- the essentials in brief
- What to do with a baby hedgehog?
- Can I raise hedgehog babies?
- How are baby hedgehogs fed?
- The hedgehog and its digestion
- When can hedgehogs be released into the wild?
- frequently asked Questions
Especially in autumn, many nature lovers get worried when they find a hedgehog in the garden. If it is a young animal, the situation should be monitored closely. Abandoned infants depend on human help.
Hedgehogs should only be raised by humans in an emergency
Table of Contents
Show all- the essentials in brief
- What to do?
- raise hedgehog babies
- Feed baby hedgehog
- release
- frequently asked Questions
- Orphaned hedgehog babies urgently need help; they need a lot of warmth and need to be fed puppy milk substitute in a syringe for the first few weeks of life
- Baby hedgehogs in a nest should not be handled unless the mother does not return after more than two hours
- Initially, the hedgehog babies also have to be fed at night; only from a weight of 100 grams can the nocturnal feedings be omitted
- The intestines of hedgehog babies must be stimulated after feeding so that the hedgehog babies urinate and defecate
- do not immediately take in motherless hedgehogs in the nest
- intervene if mother doesn't come back after two hours
- Loudly squeaking babies outside the nest need urgent help
- baby: Substitute milk with tea or water
- teenagers: Substitute milk with wet cat food
- Adults: wet cat food, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, wheat bran
- Mix one part puppy milk substitute with two parts unsweetened fennel tea
- Pour milk into a disposable syringe with a soft tip
- Lay the baby hedgehog on its back and gently hold it with your thumb
- Carefully drip substitute milk and lick it up
- orphaned hedgehog babies with closed eyes and ears
- obviously injured or weakened animals
- sick hedgehogs that stagger around or have sunken eyes
- Animals walking around the garden during the day after the onset of winter
the essentials in brief
What to do with a baby hedgehog?
Orphaned baby hedgehogs in the garden can become hypothermic very quickly if they are outside the nest. They need protection and warmth from their mothers, so you should help these baby hedgehogs urgently. You can gently feed the animals so that the hedgehog babies regain their strength.
| body | eyes and ears | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| after birth | pink skin without fur, white spines | closed | 12 to 25 grams |
| first week | pink skin without fur, single dark spines | closed | 30 to 50 grams |
| second week | gray skin with some down, dark spines | open slowly | 60 to 80 grams |
| third week | skin with light fur | open | 100 to 130 grams |
| fourth week | thick fur | open | 140 to 180 grams |
When a baby hedgehog needs help
About 80 percent of all hedgehog babies are born in Germany between August and September. There are earlier hedgehog litters in June and July in warmer regions such as Saarland or the Rhine Valley. Babies still have closed eyes and ears up to 14 days of age. They are suckled by their mother until they are six weeks old, and they can go without food for up to six hours.
Hedgehogs are wild animals and should only be adopted if they really need help.
First aid
A baby hedgehog should first be warmed up well
Lay out a box of towels. You can put a hot water bottle between the towels to keep the helpless hedgehog children warm. Check the water temperature regularly and replace it when the temperature drops. If the hedgehog gets too warm, it should have enough space in the box to crawl away from the heat source.
Can I raise hedgehog babies?
Raising a baby hedgehog until it can survive on its own in nature is not easy. Depending on the age and number of babies, they require different amounts of attention. If you do not dare to do this task, you should contact a hedgehog sanctuary. Note that the stations can get very crowded, especially in the fall. NABU and LBV will help you with questions about hedgehog babies. In an emergency, you can also contact the nearest veterinarian.
Legal regulations
In Germany it is generally forbidden to willfully alarm or capture animals of specially protected species. The hedgehog is one of these species and should not be included without reason. If the animal is visibly in need of help, the regulations allow an exception. Injured and sick hedgehogs or orphaned baby hedgehogs may be taken in and nursed back to health. The fastest possible release to freedom is the top priority.
How are baby hedgehogs fed?
Hedgehog babies are fed with puppy substitute milk
Baby hedgehogs do not get solid food. They are fed a puppy milk formula in a disposable syringe. You can get both at a veterinary practice. At first, the animal resists being fed because it first has to get used to the human smell.
What hedgehogs eat:
Documentation and calculation of the amount of feed
The infants must be weighed daily with a digital kitchen scale so that you can tailor the diet exactly to the animal. The amount of food depends on the animal's weight and is around 25 percent of its body weight for hedgehogs under 100 grams. The total amount of food refers to 24 hours. The baby hedgehog should gain between four and six grams per day. As soon as it eats on its own, the weight gain is around ten grams per day. You should keep a daily log so that you can identify weight gains and losses.
| needed food in 24 hours | number of meals | |
|---|---|---|
| Day 2 to 7 | 5 to 9 ml | Day: 8, night: 2 |
| Day 8 to 14 | 10 to 16 ml | Day: 8 to 7, night: 2 to 1 |
| Day 15 to 19 | 17 to 23 ml | Day: 7 to 6 |
| Day 20 to 22 | 25 to 30 ml | Day: 5 to 4 |
Food and feeding up to the third week
If the hedgehog is still blind and toothless and weighs less than 100 grams, it is given puppy milk substitute. You can feed them Esbilac or Royal Canin Babycat Milk. Cow's milk is not suitable for baby hedgehogs because it causes severe gastrointestinal damage. In the first two weeks of life, the hedgehog babies are fed a total of ten meals, which are administered within 24 hours.
tips
You can put a small and clean piece of bicycle valve over the syringe opening. So you have an ideal replacement teat.
Feed hedgehog babies between the third and fourth week
Older hedgehog babies can be fed wet cat food
The older the hedgehogs get, the greater their food requirements. Meals within 24 hours are slowly reduced. Hedgehog babies with a minimum weight of 100 grams are only fed during the day. When the first milk teeth have come through, you can mix the puppy formula with some moist cat food. The feed can now be offered in a flat bowl.
digression
The hedgehog and its digestion
Hedgehogs have a very simple digestive tract. This consists of a tube that is short compared to the body length. The animals do not have an appendix. They also have no enzymes that can break down lactose. Hedgehog milk has a very low lactose content and is similar to seal milk. Because of this lactose intolerance, hedgehogs must not be fed cow's milk. In the worst case, such well-intentioned measures can end fatally for the hedgehog.toileting
Hedgehog babies cannot defecate without help. After feeding, massage the tummy, genitals and anus. This stimulates the intestines so that the babies can urinate and defecate. They shed small green globules as long as they are fed formula milk. Clean the hedgehog before putting it back in its temporary nest. So-called toiletting is carried out after each meal until the animals eat independently at the age of three to four weeks.
When can hedgehogs be released into the wild?
As soon as the hedgehog has reached a weight of at least 250 grams, you should give it freedom. As a transition, you can offer the animal a hedgehog dwelling in the garden. An inverted wooden box with a loophole is ideal. This is tightly filled with straw so that the hedgehog can snuggle up warm.
Give the hedgehog a bowl with some cat food and offer him a bowl of water to drink. The hedgehogs can now roam freely and will search for food in the surrounding area for the next few weeks. Continue to offer food and water.
youtubetips
When September is just around the corner, the hedgehog should have reached a body weight of at least 350 grams. Otherwise, he cannot survive the winter.
frequently asked Questions
How many babies do hedgehogs have?
A female hedgehog gives birth to offspring once a year. In warmer regions, she can throw twice. The young are born after a gestation period of 30 to 48 days. On average, European hedgehogs give birth to four to five young in a litter. Occasionally up to ten young are born per litter. However, the mother usually does not have enough milk to feed all the baby hedgehogs.
What do baby hedgehogs eat?
Until the young animals can eat independently, they are suckled by their mother with milk. Orphaned baby hedgehogs should not be fed cow's milk because it is rich in lactose. Hedgehogs cannot break this down and get gastrointestinal problems. Puppy substitute milk and unsweetened fennel tea are best suited.
Where do hedgehogs hibernate?
Hedgehogs prefer warm and sheltered hiding places under hedges and shrubs. If the animals cannot find suitable shelter in nature, they look for winter quarters in parks and gardens or in cemeteries and green spaces. They like to hide in autumn leaves or crawl between piles of wood.
How big are hedgehog babies after birth?
Baby hedgehogs weigh between eleven and 25 grams after birth, with their body weight depending on the litter size. They already have a size of about five centimeters.
Which hedgehogs need help?
Hedgehogs do not always need help when they are in the garden during the day. The so-called autumn hedgehogs are no longer babies and only need human support in emergencies. If hedgehogs have been disturbed so that they have to leave their nest and look for a new shelter, they also run around during the day. Suckling female hedgehogs sometimes switch between their rearing nest and a daytime roost during the day.
How to recognize needy hedgehogs: