In this short video I'm going though one of the daily tasks at the sanctuary of rehabilitating wild hedgehogs. Cleaning out the rehabilitation hutches and weight checks is carried out daily. We clean rehabilitation hutches out in the morning and then feed the hedgehogs in the evenings.
Most of the hedgehogs will also be weighed to ensure their weight is going up. They will then be placed in to a temporary carrier while the cleaning process is being done. These are outside rehabilitation hutches and have new bedding put in them which is hay but straw is also fine. The hedgehogs usually are in the later stages of rehabilitation as in no open wounds or medication. We also have inside rehabilitation units that are in heated buildings and also sheds. We usually have at least 25+ hutches to clean each day but this number can go up to 80 at peak times of the year.
The hutch gets a proper clean out each week, this is a daily task for outside hutches. These are not sterile clean like the rehabilitation tubs (those are plastic tubs) that have hedgehogs with open wounds or serious illnesses in them. These hutches are for hedgehogs that have gone though medication or healed wounds. The hedgehogs are in these either for monitoring, weight gain, prior to release, or overwintering (hibernation). These hutches are cleaned out properly with washing up liquid and treated for mite/tick/flea once the hedgehog is released back in to the wild, and before another hedgehog uses the hutch. There is usually a one week window before the hutch is used again. I will do more videos on all the other types of rehabilitation units we use.
Hornbeam Wood Hedgehog Sanctuary (http://www.hwhs.org.uk)
Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hedgehogsanctuary)
Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HornbeamWood)
