How long hedgehogs are pregnant

This is the perfect time to start putting out supplementary food and water as they will be extremely thirsty and hungry. Most hedgehogs will be active and building up the body fat lost over the winter.

And so begins the mating season. Keep an ear out for loud snuffling and grunting noises at night, it may be hedgehogs mating! Baby sits in middle of food whilst mum makes grunting sounds around the offspring is the grunting normal? Hi Jan Hedgehogs are one of the noisiest animals for their size! Snuffling, grunting and even screaming at times. The police have been called out more than once, only to find an amorous hedgehog at the scene rather than some terrible offence being committed!

I have up to three hedghogs in my garden. I have been feeding them on hedghog food for a few months now. The first one arrives at dusk, and starts feeding. The second arrives about an hour later, stays for about an hour and disappears.

By using a wildlife camera I can follow them as they feed. Just occasionally all three are present and feeding for a few minutes. They do not feed constantly, but pop out of a hedge, feed, and return to the hedge.

Interestingly the two i see regularly use a different part of the hedge. My garden is also invaded by cats at various times of the night, but I rarely see hadghogs and cats at the same time. Would cats eat baby hoglets? Living near the coast seagulls have started to eat any residual food in the mornings. Hi Gandad How lovely to have and see three regular hedgehogs visiting. 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 Your email address will not be published. She will strut with purpose, with direct routes, and be very active.

I often hear a juddering sound from mother hedgehogs as if she is in search of something, this sound might be an indication of a mother hedgehog however, other hedgehogs could also make this noise. The mother hedgehog with her baby hoglets:. A litter of hoglets can be anywhere from a couple to 10 or more.

The mother hedgehog only has 5 pairs of nipples though! The mother hedgehog will initially clean the baby hoglets when they are born often with their cords still attached to the hoglets.

She will lick them clean all through their parenting. When she is feeding the hoglets she lays on her side and once the hoglets have been fed she will lick their genitals to stimulate their bowl movement and cleaning up excess urine, this process may happen just before feeding or just after.

She will also lay belly down flat and legs slightly out to try to stop the hoglets irritating her for feeding when she has had enough. The hoglets will do anything they can to feed from the mother and will burrow under her for feeding. The mother hedgehog will push and even pickup the hoglets with her mouth to move them if they venture too far or manage to escape from the nest.

Baby hoglets will sequel when they need food or are seeking the mothers attention. When the mother is not in the nest with her hoglets they will pile on top of each other for heat. Baby hoglets cannot generate their own body heat and require the warmth of their mother for the first 30 days or so. Stages in a hoglets development:. The mother hedgehog normally gives birth during the night time and the time can be from minutes to hours.

Often the hoglets are not all born within the same day and their may be more hoglets born shortly after. When baby hoglets are born, they are blind with their eyes closed, deaf with no ears developed yet unfolded , and completely pink skinned with no spines.

They are about cm in length and weight anywhere from 10 to 30 grams. Probably one of the best methods is to weigh her every few days, and watch for a weight gain. Obviously, this goes part and parcel with an increase in appetite.

Next, if you are very careful and gentle, you can palpate her abdomen, and you may be able to feel the babies as she gets closer to the birthing date. Achieving good results with this is very difficult, even for experienced breeders, so don't be dismayed if you can't tell anything from it. Another sign to watch out for is that her teats or nipples which run in two rows along the sides of her tummy, will become more enlarged, and more obvious.

As time gets closer to the birth, typically within about the last week, there are a few more signs. One of these to look for is the odor from her urine often becomes noticeably stronger. She may also exhibit signs of nesting where she may make piles of bedding material, or even block up her den entrance. She will also likely lose appetite in the day or so prior to the babies being born. In spite of these signs, it's easy to be wrong in thinking she may be pregnant when she is not, or that she is not pregnant when she is.

Trust me! Speaking of the due date, the gestation period for hedgehogs is approximately 35 days. I have heard of births happening from about 33 days through to about 42, so the 35 is not absolute. Most will be within the day range, however. This generally brings us to the end of the actual breeding topic. We will add a few further comments, here, as they relate to the mother, and health issues:.

After the birth, mom's appetite will likely skyrocket. Give her all the high-quality food she wants. This is not a time for diets, as she is trying to produce enough milk for her hungry hoglets. She will also go through a lot more fresh water than normal.

Just be careful about disturbances as you go into her cage to feed or water her. If mom appears overly exhausted, or wobbly, extra vitamins or supplements, such as KMR Kitten Milk Replacement may help. Also treats not too much of cottage cheese or sour cream may help keep her calcium levels up, as she produces large quantities of hedgehog milk. The good news is that there really isn't much for you to do - it's largely a case of mom knows best.

Following the birth, keep an eye on the mother for possible complications. If you think this might be the case, get her to a veterinarian, quickly - especially if she lost her babies and is acting like this. There is much a vet can do to help in a situation like this, but it is imperative that you get her there quickly. The longer the problem exists, the greater the likelihood that you will lose the mother in addition to the babies.

Of course the ideal situation is to leave the babies with their mother as her milk will provide not only the proper balance of nutrients, protein and fats, but also necessary antibodies to help the babies fight a world of germs in infections. Now there are good mothers and bad mothers in this world but sadly it's impossible to know what you have until the first litter arrives.