickly because I know some of you have seen on Facebook!

Last night, the security light came on in our garden. This usually means either cats or hedgehogs in the summer months. We couldn't see a cat, but we spotted a small hedgehog walking really slowly down by the hedge near the house. Steve knows someone who fosters hedgehogs so he knew that if they're too small, at this time of year, they can't be left outside on their own. He went out to have a closer look, and it was indeed pretty small. He didn't even try to move or run when we got near to him. We got him in the carrier and inside, and Steve dashed to the shops for some cat food.

He stayed the night in the carrier, with a snugglesafe heatpad, some food and water and a cosy towel, in our spare room. He seems healthy enough, except that he had some diarrhea last night and this morning, although he looks a little better now. Apparently that could either be the stress, the change in diet,etc. We were told initially by Steve's friend to feed him some goat's milk, when we thought he was much younger, which has now been removed. Supposedly it wont do any harm, but he doesn't need it, according to the rescue people. 

Steve has contacted a local hedgehog rescue centre who put us in touch with a local fosterer for sick and baby hedgies. They both said that they could take him in, but they also feel that we're perfectly capable of looking after him and would do a good job with him. Either way he can't be released until he is at least 650grams, and then only when there's a mild spell of weather, so it could be that he'd end up staying until the spring! :shock: We're to talk about it tonight, whether it would be best for him to go to the fosterer/rescue or if it might keep some of the strain off them if he stayed with us. The only issue with that could be fleas, if he has them- he's completely separate from the rabbits but we need to think about that some.

For now though, Mr Prickle is safe and warm at least! He weighs 300grams right now, which is about 0.5 pounds I think.


Oh, and did I mention he is the cutest thing EVER?!!! SO CUTE!


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Nov 18, 2009)

In the UK you don't have Hedgehog's as pets???
It would be cool if you 2 kept Mr. Prickle until he can be released

We want pictures


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## mouse_chalk (Nov 18, 2009)

*Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears wrote: *


> In the UK you don't have Hedgehog's as pets???
> It would be cool if you 2 kept Mr. Prickle until he can be released
> 
> We want pictures


African Pygmy Hedgehogs I believe (from my hours spent googling last night and this morning) can be kept as pets as they are bred in captivity etc, but there are regular wild hedgehogs that just wander into leafy gardens etc that aren't kept as pets- it wouldn't be fair since it's a wild animal. 

Here he is! This is him last night, having a little nom:


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Nov 18, 2009)

Mr. Prickle is so cute. He lucky to have found such a wonderful home of caregivers.


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## slavetoabunny (Nov 18, 2009)

Too adorable! Can the rescue people at lease take a look at him to see if he has fleas and check his general health? You may get so attached by spring that you don't want to give him up.


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## naturestee (Nov 18, 2009)

Eee! So cute!


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## irishbunny (Nov 18, 2009)

He's gorgeus! 
I've only seen a hedgehog once! There doesn't seem to be too many in my area. Lucky over there you have wildlife rescues, we have none. I think you should keep him till he can be realeased, but he probably should be seen by a vet, make sure he's healthy


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## missyscove (Nov 18, 2009)

He's adorable!


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## hartleybun (Nov 18, 2009)

:inlove::faint:


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## mouse_chalk (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks everyone! Mr Prickle will love the comments  It's a very unoriginal name I know, but it's better than Spike, which is what Steve wanted to name him. We never intented to name him, I just started calling him that as I was handling him...

Grace, that's a shame that there aren't any wildlife rescues around you . There's a fair few around here although I think they're always overstretched both with money and space sadly.

I've read that hedgehog fleas don't tend to live on any other animals, or bite humans so we should be relatively safe, but we've got hold of a safe flea treatment that we can use and we're going to go and get it shortly, along with some proper hedgie food, and kitten biscuits, which apparently are good for them to nibble and help put the weight on.

If he does stay for the winter (and it would be the winter only- I wouldn't ever keep him permenantly- he's a wild animal and I don't think it would be fair if he's healthy to confine him), and we haven't fully decided yet, we'll bring the old hutch that Mouse and Chalk lived in as babies and put that in the office/spare room for him to live in to have more space. Hmmm, lots to think about..... onder:


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## mouse_chalk (Nov 18, 2009)

Well, I think we're mostly decided that Mr Prickle will stay for the winter! 

We went and got him some special hedgehog meat flavoured biscuits, and some nicer chicken cat food that has more of a meat content than the Wiskas Steve grabbed as the shop was shutting last night. Hopefully that should be a bit healthier for him.

He woke up at about 7.30-8, and had a nice long feed. Then he did a lot of poo lol, but it looked a lot healthier than it did this morning! Whilst he was eating he was making little honking/squeaking noises, to about the same noise level that Dotty does when she cleans herself, so it was pretty loud! The cutest thing EVER!!

Tomorrow I'm going to make room in the office so we can bring the hutch in for him to live in. Ooh that's a point- it's a 2-storey hutch but we've lost the stair bit so I have to try and find it, or ask my dad nicely to build a new one! 

We couldn't find the right flea treatment stuff but we've ordered it online along with Panacur- to worm him with according to the rescue centre.

I took a couple more pictures- will upload them now


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## mouse_chalk (Nov 18, 2009)

Ok, some pics.

Here he is last night as soon as we got him in- I was trying to get a pic to show his size to send to the fosterer lady. He had a leaf stuck in his spines that I hadn't removed yet, bless him!







And here he is tonight, just after eating- he turned round and stuck his nose in the towel and just kept on going- like he was walking into it! So cute :inlove: The first one shows his size against a carrier that would comfortably hold both Barney and Snowy:


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## Boz (Nov 18, 2009)

Awwww he's so cute!! Keep us updated on him!


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## Elf Mommy (Nov 18, 2009)

how adorable!!!


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## mouse_chalk (Nov 19, 2009)

Thanks guys!

Mr Prickle has been coughing  I've done some reading, joined a hedgehog forum (lol) and it sounds like it could be lungworm.  It can be really bad, fatal in cases if not treated quickly enough and if the hedgehog is worn down enough. We're going to see about getting him to a vet ASAP tomorrow, and hope he's ok. He's not coughing a lot, just every now and then, and he's still eating and drinking etc ok, so hopefully we have time to get him cured. We were made aware that he's very young and he might not make it, so I'm sort of prepared for it, but even so, I have grown to care about him a lot in the past couple of days and would be so sad if he didn't make it 


We got him a better cage this evening- on our local TradeIt site someone was advertising a large indoor rabbit cage for only Â£15. It's 80x50cm and I would never put a bunny in it but it's plenty of room for him. He's loving the fleecey bedding and snuggling right underneath his towel.  We're using the Snugglesafe heat pad for him as well to make sure he keeps warm, given he's sick.

I took some more pictures of him but Photobucket has been playing up so I've only just managed to upload them, and we're off to bed now. I shall post them tomorrow when I get chance.

Keep Mr Prickle in your thoughts! :?


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## NorthernAutumn (Nov 19, 2009)

Awww... he's darling, Jen!

Not even a full 2 days, and you've joined a hedgehog forum 

10 to 1 you'll have to build a little hedgie house in your back yard... I don't think he'll ever wander too far from your garden.
I will be sending the little fella good vibes.. hope he feels better soon!


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## mouse_chalk (Nov 21, 2009)

Little update on Mr Prickle!

We went to the vets yesterday- our regular practice, and we saw a vet that has treated hedgies but doesn't consider himself an expert on them. He LOVED Prickle! He thought he was adorable! He was very surprised to see him so alert and bright and 'well'- he said that most hedgehogs that get brought in are either terribly injured by foxes, garden strimmers etc, or terribly sick and very close to the end. Prickle has a cough which is most likely lungworm but he doesn't think it's got too serious yet. He managed to look at his tummy by lifting his back legs whilst he was on the table and he's clear of ticks, etc and doesn't appear to have fleas.

We have- and you'll recognise this- Baytril and Panacur for him! You'd think it'd be difficult to administer meds to a hedgie but I've just been droppering it onto his food and offering it to him and it's being gobbled up- thank God I don't have to syringe feed him :shock:

He's very friendly- I picked him up yesterday to try and give him fluids as advised by the helpful people on the hedgehog forum and he didn't want any of it, but he did snuggle up into my dress and the towel I was holding him in and fall fast asleep! :inlove: So cute! 

Apparently, according to my research, Panacur doesn't always do the job with lungworm but we've got the name of another wormer to try if he doesn't improve with this and the vet said he's willing to help if we need it, and willing to consult any books, rescuers etc available for information to treat him if needed. 

I will post those pics asap I promise!


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## naturestee (Nov 21, 2009)

That's great news! Hopefully these meds do the trick.

HEDGIE PICCIES!!!!!!!


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## mouse_chalk (Nov 21, 2009)

*naturestee wrote: *


> HEDGIE PICCIES!!!!!!!


Awww, go on then! 

These are from Thursday, when I had him in the bathtub whilst I was cleaning his cage, and then in the evening while I was setting up his new cage:




















Shy hedgie:












Hedgie ball!


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Nov 21, 2009)

OMG so cute. I like Hedgie Ball pics.


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## JadeIcing (Nov 22, 2009)

Darn! I have a better shot of getting gliders but you are making me want hedgie even more. I want a hedgie more but the gliders would be easier. :X


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Nov 30, 2009)

How is Mr. Prickle doing?


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## hartleybun (Nov 30, 2009)

:inlove::faint:hedgie pics...

any mr prickle news?


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## mouse_chalk (Dec 1, 2009)

Hello! 

I'm sorry it's been so long since an update! I was sick last week (makes a change for me lol!) and away attending my cousin's wedding all weekend. We had the petsitter who looks after the bunnies feed and clean out Mr Prickle.

He's still coughing a lot so the Panacur obviously wasn't strong enough. We have ordered a stronger wormed as recommended by hedgehog rescues and he's starting on it tonight. I'm seeing tiny bits of tapeworms in his poo though :yuck so he'll be on a wormer for tapeworms soon too. I'm surprising myself at how well I'm dealing with the worm-y poo- I always thought I'd freak out at them but it's not too bad!

He's eating loads, and has gone from 300g when we first got him to 450 last night, which is good! He's VERY cute and when I pick him up he makes little noises- what I call 'hoggling'- like hmming and snorting noises, but very quiet. He's stopped curling when I lift him now, if I slide my hand under his stomach, although he's almost too big to hold in my hand, which is great! He still curls if I try to look at his tummy though lol.


Here are some pictures of him I took last night when I was cleaning him out and weighing him- other than that I'm trying not to handle him too much so he stays as wild as possible...


'Nope. I'm not saying hello. No way!'








'Oh, go on then...'




























Going for a wander around the table:







'Bye!' See his little tiny tail?!! :inlove:







Back in his cage and off to hide in his towels:






Curled up, this is how big he is next to my finger:


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## hartleybun (Dec 2, 2009)

hedgie ball!:thanks:anic::adorable:


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Jan 8, 2010)

Hey Jen how is Mr. Prickle doing?


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## irishbunny (Jan 8, 2010)

He is so cute!  I'm sure you will be sorry to see him leave? You should get your own pet hedgie after  Or foster for a wildlife centre. Since your so good with them


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## Stanza (Jan 8, 2010)

AHHHHHH MY GOODNESS!!

How cute !


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## mouse_chalk (Jan 9, 2010)

Thanks for asking Becka! 

Prickle is doing ok. He had stopped the coughing, but he's started it up again the past few nights so he's being re-wormed again. The good news is that he's put on all the weight he needs- he's a nicely chubby healthy hog now :biggrin2: so he can go as soon as it's warm enough in the spring. 

Grace, I will be sad to see him go, because he's so good and so cute. He's a very quiet, well behaved and friendly house-guest. But, I will not miss cleaning out his cage, washing towels all the time and stepping on loose spines lol- I got one stuck in the bottom of my foot the other day and it HURTS!! :grumpy: Hedgehogs are in no way litter-trainable (or at least this one isn't) and their poop really, REALLY stinks. It's not solid like bunny poo either- more squishy, and if I'm not quick enough at cleaning him out, he walks through it :shock:

The plan I think is that when it's warm enough he'll go into a pen in the garden with a hidey-box of some sort, so that we can make sure he's finding his own food, before being properly released. The hedgehog forum and rescue people have been really helpful and welcoming- like bunny people but hedgehog obsessed instead! 

I'll have to get some pictures of a newer, healthier Prickle over the weekend sometime!


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## NorthernAutumn (Jan 9, 2010)

I never noticed his blue blue eyes before... just gorgeous!
Will they change colour when he gets older?


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## mouse_chalk (Jan 9, 2010)

*NorthernAutumn wrote: *


> I never noticed his blue blue eyes before... just gorgeous!
> Will they change colour when he gets older?


No, it's funny, but his eyes aren't actually blue! They look it in camera light, but in real-life they're very dark coloured. I've seen pics of other hoggies that look like they have blue eyes too, but their carers say that's just how they show up in the camera light. Clever eh?!


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## kirsterz09 (Jan 9, 2010)

he is soooo cute, It's lovely to see all your doing for him, I'm guessing he's prob a youngster from a late brood prob around august - september time, quite often these baby hogs don't survive the winter as they do not get enough time to build up their fat reserves for hibernation. It's so nice to know that you managed to rescue this little hog before the snows came which definatly would have given him a poor outcome. I can't wait to hear how he does whilst he waits for his spring release.


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## paul2641 (Jan 9, 2010)

Oh how cool, I just started reading this tonight, It went unnoticed he really is a cutie, God I'd never be able to set him free, It'd kill me to do it, But I think I would! I hope he stays strong mister Prickle!


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## JadeIcing (Jan 9, 2010)

Will he be able to survive on his own after being cared for.


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## paul2641 (Jan 9, 2010)

*JadeIcing wrote: *


> Will he be able to survive on his own after being cared for.


Apparently from what MouseChalk has said, And they plan to release it into a pen in the garden first, To see how it does, And then release it completely if all goes well!


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## sbaxter (Jan 10, 2010)

Aw just found this post today ,wow you have been busy he`s a lovely healthy example of a hedgehog,but like you`ve said a little too light to survive the winter unaided,well done Jen for all your hard work with him/she?,Would`nt it be great if he was happy to live in your garden and not stray too far .I suppose you could encourage that and make him the perfect set up in a corner of your garden who knows he may know where his breads buttered :biggrin2:


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## MyLOVEABLES!! (Jan 10, 2010)

WOOO! Go Mr Prickles! How is he atm Jen?


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## BethM (Jan 11, 2010)

*mouse_chalk wrote: *


> Hedgehogs are in no way litter-trainable (or at least this one isn't) and their poop really, REALLY stinks. It's not solid like bunny poo either- more squishy, and if I'm not quick enough at cleaning him out, he walks through it :shock:


I watched a friend's pet hedgie one summer. He was so active at night, I built him a hedgehog-friendly wheel to run in. (They have to be solid, as the wire ones for hamsters will hurt the hedgehogs' feet.) I had to clean it out every morning, as he would poo as he was running, and keep running through it all night. Ewww!


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## DeniseJP (Jan 17, 2010)

Way too cute little critter - I had a toy hedgehog that was the same shape as Mr. Prickle but was a lot softer. I like his nose, too!

Our pheasants got lungworms and we used a wormer in their water to cure them of it... I cannot remember the name of it but I can have Tim check the bottle...it was a wormer for poultry and swine. I guess pheasants get lungworm from eating earthworms but I don't know anything about hedgehogs other than they are cute.

Denise


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## nicolevins (Jan 26, 2010)

Mr Prickle is ADORABLE !


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