Harry-ette's Story

I'd like to introduce Harry-ette, who is the latest hedgehog to stay with us. As you can see she looked very sorry for herself when I picked her up from our vets.

Harry-ette waiting to be picked up

It's little wonder. If you look closely you can see a small red area under her eye. This is matched by another on the other side of her face. It would appear she has been bitten, as these are puncture marks. Both are infected (she is now on anti-biotics) and one has caused an issue with her third eye lid - something I never knew hedgehogs had!

Whilst under sedation (so her wounds could be cleaned) it was noted one of her back legs was not 100%. So Helen (our vet) having discovered her new dental x-ray machine could be used to x-ray exotics (which daft as it sounds hedgehogs are treated as) decided to check for broken bones. Although the image below is a little dark I'm hoping you can see poor Harry-ette has suffered a broken fibula (that's the smaller of the two leg bones - another thing I've learned). This break is obviously an old one and has healed.

X-ray showing the old break in Harry-ette's back leg

When I picked her up I was told by Sophie (the nurse) she was very disappointed by the number of ticks she had to pick off (just three) and apart from a single red mite Harry-ette had no other 'lodgers.' 

A little side note: Sophie finds removing such nasties highly satisfying and it's not a job I'm going to fight her for!  

Harry-ette is making slow but steady progress and this morning huffed at me as I picked her up, always a good sign. She is eating well, putting on weight and I have also been able to take her off the heat pad. 

And if you're wondering I didn't name Harry-ette. She had been named by the lady who found her Harry and when it was discovered Harry was a she Sophie added the 'ette.'        

Hairbands Trip To The Vets

Some of you will have read how poor Hairband not only had a hairband wrapped around his waist but also how he was found caught on a nail. If you didn't read then simply scroll down.

Well this is his up-date.

On the 3rd May off we went to see Rebecca at our wonderful vets (the A120 surgery). As is typical with hedgehogs they have to be sedated a little so they can be checked. Otherwise they simply roll up and refuse to cooperate.

Sweet dreams are made of this!

Once asleep (hedgehogs are very suborn when it comes to this) Rebecca was able to look at the damage the nail had done. Luckily the antibiotics appear to have worked and although Hairband is very swollen there is no infection. After cleaning the area Rebecca decided to take the opportunity to check him over fully.

No broken bones or other injuries 

Thankfully no broken bones were found. However a few ticks were found hidden away in the fur so these were removed. Rebecca then turned Hairband over to check the condition of his spines, skin and check for parasites.

Checking for fleas, ticks and skin condition

As she checked we discussed the problem he might be having passing urine as the nail had caught his mmm how can I put this politely? Well... his boy parts. So she felt his bladder and decided that it might be wise to slightly empty it. 

 

Just a 'wee' test!

Once she'd managed to gently coax his bladder to work she decided to carry out a quick urine test. Thankfully although a very few spots of blood were found to be present everything else was clear.

Pleased with the results Hairband was then allowed to slowly come to before I placed him, still on his heat pad back into the carry case. 

Hairband appears to be doing well and we think it's just a case of waiting for his body to repair itself. 

I will however keep you up-to-date on his progress.

Little Things Create BIG Problems

On 30th April I picked up a hedgehog from our local vet which I didn't think would still be here on the 2nd May. A large male who was named 300412 (also known as Hair Band) was in a pretty bad way. If he hadn't been found when he had he most certainly would have died.

Hairband was so unwell he was allowed to eat tea whilst still in bed!

He had been discovered caught on a nail on a fence (thankfully it had not penetrated too deeply) and had a hair band wrapped around his middle. He had endured the downpours we have experienced without shelter and was covered in mud.  He was very cold and in a great deal of distress and was having problems standing. Thankfully he appears to be on the mend, although I think it may take a few weeks before he sees grass again.

The sad thing is if that nail had not been sticking out and someone had picked up that hairband he may never have needed to come in to us.

So next time you're out in the garden try to think small things create big problems. Look around and ask yourself is there anything in your garden that could cause a problem to wildlife. For example an empty flower pot can be a death trap for a fledging if it becomes trapped and cannot escape. Also when out and about if you see an elastic band, hair band or one of the plastic can holders please pick it up, pop in your pocket and pop into the bin (once you've cut it up).

That small act can make a big difference!  

Behind The Scenes

Not many people get to see behind the scenes and inside the hedgehog shed. Which is lucky really because most of the time it smells of hedgehogs (not a good smell) and it isn't often tidy (much like my house). However I recently discovered there was a competition for Shed Of The Year. So decided our shed may just be different enough to have a chance of winning the prize.

So I gave it a quick tidy and took some shots. I then completed the application form and uploaded some images. If you'd like to see our entry please click here.

Now the hedgehog shed (also known as the hedgehog rehabilitation unit) was part funded by the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species and as you can see it looks an ordinary 6' x 8' green shed from the outside.

Tasha often helps at feeding time by picking up food I drop  

However a lot is packed into a small space. The shed can house (comfortably) 12 hedgehogs but there have been times when it's housed 16. This meant I had to prepare meals on the floor, as the work surface was covered by pet carriers housing hoglets.

The view as I open the door

On the left there are 8 purpose built hutches. All made by my Uncle Albert from reclaimed wood. These are lined with tiles for ease of cleaning and have a separate sleeping and run area. Each hutch houses (normally) a single hedgehog and on the front is a data card.

Cleaned with dinner ready and waiting

Under the work surface on the right there are two cages that house our really sick hedgehogs and hoglets. These contain plug in heat pads that keep a constant temperature. When unwell hedgehogs often have problems keeping their body temperature up, so a heat pad helps with this.      

Ready and waiting for the next unwell hedgehog

Above these I have two high sided grey pallets (donated by a friend) that are used for the very small hoglets. I use these as it allows me to keep a constant temperature (they also have heat pads in them) and also the hoglets can't escape by squeezing through the bars (which has happened in the past). 

The smallest hoglets raised to date weighing just 32 and 34 grams

Now you've seen inside HQ I'll take this opportunity to show you just two of the gardens owned by our carers. 

  

This is owned by Alan and is totally enclosed

Alan's job is to assess how a hedgehog will cope if released. Once a hedgehog has been with him for a couple of weeks we can decide if it is suitable for release or needs to live in one of our large enclosed gardens. 

This belongs to Rob and Di and is used as part of our release strategy

In here we can hibernate hedgehogs over winter. Then when the weather is right the door is opened and if they stay they stay if they go they go! We do try to alternate the gender of the hedgehogs in the hopes they discover one another and breed.   

I hope you have enjoyed seeing behind the scenes and if you have time please like our entry for Shed Of The Year 2012 clicking here.

Tripods Check-up

On the 22nd March I picked up from one of our carers a hedgehog who'd had a back leg amputated. As with all major operations we always play it safe and get our vet to do a check-up for us. Today Tripod (don't blame me for the name that was our vet Helen's suggestion) had his.

I just wanted to share with you how it went.

Now if you know anything about hedgehogs you'll know if they don't want to co-operate they just curl into a ball and refuse to uncurl. Therefore they often need a little persuasion. So Tripod was popped into a box and given a little whiff of gas:

After a while Tripod became sleepy and Helen was able to have a good look at his wound:

She found the wound was healing well however it needed a clean up. So poor Sophie (she needs hands-on experience with wildlife as part of her nurse training) was given the task of carefully cleaning with wash and cotton wool buds:

Once the wound was cleaned and checked again it was time for a little oxygen to help Tripod wake up and a little warm on a heat pad:

You may notice a few flakes of 'stuff' on the blanket. I had noticed Tripod was losing a few spines and hoped it was mange and treated. However the spine loss has continued and the skin is now a little flaky, so these were collected up and have been sent off to the lab. They're going to see if they can grow us anything nasty. If they do at least we know what to treat Tripod for.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the following:

John, one of our supporters/hog carers who did a little fund raising for us and the money he raised covered the cost of the lab test. 

The A120 Medivets for providing their expertise free of charge.

Attimore Vets in Welwyn Garden City for providing the primary care and the removal of Tripods leg.

Without the support of such fantastic vets we would never be able to do our job - so THANK YOU guys!