A note on recommended weights for hedgehogs at this time of year: Dawn Scott at Brighton Uni has done a study that shows that those hogs released during the winter (all good weights with rounded ends) actually do better if theyre released during the winter rather than being kept inside until spring. She said shed send me a copy of her paper once its been published - then Ill know more. The 650g is the minimum weight that I recommended as a pre-hibernation weight (assuming a rounded end) is based on analysing data from hedgehogs that came into me over a period of years (I published the paper). I got so tired of people saying that a hedgehog could survive the winter weighing just 450g - when I was seeing emaciated animals coming in at this weight that clearly only looked healthy when they weighed 800g or so. No-one had been considering that weight per se is not enough - it needs to be linked to size. At the moment I am only releasing hedgehogs that I have treated, that weigh around 800g - this is because if they go back at 650g and then lose some weight it will take them under the 650g that I recommend. I notice that everyone else is doing this too which is brilliant.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 23:04:43 +0000
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