Just a quickie to let you know how Herbie Hogwort is fairing. It was exactly a week ago today that he was found crying piteously, wet, cold and hungry near to a dead brother/sister. Then he weighed just 140gms but after a week of goats milk mixed with chicken flavour kitten food he now weighs in at a plump 195gms! He's doing really well and has tried some raisins, crushed nuts and kitten biscuits.
He's also having fun playing with an old flower pot, some pebbles and an empty snail shell which he likes to bite, shake and carry around.
Unfortunately he still has 2 of the 4 ticks that he was found with - I got 2 to drop off by painting them with olive oil and will now try vaseline to coat the remaining 2 which hopefully will block up their ability to breathe and make them drop off - hideous things!
Hopefully he carry on putting on lots of weight and be ready to release back into the wild before the weather gets too cold. Thanks to Jo who has been giving me some great advice about hedgehog raising via email.
someone else suffering with ticks!
a trick i learnt whilst at the vets.....
toothpaste to suffocate the little blighters and then i always drip on neat lavender oil once i have removed the toothpaste.
ticks hate mint and lavender - and of course the lavender oil helps to heal the wound left behind.
talulla has been freed from the tick on her bum by this method only yesterday.
hope it will work on the ever so cute hoggy x
tracy x
Posted by: tracy x | August 30, 2007 at 04:30 PM
Those awfull ticks! My cat had one the other day and became very ill. I had removed the whole tick but there can still stay behind a bacterium that can cause an infection. Great advice from Tracy, the toothpaste and lavender! I hope little Mr. Herbie will do very well and will grow steadily.
Posted by: nicolette | August 30, 2007 at 05:15 PM
Soooo cute! Glad he is doing well.
Posted by: rohanknitter | August 30, 2007 at 05:16 PM
Herbie is so gorgeous apart from the ticks of course which are hateful things. Tracy's advice sounds v. sound to me, you have to be so careful to get the whole blighter out sometimes the head can get left behind and infection sets in. Nasty.
Sorry to read that Toby is finding things a bit tough at the moment, it's the change in routine isn't it? And what with a baby hedgepig as well you have got a lot on your plate. Hope you get time to relax with a glass of wine now and then.
Posted by: carolyn | August 30, 2007 at 05:17 PM
Sounds like he is thriving despite the ticks. He is very cute, hope he continues to grow and enjoy his toys!
Posted by: French Knots | August 30, 2007 at 05:48 PM
He's lovely - and you are obviously doing a great job looking after him. Is he inspiring any little knitted hedgehog creations????
Posted by: Lucy Locket | August 30, 2007 at 06:03 PM
What fun! I'm so glad he is doing well - what a great experience for your children to have as well. We have to draw lots these days to see who will pull any ticks off the dogs - yuck!
Posted by: Caroline Bletsis | August 30, 2007 at 06:16 PM
Well done - he looks very healthy now.
Posted by: Zoe | August 30, 2007 at 07:16 PM
glad he's doing so well. It's a great lesson for your kids to help with this rescue. My daughter still talks about our possum rescue.
(& the 17 flea she picked off it!)
Posted by: carolyn | August 30, 2007 at 07:46 PM
Sounds like you are doing a great job...he's not going to want to leave you ;o)
Posted by: Jane Weston | August 30, 2007 at 08:10 PM
I'm especially touched by this story. Thanks for sharing it with us, Julie.
Ellen xx
Posted by: ellen | August 30, 2007 at 08:38 PM
We've just been approved as a safe garden for a release back into the wild!!! Once DH has built a house & semi buried it & we've made an anti-cat feeding station our 'hedgepig' will be arriving. The rescue coordinator was initially worried about the Airedales but when she saw the very solid fence which keeps the dogs on the patio plus all the overgrown areas for him/her she was happy.
Posted by: blueadt | August 30, 2007 at 10:38 PM
It sounds like you're doing a brilliant job - and what a great experience for your children to be so close to a hedgehog!
Posted by: dottycookie | August 30, 2007 at 11:09 PM
He really is just the cutest!! I'm glad he's doing so well. I've got my fingers crossed that the other two ticks fall off very soon.
Posted by: Nikki | August 31, 2007 at 02:19 AM
OH! he is so darn cute! I love him! Those nasty ticks...oh I do hope that they come off soon...poor pet!
Posted by: Robyn | August 31, 2007 at 07:23 AM
We get paralysis ticks in Australia, which can be fatal very quickly. Bandicoots seem to have an immunity to them, I wonder if hedgehogs are similar? What we do is spray a little insecticide (flyspray) on the tick, wait a few seconds for it to back out, then grab with tweezers and squash. Also a dab of methylated spirits can have same effect.
Posted by: Kim Bunney | August 31, 2007 at 07:39 AM
We get paralysis ticks in Australia, which can be fatal very quickly. Bandicoots seem to have an immunity to them, I wonder if hedgehogs are similar? What we do is spray a little insecticide (flyspray) on the tick, wait a few seconds for it to back out, then grab with tweezers and squash. Also a dab of methylated spirits can have same effect.
Posted by: Kim Bunney | August 31, 2007 at 07:41 AM
Wow! That's some weight gain. You're obviously doing all the right things. Well done, and keep up the great work. And the lovely photos . . .
Posted by: Ebren | August 31, 2007 at 08:45 AM
superb julie, you are doing so well with him, i love him playing, awww !
Posted by: Catherine L Owen | August 31, 2007 at 09:39 AM
In The Netherlands we have a lot of ticks causing the disease of Lime. We learn not to paralsize them, but remove them with tweezers.
Posted by: Annelies | August 31, 2007 at 07:57 PM
I can't wait to show this to my students. We are studying city wildlife right now.
Posted by: Jane | September 01, 2007 at 01:29 AM
Aahh bless him, he's such a cutie playing with his toys, hope he continues growing and doing well with your wonderful help.
Alison x
Posted by: Alison | September 01, 2007 at 03:03 PM
Who knew a little rodent could be so adorable? ;-)
Have you all read _The Hat_ by Jan Brett? The kids might get a kick out of it.
Posted by: Gina | September 01, 2007 at 11:51 PM
I love your little hoglet. I hope he gets nice and fat - well 600gms.
Posted by: Sarah Jayne | September 03, 2007 at 07:20 PM
Just read your post about the hedgehog ticks. My mum has an old dog book from the 70s which suggests using neat alcohol on ticks or simply burning them off with the end of a cigarette. It doesn't hurt apparently and ensures that the whole thing is fully removed. Perhaps it would be worth a try!
Posted by: fliss | September 03, 2007 at 07:38 PM
Oh what a cutie! He is so happy that you found him! I wonder where he came from?
Posted by: AngelNicki | September 03, 2007 at 08:26 PM
He is so very cute! Is he soft?
Posted by: J.P. | September 03, 2007 at 09:55 PM
So glad to do he is doing well! Feel free to drop me a line if you have any more questions. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Jo | September 15, 2007 at 03:05 PM
So glad to do he is doing well! Feel free to drop me a line if you have any more questions. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Jo | September 15, 2007 at 03:05 PM