Yes, you should put bedding inside a hedgehog house, but use the right materials like ** dry leaves** or ** dust-extracted barley straw** to give them a head start, and never put food or water inside; instead, place those in a separate, cat-proof feeding station nearby to avoid attracting predators or rival hedgehogs to the nesting/hibernating spot.
Whether you make your own or buy one, fill the chamber of your hedgehog home with a layer of dead, dry leaves. Hedgehogs prefer small leaves such as birch, oak, hawthorn or hazel. Then screw the roof to the box so that you can remove it in future to clean the box out.
Placing natural materials like leaves, dry grass, straw or hay in it will make it feel more natural for the hog. It certainly seems to encourage hogs to move into hedgehog houses. The hedgehog may well pull all of your bedding out and either rearrange it or replace it with her own.
Hedgehogs will not usually eat and sleep in the same place so it's best not to offer food inside the home (except perhaps to tempt them in initially).
Provide your hedgehog with at least 3–4 inches deep of high-quality paper bedding or crumbled paper. Hedgehogs like to burrow so the more bedding the better for them. Recycled paper bedding and towels or blankets are often used inside the enclosure.
Only solid bottom cages are suitable for hedgehogs, any wire bottom cages could trap their legs or rip off toenails. Provide a soft bedding free of dust, such as recycled paper pellets or if you use wood shavings use only kiln dried pine or aspen. Do not use cedar shavings as they could irritate your hedgehog's lungs.
Supplementary food can attract predators, so we don't advise putting food inside of hedgehog homes. Instead, we recommend leaving food at least a couple of metres away from the hedgehog house. Put the food in a shallow dish and place in a sheltered area of your garden, or a feeding station (see below), around sunset.
Hedgehogs will make their own nests from materials in the surrounding environment so the best thing to do is ensure there are plenty of leaves near to the box. You can also put bedding inside the box to give them a head start, such as leaves, straw or hay.
It's a good idea to put out food for hedgehogs all year round. In spring, it will be a boost for those emerging from hibernation, while in late summer and autumn it will help them build up those all-important fat reserves to survive the colder months.
Not all hedgehogs have fleas; many of those rescued have none. However, hedgehogs do not NEED their fleas to survive, that's an old wives' tale.
Does the hedgehog house need a base? You can decide whether to build your hedgehog shelter with a base or open at the bottom. The priority is to keep the hedgehog and filler material dry throughout winter – so if you opt for an open floor, don't place the house in a ditch or on low, damp ground.
Acceptable bedding materials include shredded paper, newspaper, recycled pelleted/absorbable material, and wood shavings, such as aspen or untreated pine. Avoid corncob bedding as it tends to grow mold when wet.
Overall, dust-free barley straw is favored by rescues because it offers a combination of respiratory health benefits, absorbency, comfort, and availability, making it a suitable bedding choice for hedgehogs in need of rescue or rehabilitation.
This decline is partly due to a loss of natural habitat, which provides both shelter and food for hedgehogs. Fencing, pesticides, garden hazards (like ponds, strimmers and netting) and development and construction also have an impact. And of course, cars are a major threat to hedgehogs, killing thousands each year.
Hedgehogs are solitary animals in the wild, so they may be shy and wary of people. Building trust with a pet hedgehog takes time, patience, and a gentle approach. If you get a hedgehog when it's young and slowly acclimate it to being handled, they can be playful, but they may never become cuddly.
81% of survey respondents found that hedgehogs used their artificial houses for summer day nesting. 59% reported use for hibernation. And crucially, 28% confirmed usage for breeding.
Avoid lettuce and celery, which are low in nutritional value. Do not feed avocados, as they are toxic to your hedgehog. Do not feed raw meats or raw eggs to your hedgehog. Hedgehogs are not able to digest milk.
Hedgehogs typically hibernate from autumn to spring (October - March), but this can vary depending on the temperature and food available.
If your hedgehogs come to feed regularly in the early evening (which many do) think about putting out the food as they arrive and staying to watch them feed. Hedgehogs won't mind a quiet human but rats will be much less keen. Then clean up when the hogs are finished. Try cat food.
Signs of stress
Many hedgehogs are busy and want to try to explore but a stressed hedgehog will be much more persistent and not easily distracted. The stressed hedgehog may also twitch or shake its head nervously. It is almost as if the hedgehog is saying “Sensory overload. I can't take it anymore.”
Provide some fruits, such as apples, plums or pears, and nuts, such as unsalted peanuts or brazils. Leave out root vegetables like carrots, along with some cooked potato. If food isn't eaten overnight, remove anything that will go off and replace it with fresh offerings in the evening.
Unfortunately you cannot be sure that rats won't use the hog boxes. The first occupant in my first hog box was, sadly, a rat. It didn't manage to stay there long – I moved the box after giving it a good clean and sterilise with boiling water.
Be patient, some hedgehogs will visit the same gardens every night whilst others, especially males will roam further. So there will be some occasions when no Hedgehogs visit.
Cover your box with plastic sheeting, soil, or twigs for camouflage and added insulation. Fill it two-thirds full with dry leaves, hay, or newspaper strips, don't pack too tightly so the hedgehog can nest.
Make sure that these foods contain almost exclusively meat and, above all, no flour. Hedgehogs also eat minced meat, boiled eggs or scrambled eggs. In any case, avoid seasoning these foods. You can also feed oatmeal and bran.