Raising a baby hedgehog

When someone finds a baby hedgehog, the first question is usually: “What now?” Raising a hoglet is demanding work that lasts for weeks, and the first decisions are often crucial for its survival. Most of Croatia is home to the northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus), and the western parts also to the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), but the procedure is the same for both. In this article I describe how to tell if a hoglet is orphaned, how to give it first aid and what baby hedgehogs eat at each stage of growing up.

The hedgehog is a nocturnal animal, and healthy young hedgehogs do not wander around during the day. If you see a baby hedgehog out in the open in the middle of the day, it is almost always a sign that something is wrong. Hoglets are also sometimes found when a nest is accidentally uncovered during mowing or gardening.

Help is needed if the hoglet is:

• eyes still closed, outside the nest, and squeaking or whimpering thinly,
• cold to the touch, limp or covered in flies and fly eggs,
• injured or lying next to a dead female,
• small (roughly the size of an apple, under 300 grams) and wandering about in daylight without its mother.

If you have accidentally uncovered an undamaged nest with young sleeping peacefully, carefully cover it up again and move away. Watch it from a distance for two to three hours; if the mother does not come back and the young start crying and crawling out of the nest, they need help. Larger young hedgehogs that you only see at night, and that are lively and eating, are usually independent and should be left alone.

The most important rule is: warmth first, food later. Young hedgehogs chill very quickly, and a chilled body cannot digest food. Never feed or give water to a cold hedgehog until it has warmed up.

• Put it in a cardboard box lined with a soft towel or flannel (not cotton wool or fleece, in which its little legs can get tangled).
• Place a bottle of warm (not hot) water wrapped in a towel at the bottom, so the hedgehog can move away if it gets too hot. Change the bottle regularly so it does not go cold.
• Cover the box and put it in a quiet, dark place, away from children, dogs and cats.
• Wear gloves and handle it as little as possible.

As soon as the hedgehog is warm, contact a vet or a wildlife rescue centre. Young hedgehogs are almost always dehydrated too, and fluid replacement is best left to an expert. A list of contacts for associations and wildlife rescue centres is available on our website. I advise taking the hedgehog to the experts as soon as possible: hand-rearing an orphan whose eyes are still closed rarely succeeds without experience and guidance.

Never give cow’s milk! Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant, and milk causes a severe digestive illness that can be fatal. The same goes for baby food, bread and sweet foods.

• Hoglets with closed eyes (up to about two weeks) are fed exclusively on milk replacer. Hedgehog experts most often recommend a low-lactose milk replacer for puppies or kittens. Agree with a vet or rescue centre on which product is best and how to dilute it.
• From about three weeks, when their first teeth come through, very finely mashed wet kitten food with a high meat content is gradually mixed into the milk.
• At four to five weeks, most young hedgehogs eat by themselves from a shallow dish, and the milk is gradually phased out.

A young hedgehog that eats on its own must always have a shallow dish of fresh water next to its food. Do not offer it milk, peanuts or dry bread.

The hoglet is fed lukewarm milk warmed to body temperature from a small needle-free syringe with a thin tip. During feeding the hedgehog must be on its tummy or upright, never on its back, because milk can then easily end up in the lungs, and pneumonia in such small animals is usually fatal. Give the milk drop by drop and let it suckle and swallow by itself. If milk comes out of its nose, stop immediately and tilt it head-down.

As a rough guide, a hoglet drinks about a quarter of its body weight in 24 hours, spread over several feeds:

• in the first week of life it is fed every two hours, day and night, one to three millilitres at a time,
• once its eyes open, night feeds become less frequent and the feeds get bigger,
• at three to four weeks, feeding every four hours is enough.

I’ve learned from experience that scales accurate to the gram are the most important piece of equipment. Weigh the hedgehog every morning before the first feed: a healthy hoglet gains a few grams every day. If it loses weight or stops gaining, seek advice immediately.

Hoglets with closed eyes cannot urinate or defecate on their own – the mother does this for them by licking. So after every feed, gently massage the tummy and the area around the genitals and anus with a damp, lukewarm piece of cotton wool or a soft tissue until it goes to the toilet. Keep doing this until the hedgehog starts eating by itself.

After feeding, wipe any leftover milk off its nose and body. Change the bedding every day and keep the box dry and clean. Healthy droppings in a young hedgehog are soft and greenish to brown; diarrhoea, mucus or blood are a reason to see a vet.

Once it is eating by itself and steadily gaining weight, the hedgehog is gradually weaned off people. Handle it only as much as necessary, do not stroke it or coo at it: a wild hedgehog must keep its natural wariness. When it reaches about 250 grams, it moves to a larger space and then to an outdoor enclosure of a few square metres, where it gets used to outdoor temperatures, sounds and the smells of the garden. There it can also look for natural food such as insects and earthworms.

Siblings that grew up together are separated when they get bigger, because adult hedgehogs live alone.

A hedgehog is ready to return to the wild when it is completely healthy, eats by itself, has normal droppings and a sufficient weight. Recommendations vary, and I stick to the more cautious ones: in summer I release it once it weighs at least 500 to 600 grams. Late in autumn a young hedgehog must have enough reserves to survive hibernation; if it is too small, it spends the winter at the rescue centre and is released in spring.

• Release it in the early evening, in dry and mild weather, because the hedgehog is a nocturnal animal.
• The best place is near where it was found, or a garden connected to other gardens, shrubs and hedges, away from busy roads.
• Put out a hedgehog house and leave food and water out for a few weeks until it is fully independent.

Hedgehogs can carry skin fungi (dermatophytosis) and salmonella, and they almost always have fleas and ticks. Hedgehog fleas do not live long on people, but still wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly after every contact. Children should not touch the hedgehog.

Wild animals, including the hedgehog, are protected by law in Croatia. Long-term keeping and rearing of wild animals may only be carried out at a wildlife rescue centre or with the appropriate permit, so get in touch with a vet or an association straight away. The goal is always the same: for the hedgehog to return to the wild.

Raising a baby hedgehog starts with warmth, patience and one call to the experts. Do not feed it while it is cold, never give it cow’s milk, and only feed it on its tummy. With the right care and a good garden to return to, a little hedgehog has a great chance of one day hunting insects at dusk on its own again.