If you have found a hedgehog you are concerned about please use gardening gloves or a folded towel to pick it up. Bring it indoors and try to check it for any signs of fly strike (fly eggs) which will look like small, white grains of rice (usually around the face, ears and/or genitals). Put the hedgehog in a high-sided box with an old towel or fleece in the bottom for the hedgehog to hide under.

If there were not signs of fly strike (little white grains of rice): Fill a hot water bottle so that when it is wrapped in a towel there is a nice gentle heat coming through and put that in the bottom of the box with the hedgehog, ensuring it has room to get off the bottle should it get too warm. Make sure the bottle is always kept warm (if allowed to go cold it will chill the hedgehog and do more harm than good). During particularly hot weather providing heat may not be necessary.

If there are signs of fly strike (little white grains of rice): Please omit the previous step and DO NOT put any heat in with the hedgehog.

Put the box somewhere quiet.

Offer fresh water (no food please) then call a rescue as soon as possible. If you are in a TS postcode, you can contact us direct on 07871 34 53 09. If you are located outside the TS postcode area, please go to our Find a Rescue area (coming soon).

Please note that we are all volunteers and calls may not be answered after 9pm, as we do have jobs and family commitments. Where possible please try to drop hedgehogs off with us, as (no matter how much we would love to) we don’t always have time and resources to collect.

In the meantime, keep the hedgehog safe indoors as described above. It should be seen by an experienced rehabilitator as soon as possible, but if it is in obvious pain or in need of urgent help, please take it to a local vet immediately.