Yes, you can pick up a hedgehog by scooping it gently from underneath with flat hands to avoid its spines, allowing it to uncurl, or by using a towel/snuggle sack for comfort and safety, especially with unfamiliar or scared hedgehogs, as they can carry diseases like ringworm. It's best to approach from the side, not from above, and handle them regularly for bonding and confidence, even wearing gloves if needed to protect yourself from bites or potential disease transmission.
However, you should try to use gloves when handling a hedgehog for your own health and safety. Hedgehogs can bite you, but very rarely will that happen. This usually happens when they are young and think your fingers are going to feed them (if they have been fed via a syringe as they had no mother).
If you have found a hedgehog you are concerned about please use gardening gloves or a folded towel to collect it up, bring it indoors and put it in a high-sided box with an old towel or fleece in the bottom for the hedgehog to hide under.
Don't handle the hedgehog for longer than you need to, as contact with humans will be stressful for them. And always wear gloves, as they can carry diseases like ringworm and salmonella bacteria, which can be passed to humans.
Although hedgehogs do bite, their tiny teeth are unlikely to cause you very much pain. The force of a hedgehog bite is typically linked to what your pet is feeling. An angry hedgehog could cause a bite that hurts a bit.
You can use either your bare hands or a towel. I suggest using a towel because hedgie's quills will be directly on your hand. Gently pick him up from his back like Step 2. Then flip him over so his face is up towards you.
Salmonellosis is the most often described zoonotic bacterial disease in hedgehogs. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) is one of the most common types of Salmonella that cause infections in humans and animals [47]. Salmonella was detected in samples from both pet and wild hedgehogs [47,62,63].
Certainly picking up a hedgehog doesn't hurt nearly as bad as getting a shot, but the spines are sharp and they are going to prick you to some degree. How you handle your hedgehog will determine how much they prick you. Compare picking up a hedgehog to a nurse giving you a shot.
Hedgehogs are Prickly!
When scared or angry they will roll up in a ball making their quills poke in every which way. This can take some getting used to for a new handler. There are many ways to help your hedgehog and yourself get used to one another, so don't be discouraged.
Hedgehogs have prickly quills along their back to protect them from predators. They are shy animals and will roll up into a tight ball and hide their face if they are frightened. Always approach a hedgehog slowly and handle them with a small towel so you don't prick yourself on one of their quills.
Find yourself a pair of gardening gloves before gently scooping up the hedgehog into the box. Keep the box in a quiet, warm place: a hot water bottle filled with hot tap water wrapped in a towel can provide a gentle heat source – make sure it doesn't go cold!
It will likely do so again. Dogs with a strong prey drive are a particular concern. If your dog does pick up a hedgehog , it is always best to get the hedgehog checked over by a rescue, particularly if you see any blood on the dog or hedgehog.
The next most common UK species is Ixodes hexagonus opens in a new window, the hedgehog tick, which bites many of the same animals attacked by Ixodes ricinus, including cats, dogs and humans.
Hedgehogs are active during the night, so the best time to put out food is just after dusk, when they are starting to search for food. The Autumn and Winter months are the most important for them to find food to put on enough weight before hibernation, so always make sure you put out food at this time of year.
No! Please don't do this. It's great that you want to encourage hedgehogs into your garden, but taking one from an area where it knows food and water sources to an unknown area isn't fair. More worryingly, it could have dependent young in a nest – without its return, the nest will fail and the young won't survive.
Hedgehogs may bite as a way to communicate if they are tired, stressed, or uncomfortable. Hedgehogs that are quilling may bite because they are uncomfortable. Some hedgehogs don't like nail polish and will bite polished nails but they will stop biting when the polish is removed.
What do hedgehogs eat?
Risk to human health
One of the lungworm species that infects hedgehogs (and also infects wild carnivores) in Great Britain, Capillaria aerophila, is known to be capable of occasionally infecting people.
During extreme muscle exertion, the 'purse-string' muscle can fold up over the pelvis and get stuck: the pop-off syndrome (Bexton, 2019). The muscle goes into a spasm, which leaves the hedgehog unable to roll up and causes the pelvis and hind legs to remain visible. This is very dangerous for the animal.
Salmonellosis is a recognised zoonotic disease (i.e. it can be transmitted from animals to people). Many species of Salmonella bacteria exist, some of which can be carried by, or cause ill health in, hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus).
Cute and low maintenance, African pygmy hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris) are kept in 40 000 American homes, but people handling them are at risk of contracting a number of zoonotic diseases, from ringworm and salmonellosis (the commonest) to arboviral encephalitis and herpesvirus infections.
Even though hedgehogs are “pets” they may not automatically enjoy being petted. You must first earn your hedgehog's trust so that it can relax and enjoy your touch, rather than fear your touch as potential harm.
Making Friends With a Hedgehog