When I went to pick up Big Bob from the vets, the vet mentioned they had another hedgehog in who might need some longer term care and asked if I might be able to provide it.
Falafel, as she was then called, had been found out in daylight in a churchyard by a member of the public who had brought her in. She was very thin and dehydrated.
The vets discovered the left side of her jaw was dislocated and had a rotten slug lodged in it. They removed the slug and tried to fix the jaw but it was an old injury and they couldn't relocate it.
The vets were amazed she had survived long enough with such an injury to have become unfixable.
So seeing her resilience they offered her soft food and she lapped it up.
The vet said she ate and drank almost constantly at first and quickly doubled in weight to 750grams.
The vets were reluctant to put her to sleep as she was otherwise healthy and still capable of breeding and clearly having survived in such a state had a strong will to survive.
So that is how Rosie (as I renamed her) Falafel Hedgehog came to live in my garden.
On our way home, a muntjac leapt across the road at a busy junction in broad daylight onto the canal.
I put her carrier on the floor inside while I prepared her new home. Ernie my Guinea Pig came up to see who was in his carrier. I think he was expecting it to be his brother Eric, so he got a surprise when Rosie congenially poked her nose through the bars to say hello. Ernie retreated swiftly to the safety of his snuggie grumbling.
He did creep out for another look but with the same results. Silly piggie.
Initially Rosie is in a temporary pen while I make her a large enclosure from the raspberry patch and herb garden.
The vets said she might take a while to get used to being nocturnal again as at the vets she had been very disrupted in her usual habits with the noise and lights of being at a busy practice.
But Rosie went back to hedgehog time right away and didn't emerge till almost 10pm, going to bed at 4:30am on her first night, very respectable hedgehog time keeping.
The first few nights I don't think she realised she had more space after being at the vets so she pooped in the feeding box and plastered that poop further than such a small animal should have been able to spread it!
She soon realised she had outside to explore and poop in tho.
Even if it was a bit soggy. After such a hot dry summer her first few days outside again it poured with rain!
Thankfully the house I made from an old drawer kept her snug and dry.
Having a lady hedgehog in the garden has brought Big Bob back after he got Grumpy with me.
In fact the first night Rosie was here, Big Bob or Hoggle, or possibly both came by to visit her.
I think they were really more interested in her food tho! XD"
I keep changing her pen around to make things more interesting for her until her enclosure is ready.
I have had a friend make her a proper hedgehog box and he also made her an adorable little bridge to add to her enclosure to explore.
Ernie tests Rosie's new bridge
I only see and handle her once a week for weighing and changing her bedding, the rest of the time she's left alone to have as natural a life as possible.
She's put on a little more weight since she arrived and is doing very well on Spike's semi-moist food softened with water and some wet cat food for variety.
Falafel, as she was then called, had been found out in daylight in a churchyard by a member of the public who had brought her in. She was very thin and dehydrated.
The vets discovered the left side of her jaw was dislocated and had a rotten slug lodged in it. They removed the slug and tried to fix the jaw but it was an old injury and they couldn't relocate it.
The vets were amazed she had survived long enough with such an injury to have become unfixable.
So seeing her resilience they offered her soft food and she lapped it up.
The vet said she ate and drank almost constantly at first and quickly doubled in weight to 750grams.
The vets were reluctant to put her to sleep as she was otherwise healthy and still capable of breeding and clearly having survived in such a state had a strong will to survive.
So that is how Rosie (as I renamed her) Falafel Hedgehog came to live in my garden.
On our way home, a muntjac leapt across the road at a busy junction in broad daylight onto the canal.
I put her carrier on the floor inside while I prepared her new home. Ernie my Guinea Pig came up to see who was in his carrier. I think he was expecting it to be his brother Eric, so he got a surprise when Rosie congenially poked her nose through the bars to say hello. Ernie retreated swiftly to the safety of his snuggie grumbling.
He did creep out for another look but with the same results. Silly piggie.
Initially Rosie is in a temporary pen while I make her a large enclosure from the raspberry patch and herb garden.
The vets said she might take a while to get used to being nocturnal again as at the vets she had been very disrupted in her usual habits with the noise and lights of being at a busy practice.
But Rosie went back to hedgehog time right away and didn't emerge till almost 10pm, going to bed at 4:30am on her first night, very respectable hedgehog time keeping.
The first few nights I don't think she realised she had more space after being at the vets so she pooped in the feeding box and plastered that poop further than such a small animal should have been able to spread it!
She soon realised she had outside to explore and poop in tho.
Even if it was a bit soggy. After such a hot dry summer her first few days outside again it poured with rain!
Thankfully the house I made from an old drawer kept her snug and dry.
Having a lady hedgehog in the garden has brought Big Bob back after he got Grumpy with me.
In fact the first night Rosie was here, Big Bob or Hoggle, or possibly both came by to visit her.
I think they were really more interested in her food tho! XD"
I keep changing her pen around to make things more interesting for her until her enclosure is ready.
I have had a friend make her a proper hedgehog box and he also made her an adorable little bridge to add to her enclosure to explore.
Ernie tests Rosie's new bridge
I only see and handle her once a week for weighing and changing her bedding, the rest of the time she's left alone to have as natural a life as possible.
She's put on a little more weight since she arrived and is doing very well on Spike's semi-moist food softened with water and some wet cat food for variety.
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