Periodically, the female hedgehog will lick herself. As this happens, she will be fighting through transactions and trembling. The babies are inside an amniotic sac similar to human babies and their spines are covered by fluid-filled tissue that is there to protect the mother during birth. Due to the fluid-filled tissue, the baby hedgehogs can be born tail first or headfirst. As soon as the babies are safely out of the mom, she will immediately turn to eat the placenta and other birth membranes and start licking her babies clean.
The birthing process of a whole litter of hedgehogs can take a few minutes anywhere up to several hours. It has been reported it takes about two minutes per baby. The mother will then remain very close to her babies during the first 24 hours after their birth before leaving to forage.
Hedgehogs are usually born in litters of 3 or 4 to larger hedgehogs or 5 or 6 in smaller hedgehogs. When hedgehogs are born, they are born blind. They will have a protective, fluid-filled membrane covering their quills. This will dry and shrink over the course of a few hours. The babies are born with their spines underneath their skin, and they will look like little pimples.
After the babies have been cleaned by their mother, the spines will start to pass through the surface of their skin. At some point, the babies will shed their little spines and get adult spines in their place. Just like with any other birth, it can be expected for the mother to feel pain during the birthing process. Some mother hedgehogs can struggle with labor for several hours before delivering the babies.
The mothers will not be hurt by the spines of the babies, however, because they are under their skin and protected by fluid-filled tissue. Hedgehog litters can range anywhere between one to nine babies. It is most common to see the litters somewhere between three and six babies. Large hedgehog breeds will usually have 3 or 4 hedgehogs in their litter. Smaller hedgehogs will typically have 5 or 6. Some words that were previously used include kit, pup, and piglet.
Some other indications were just young or baby hedgehogs. In the early s the word hoglet was introduced. Sometimes the word hoglet is also referred to as hedgehoglet , but this is less common. However, since the introduction of this word, it has been adopted as the general use for a baby hedgehog. Cats are not a danger to hedgehogs generally. A well fed cat won't risk a spike on the nose from an angry mother hedgehog! The babies spines appear shortly after birth and they are well protected before they leave the nest.
Hi, we have a hedgehog that has moved in to a space inside a metal box in our garage. Hi Anne How exciting to have a hedgehog nesting in your garden! Don't worry about the heat, the mother will move her litter to a cooler location if needed. Hedghogs will often relocate a nest once or twice bfore the hoglets are ready to leave. Just keep feeding them and provide plenty of fresh water, you never know, you may even be the first to see the new family on their first foraging outing.
Your email address will not be published. By clicking subscribe you agree to receive free emails from Ark Wildlife. You can amend your preferences or unsubscribe at any time. Search Search. Tags: Hedgehogs Mammals.
You can open and save the Hedgehog Calendar here. Related Product Categories Hedgehog Food. Hedgehog Houses. Wendy says:. Ark Wildlife says:. Juliette Pearce says:. Alison C says:. Hayley Ryall says:. Shelley Noyce says:. Jan Jackson says:. Grandad Garrish says:. The nursery nest is similar to the hibernaculum where hedgehogs spend the winter. Where leaves are the primary building material for a hibernaculum, a nursery nest is made of all sorts of bits the hog picks up including paper and bits of rubbish.
When the female gives birth she will usually produce a litter of 4 or 5 hoglets. Bigger litters do happen, but having a bigger litter seems to reduce the individual hoglets chances of making it to adulthood. When baby hedgehogs are born, they are tiny, just 25 grams or one ounce in weight. They are born blind. No spines are visible when they are born — which is when you think about it is probably a very good thing for the mother. The new-born hogs are covered in greyish skin over a layer of liquid, a bit like a water blister.
This skin serves to protect the mother during birth and quickly retracts as the hoglets grow. Baby Hedgehogs are only with their mother for around six weeks, and in this time they must develop from tiny, blind, spineless infants into independent young hogs. During the first few hours after birth, the hoglets covering of skin retracts to reveal pure white spines, about of them, with a centre parting. Over the next few weeks the brown spines we are more used to seeing grow up through the white ones.
As more and more brown spines grow, the white ones become almost invisible and will eventually be lost through moulting. Baby hedgehogs feed on mothers milk, just like humans. The mother has two sets of five nipples. This would allow her to feed a huge litter of 10 in theory. In practice, though, she is unlikely to have enough milk to feed more than 4 or 5 hoglets properly.
The babies will start to eat solids at around three weeks. Mum will generally chew up bits of food and offer them to the hoglets in small, softened portions. Hoglets are born with milk teeth, just like humans. They will start to get their first adult teeth at three weeks old and lose their final milk teeth at around three months. Baby hedgehogs are born a pale pink colour, and over the first few weeks of life, fur grows, and the skin gradually darkens as the brown spines come through.
By four weeks old the hoglets will look just like miniature hedgehogs and will be ready to leave the nest with Mum to go on foraging trips. These first trips out of the nest are one of the most perilous times for hoglets. Hoglets typically spend just two or three weeks out and about with Mother before going off on their own. Once the hoglets have gone their separate ways, the female must concentrate on eating to get her strength back up.
Over the past ten weeks, she will have produced more than a kilo of hedgehogs. Hoglets are not sexually mature in their first year of life, so they will not mate until after hibernation. The mother though may go on to produce a second little in late summer or early autumn. The babies she has then will become Autumn Juveniles, some of our most vulnerable hedgehogs. It is thought that only half of all hoglets born make it to adulthood, with one in five not even making it out of the nest.
If you find a baby hedgehog out on its own, you will need to get it to your local hedgehog rescue. If you see one wandering hoglet, it will be worth having a look round for others. If the mother has been killed, there may be several who need your help. Line a cardboard box with a towel. Put in a hot water bottle, or a plastic bottle filled with warm water wrapped in another towel.
Place the hoglet inside. Intensive farming, the destruction of hedgerows and the use of pesticides have led to a considerable drop in hedgehog numbers.
But birth is just the start of a very challenging few weeks and months for the baby hog. It will face many dangers before reaching adulthood. Luckily you can help by providing food and shelter, making our gardens safe and looking out for babies in trouble. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Hedgehog Street. And if you spot a hedgehog in trouble, you can find your local hedgehog rescue project by clicking here. And if you have more questions on this topic we would love to hear from you, leave us a comment below.
I have had a hedgehog in my hedgehog house for several weeks now. I usually put a small dish of hedgehog food just inside the house which was eaten each night,lately most of the food is left. Yesterday around lunch time I saw the hog running of down the garden. Hi Grace. Yes it could have young. In this case you need to steer clear of the house for a new weeks. They do not like to be disturbed with young. Let us know if you have any developments! Hi Ann, stay away from the box once there are hogs in it.
You can see if hogs are in residence by placing straw or a flower by the door and see if it gets disturbed. Yet you say to leave food away, which is correct but did confuse me. The nest to me looks like a nursing nest or hibernation nest but it is too early for hibernating. The nest has twigs, dried grass, broken plants, bits of plastic wrappers that it has found somewhere. We have mum and 4 hoglets running around our garden.
We feed them cat food and cat biscuits and always water they are delightful julie. Hi Clare,we had a hedghog and 5 babies back in may,we had to take them to a hedghog hospital,we just found out we getting them back today,do we put them back were they were born please.
HI Sandy, I hope the release went well. Yes they should go back where they came from so long as it is a suitable site. Away from busy roads, plenty of cover and food sources etc.
Keep us posted on how they do! Good Luck Clare. The RSPB sell a device which works on some cats! Have a look on their website for cat watch deterrent. I am not sure if they could hurt a hog. Maybe someone can comment. How privileged are we? Cats are likely to come off worse in an encounter with hedgehogs. They could do damage to babies, but not very likely. Early this Sunday morning a busy hedgehog building a nest in our garden. Small mound of leaves and twigs in an Igloo shape when I looked yesterday.
Could this suggest a late litter is imminent; Any advice for a late August litter? I have a little video of it but not sure I can insert here. Hi Rosemary, Yes it does indeed suggest a late litter on the way. Hoglets born in the next month or so are very likely to need some support to get them through hibernation. Best Clare. Hi Lynda, You basically need to make a tunnel or baffle at the doorway to your feeding station. Most of the good ready made ones will have an internal partition or tunnel.
I have had at least 3 hedgehogs in my garden this year. During April there were 2 hogs in the box for several days one much larger than the other ending with a lot of chasing and huffing and puffing I presume they were mating. And now the smaller hog has absolutely stuffed the box with plant leaves and hay. I do hope she is preparing to have young. How can I tell without disturbing her. Hi Barbara, It all sounds very hopeful! You just need to be patient.
The commotion attracts rival males to the scene and courtship can thus be interrupted as interlopers are confronted and rival males square up to one another; head-butting and chases are not uncommon. The actual process of mating is a delicate operation. The female adopts a special body position with her spines flattened as the male mounts from behind.
Radio-tracking studies have shown hedgehogs are promiscuous. Both males and females often have several different mates in a single season.
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