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On my daily walk, this little friend was laying on his dead mother (killed by a car, it was awful 
)
It was able to walk a bit around when I came back with a box, it is Sunday tomorrow so all vets or refuges are closed. Any tips? I gave a little bit of water next to it.
Milk is a no because these guys are lactose-intolerant like others here have said and it would result in diarhhea.
If you do cat food and it's dry, do soak it first because the little guy can eat so much that it swells in its tummy with bad results. Wet cat food is fine.
Worms and stuff it would eat out in the wild are also fine.
The best drink for it is water. If it seems low in energy or dehydrated you can mix some honey in the water or mix 1 teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt per 1dl of water to hydrate it. If it looks like it can't or doesn't drink, you can try using a syringe to get water to its mouth in very small amounts.
If it weights 150-350grams it's reached the age when it can be weaned from the mother
If you can, you should check that it doesn't have any fly eggs or worms in its coat. If you see any, you should remove them with tweezers.
If you want to make it more comfy, you can put it in a cardboard box with air holes, some soft cloth and shreaded newspaper inside so it can hide and feel safer. If it's very tiny, a heating mat might be needed.
One thing to note for your own safety is that hedgehogs often carry salmonella and they spread it in their poop (its asympomatic for them). So the water cup and utensils, gloves and other things you use to handle it should not be washed in the same sink or with the same washcloths you use for your food. Always wear gloves and wash your hands well after dealing with it.
Thank you for saving the little guy!
Edit. Adding that if it is so small that you suspect it can't eat solids, the baby formula for cats can be given to hegdehogs.
And not to alarm you, but just want you to know that these guys can take a turn for the worst very fast when they are small so hydration and warmth are very important. Flies lay eggs in hedgehogs very fast when they are in any sort of trouble so doing the fly egg/worm check is super important.
Best of luck to you and the little one. Hope you can get it to a shelter quickly.
I'm genuinely curious, how do you learn stuff like this? I'm terrified of the day that I find an animal in need like this and I just do all the wrong things ๐ณ
Stuff like this is related to my never-ending
interests. I am also old and grew up in the countryside.
This hedgehog rescue stuff especially is also something that has been pretty widely distributed and discussed in the media where I live, because these guys so often come live in peoples backyards and there used to be a lot of misinfo for example about giving them milk (which was bad) or taking in small alone looking individuals that look like they are alone, but are actually fine and just out for their first adventures from mom. Their behaviour typically is a tell on if something is really wrong or if you should just let them be. We make winter nests for them and stuff these days. They used to be so common when I was a kid and now they are so rare that you rarely see any. It's a protected species here.
There are websites and experts we can call for advice about wild animals, if this ever happens to you, I hope there is something similar where you are so you can get help. Common sense often gets you pretty far too.
Yeah that's kind of what I'm worst at, I was kinda hoping for books since I can read them in bed
Me too, but what else can you do? It was either try my best or leave it out in the scorching sun
Thanks for the tips, I'm doing my best and really hope it will work out.
You are doing awesome with it!
