found a baby hedgehog - advice please!

morning all,

on the way back from our walk we saw a baby hedgehog being attacked by loads(and i mean loads) of huge birds.

The problem was being able to get to him to help him as the hedgehog was on MOD property - talk about play it safe!

My son found a gap in the fence and with my coat went to pick him up and bring him out - which he did very well.

we now have him safely home and in a box with some towels!

i did look to see if there were any other hedgehogs around but saw none at all - i even had a really good look in the bushes - got scratched and stung by stinging nettles too!

what should i feed him - is it true that they like cat food?
i know that bread and water/milk is said to be bad for them.

does anyone know the number for st tiggiwinkles?

and yes - i know - you want pics, just doing it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

id take him straight over to the vets or call the RSPCA who will be able to give you sound advise, especially if the poor little thing was being attacked.

Also keep it well away from other animals! and make sure you wash your hands throughly befores going near your pets!!

the best thing for it would be water and dog food.

http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk

food:
Crunchy cat biscuits
Tinned meat based pet food (white meat flavours such as chicken, turkey or rabbit- not in gravy)
Pet shop brawn for dog/cat - liver flavour
Spikes hedgehog food or other specially prepared hedgehog food
Raw mince
Any raw or cooked meat leftovers - as a treat
Chicken – cooked excluding the bones
A little moistened museli or chopped unsweetened digestive biscuits

Ask Trish - she's dogseys hedgehog woman and has reared quite a few of them. Ashlady has too

Aye... wheres Trish

thanks foxy - you're a star. x

Is that cos I come out at night

If it was being attacked best get it to the vets for any injuries ,it might also be ill and that could be why the birds were at it
I usually feed mine on tinned dog food and they do very well on that
Hedgehogs often have fleas and ticks so watch out for them ,the vet should be able to treat them (I ended up with a tick in my back a while ago with one of my rescued hogs )thankfully the baby hedgehog I have at the moment dosent seem to have any ,but will not eat its self so I am having to hand feed it every few hours ,it is in luxury with a hot bottle in the house I'll need to take some pics of him later

thanks guys for all the advice, you'd really think i'd know what to do , working for the RSPCA! i just tend to panic a bit thats all. calm now though.

i've given him some( a small amount) of cat food which he ate faster than the kittens do - he must have been starving poor little mite.

the kids have decided to call him spike!! Yeah - i know!!

anyway, pics as promised........................

http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/ - St Tiggywinkles website which has lots of info and their 24-hr phone number on it. It sounds as if you did the right thing, I thought a hedgehog out during the day usually means that there is something wrong with it, especially if it was being attacked by birds, poor little thing!

Well done for rescuing the little baby.

The fact it is eating is a good sign. Dog or cat food is best, any flavour but fish. Personally I wouldn't bother with Spikes dinner, few 'hogs like it actually. Dry cat food looks and smells the same!

Are there any obvious injuries? If so, veterinary advice should be sought, but if not and the little one eats, drinks and poops OK then if you are able to you can over-winter it - keep it awake through winter as it looks too small to hibernate.

Good luck - keep us posted!