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[SoftTouch]

Eyeleen, my hog with the catted eye has been with us for 3 weeks and she's been doing really well. Asked Harv to get her out tonight to weigh her and was greeted by barely controlled panic. 

She's given birth, either last night or today. Only seen one tiny little hoglet with spines just starting to poke through.

Of course this then meant I had to get the rubbish bag from last night and go through it with a fine tooth comb to make sure I hadn't accidentally thrown away a baby. You know you can't have as the paper was all flat and you'd have noticed but the niggle is there and you won't rest until you've checked. All clear, well the bag was, I'm now covered in poo. 

[SoftTouch]

And Harv is a basket case.  men and birth just don't go well together.

[whitehound]

Congratulations.  I got a hell of a fright when Miss Piggy suddenly presented me with two animated pink hairbrushes - especially as the vet had told me the day before that my tentative identification (of a hog who refused to uncurl) was wrong and she was a he.

[sonic]

Congratulations! 

[Mouse]

Congratulations! 

I can relate to the going 'through it with a fine tooth comb to make sure I hadn't accidentally thrown away a baby'   

Have you any idea how many?

[Pat]

Congrats!!!   Funny you should mention that. I have been very carefully checking Pip's bedding just in case. But hopefully she isn't pregnant. I think we would be in a fix then. Although she has been putting the weight on lately. 

[SoftTouch]

Congratulations! 

I can relate to the going 'through it with a fine tooth comb to make sure I hadn't accidentally thrown away a baby'   

Have you any idea how many?

No, I daren't look. Major hassle though as I was in the process of moving everyone and everything round. So many hoglets and they're getting big so I'm spiltting them into smaller groups to stop bullying. Or at least, I was, now I have an immovable in the most inconvenient place possible.

I've got 26 in now plus whatever she's delivered. Anyone know any good release sites? 

Funny you should mention that. I have been very carefully checking Pip's bedding just in case. But hopefully she isn't pregnant. Smiley I think we would be in a fix then. Although she has been putting the weight on lately.  Undecided

If her behaviour suddenly changes and she builds a different type of nest plus appears to go off her food... panic.

No I would seriously advise being very careful with any female at this time of year. There was absolutely no sign of pregnancy. She just looked like a normal hoggy apart from the eye. She was treated ofr that, then she started the lungworm cough so she was treated for that. Suppose she figured she'd better get it over with before I shoved any more needles into her. 

[Pat]

Will do. She did have an enourmous amount of poo last night in her cage. But still ate quite a bit. She was a bit lower in the bath water today too when she was doing her swimming. I wonder if she does have little ones if they will be born with water wings.

[hoglover!!]

Congratulations Gill!  
I'll get my knitting needles out!
I feel so guilty palming my 4 babies onto you for a fortnight now .
I'll help you out in return though
You can give me a couple of your release ready hogs to release in my garden if you like, when I come to collect my babies after my hols.
I've only ever released 2 hogs from out of the area into my garden, both of them this year.
In a few weeks I'll have to release 2 of the 4 babies here too, so that'll make 4 but I'm sure a couple of others would be ok, what do you think ?
PatX

[SoftTouch]

You can give me a couple of your release ready hogs to release in my garden if you like, when I come to collect my babies after my hols.

Ummmmmm, weeeeeeell, actually. Two of them are already boxed and ready to go. I was going to sneak them into your car when you we'ren't looking  

Can you take 2 or 3 girlies? All my boys have gone apart from Percy and he really ought to go back where he came from although it would be good if he went somewhere somebody can keep an eye on his neck. I can't release here. Far too many have gone out already and there's a queue at the bus stop.

I feel so guilty palming my 4 babies onto you for a fortnight now Embarrassed .

Don't, there's a cage all ready for them.

[Jeepster]

What constitutes a good release site?  I've got an open garden area, confirmed hedgehogs visiting each night and a clear foraging route.  I'm not on a main road or near one and there appears to be a network of gardens that the hogs are using.  Only problem is I'm in West Sussex.

Debbie

[SoftTouch]

Good release site == your garden. If there are hogs already about then it's a good site.

There are plenty of carers out your way who may well be interested and thanks for the offer, if I get nowhere with local releases we may well have a day out in Brighton. )

[Jeepster]

Hi Gill

Thanks for the reply. More than happy to have new hogs. I have 2 males, 1 female (was 2 until I had to take one with broken leg) and 2 hoglets visiting almost every night. I do have foxes as well but having watched the camera regularly the foxes are more scared of the hogs than the other way round. The garden is completely open.

I drive so can always meet centrally.

Debbie

[hoglover!!]

Ummmmmm, weeeeeeell, actually. Two of them are already boxed and ready to go. I was going to sneak them into your car when you we'ren't looking 
Can you take 2 or 3 girlies?

Yes I can Gill. I've just had a wild garden girl die this week (the one taken to the vet with maggots)so I'm one girl down. I have only got 2 runs so one of them will have to wait in my garage in a cage or I could put the third girl into a hutch instead of a run and have them all on the patio together.
My wild boys will be going crazy with all those females
They had better not go on to have late babies that I need to overwinter
Don't you want me to bring my babies in their cages? The 3 sibs are in a 3' guinea pig cage and the baby on her own is in a blue zoozone.
Whatever suits you best.
(it's gonna be like baby bootcamp this week, making my 4 half way amenable to being treated like ordinary hoglets, instead of molly coddled princes and princesses )
PatX

[kevinw]

Anyone know any good release sites? 

If the New Forest (Hampshire / Dorset border on the south coast) isn't too far away, we have a large garden, away from main roads, towards the edge of a village surrounded by farmland and woodland.

We've had at least 11 wild visitors this year, but rather a boy / girl imbalance (8 vs 3).

[whitehound]

Pretty good round here if anybody in southern Scotland is looking for a release site.  Although there's a main road about 100 yards away I've never seen any roadkill round here, I think because the wildlife has all it needs on this side of the main road and so no need to cross. 

There's lots of gardens, many of them quite unkempt and all with easy access under gates or fences, lots of hedges and sheds, a verge full of wild flowers and brambles, very quiet back streets (like, one or two cars an hour), a small but wonderfully overgrown wood, a marsh with streams running through it ensuring a ready supply of fresh water in all but the very driest weather, no badgers, only a few foxes who all have better things to occupy themselves with, reasonably quiet kids and not too many dogs either, and open farmland with cattle about 400 yards away.

And lots and lots of hedgehogs....

[bluebell]

Will do. She did have an enourmous amount of poo last night in her cage. But still ate quite a bit. She was a bit lower in the bath water today too when she was doing her swimming. I wonder if she does have little ones if they will be born with water wings.

Water births are quite the thing to have nowadays Pat!

Gill- how is the maternity nest different from a normal one?

[SoftTouch]

Water births are quite the thing to have nowadays Pat!

Gill- how is the maternity nest different from a normal one?

Normally during the warm weather they just have bedding and lay on top of it. We suddenly found she had made a proper nest, floor to ceiling, entrance hole, then block the door up, just as if she was going to hibernate.

I've very carefully put another couple of fleeces in there for her and some torn up newspaper. Last time I looked she had dragged that in as well.

[Pat]

Bluebell, you know funnily enough I had thought of that too. That is why I am keeping an extra close eye on her swimming. LOL She is having a rest day today. I checked and her breasts haven't gotten any larger, so hopefully she won't be having any little ones this time round.

I will need to keep a close eye on the babies.... as we have a brother and sister team there. So if any monkey business I will be separating them PDQ.

[SoftTouch]

Pat you don't really need to worry about the little ones. I've only ever had one boy that thought it was a good idea to experiment but he got it all wrong and was trying to rodger his brothers. He only tried it once as they weren't at all impressed. Even if they succeeded I don't think the girls can get pregnant that young.

It's more the bullying aspect you need to watch out for. I've had to spilt up a little group of 5 I had in together as one of the girls decided to attack a boy. I had to force my fingernail inbetween her teeth to get her to let go of him.

I checked and her breasts haven't gotten any larger, so hopefully she won't be having any little ones this time round.

I didn't notice any change either. One minute she was Eyeleen next minute she was mum. Gobsmacked all round.

[whitehound]

There was no visible sign that Miss Piggy was pregnant, either, except that she was heavy and seemed a bit dopey and preoccupied.  But "a bit dopey and preoccupied" seemed to be her normal state anyway.

[Pat]

Thanks. Yes, the bullying can be difficult. She did for a bit go around holding onto him, but I think she has stopped that now. That is also why I have separated the three boys we have here. For some reason Cookie just ins't quite getting on with the other two in the same cage. They are fine for visits, but if put together then Cookie just doesn't settle.

Well Pip has started putting weight on here and is now 968 grams. 

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