Thorne Hedgehog Rescue C.I.C

31/05/2026

Several new patients admitted today.

This male came via a local vet practice along with 2 other hedgehogs. All seen out in the daytime, including one suffering with a rear leg fracture.

Over 100 ticks have already been removed from this with at least that many more to go. He's had enough for the night so we will resume again in the morning.

More than 10 to 15 ticks on an adult hedgehog, or 5 to 10 on a juvenile, especially if seen clustered around the eyes and/or ears, is an indication that there is an underlying issue such as internal parasites. His feacal sample will be screened under the microscope and any parasites identified will receive targeted treatment.

Please help us to help every hedgehog that we admit by donating a regular £1 a month. Every penny adds up and really makes a difference for us and our patients here at the rescue 🙏🦔❤️

Thorne hedgehog rescue
Account number: 00458442
Sort Code: 82-61-37

PayPal; [email protected]

31/05/2026

Here is how we saved him 🥹
And how YOU can help 🫵

First, here is what was wrong:
🚩 Bear was found out in the day (OID)
🚩 Lethargic and surrounded by flies
🚩 He had an abnormally large amount of external parasites visible to the finder!
🚩 Diagnosed with pneumonia

Once Bear was at Thorne Hedgehog Rescue C.I.C here is what Lisa & the team did:
💚 remove all external parasites
💚 give recovery mousse
💚 give probiotics & manuka
💚 he was nebulised to help treat the pneumonia
💚 Bear was put on a variety of vet prescribed medication, including antibiotics.
💚 he was weighed daily for the first 2 weeks (his critical period) and then every few days from there after
💚 he spent the first 2 weeks in the ICU then was moved to the main hospital & rehab unit
💚 he wad diagnosed as blind. From this, appropriate measures were put in place for his 'release'

Where is Bear now?

As Bear is BLIND, he was released into a secure garden that could meet his specific needs.
He now lives with several other blind male hedgehogs and loves the company. He finds their presence reassuring as he learns to navigate the world all over again. Bear is settled, happy and healthy.

How can you help save hedgehogs like Bear?

🦔 it is FREE to support us! LIKE, SHARE, COMMENT & INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN OUR PAGE 🙏 this is so so helpful and vital to our work!

🦔 He had a 53 day stay at Thorne's Hospital costing approx. = £251.75
If you would like to donate towards his care, please do so via:

Thorne hedgehog rescue
Account number: 00458442
Sort Code: 82-61-37

PayPal; [email protected]

🦔 a direct debit of £1 a month would be life changing for so many hoggies. If you can spare £1 a month this would be AMAZING and help us with care and expanding so we can save more lives ❤️

30/05/2026

A quick update video of the flystrike hoglets I posted about yesterday!

All 4 survivors enjoying their puppy mousse/formula buffet!

*They are not drinking milk as hedgehogs are lactose intolerant. This is a specialist formula milk*

Can you help us to help more hedgehogs like this? Please consider donating £1 a month, every penny of which goes to rescue and rehabilitation costs 🙏❤️🦔

Thorne hedgehog rescue
Account number: 00458442
Sort Code: 82-61-37

PayPal; [email protected]

30/05/2026

This little hedgehog arrived today after being spotted wandering around looking a bit sparse on the old prickles!

Now called Potato, he has had his first medicated bath to treat the mites that have caused such severe spine loss and been started on medication.

It will take many more bath treatments to help this little lad and many more weeks for his spines to regrow but we will have him back to full coverage as soon as we can. He will soon be roaming with his crowning glory restored and ready to meet some ladies 😁

Can you help us continue to help over 1200 hedgehogs every year? £1 a month would make the world of difference to us! All funds go directly to helping rescue and rehabiliate our wild hedgehogs, as we are entirely volunteer led with no paid staff 🙏🦔❤️

Thorne hedgehog rescue
Account number: 00458442
Sort Code: 82-61-37

PayPal; [email protected]

29/05/2026

UPDATE: video of the flystrike hoglets 24 hours later..
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BDr5w6jYz/

A very late night last night after 6 hoglets arrived covered in flystrike and ice cold. They had been seen wandering around all day but no-one realised that lone hoglets this size, wandering around and squeaking, is an emergency.

It's always a dilemma when hoglets arrive very cold but flystrike is present. I always use a heat pad to warm them while I work to remove the fly eggs but the heat can speed up the hatching of maggots. However, hypothermia will probably be fatal before any newly hatched maggots can cause any damage and I am actively working to remove them at the same time.

These poor babies had fly eggs in their ears, eyes, noses, mouth, all over them. One had passed away already, one died overnight but the remaining 4 are doing well, eating, pooping and squeaking!

If you see any hedgehog out in the daytime sunbathing, wandering and/or with flies buzzing around, or any young hoglets, their time is very limited. Please contact your local rescue for advice immediately 🙏🦔❤️

Many, many thanks to the finder for staying to help remove flystrike and to our volunteer Susie for answering a late night call to come and help clean up these babies. I dread to think how long it would have taken me by myself!

27/05/2026

I'm currently hand rearing 21 hoglets, including these 6 newborns whose mum was accidentally disturbed and ran off shortly after giving birth. They arrived very cold and still, but are now warming up and moving around. I will attempt a feed once they reach a good temperature.

Feeds are hourly for newborns and poorly babies, some are being fed 2 hourly and others every 3 hours.

I am also hand rearing 19 baby birds including swallows, great t**s, blue t**s, wrens, starlings, sparrows, jackdaws and magpies.

We have nearly 120 hedgehogs at the rescue as it's too hot to release those ready to go and on top of this we are admitting up to 10 hedgehog casualties a day. Most are severely dehydrated, injured and/or carrying heavy parasite burdens with many suffering from flystrike and maggot infestations as a result.of the heat.

We need your help to continue admitting patients as food costs, vet feeds, medications and consumables are at an all time high.

We genuinely mean it when we say that every single £1 makes such a huge difference. We are entirely volunteer led and every penny goes directly towards our patients' rescue and rehabilitation.

Can you afford £1 a month as a regular donation? If so, please consider helping us 🙏❤️🦔

Thorne hedgehog rescue
Account number: 00458442
Sort Code: 82-61-37

PayPal; [email protected]

21/05/2026

We've been called to a new build estate, still under construction, in Maidstone this morning.

A delivery driver heard screaming and scratching and located the noise coming from a pipe in the ground. It was too deep to reach him so we travelled up to try and get him out.

It took some time but we eventually managed to extract him by hooking a snare wire around his body and gently pulled him out.

He is covered in damp mud and dirt but he's a lucky hedgehog albeit dehydrated from being stuck for an unknown amount of time. Had it rained recently, he would have drowned.

The new estate is incorporating hedgehog highways into the development, which is wonderful, but failing to protect wildlife from this sort of thing while its being built is a failure which is so easy to address.

Deep drainage holes, downpipe drains, trenches, need to be covered, not just while building is ongoing but when companies are excavating as well, or at least provide an escape ramp. This isn't the first incident we have had and the amount of unknown deaths from this type of preventable accident doesn't bear thinking about.

Thank you so much for the contactor driver for taking the time to find this little guy, get him help and staying with us to help with the rescue.

16/05/2026

Not all of our residents are spikey - most are, but not all 🦔

These 2 feathered residents are just a few of the many weird and wonderful creatures we have been treating this week 🥰

Miss B, the black bird, is being treated for eye ulcers & a cough. Her eyes appear a cloudy white - this is the ulcers you can see! Thankfully, this is improving with the medication prescribed by our wonderful vet. Also, having a care plan tailored to her specific needs helps ensure she is on the mend. Miss B is such a little character 🪶

Secondly, a tawny owl was admitted to Thorne Hedgehog Rescue C.I.C with suspected poisoning. Many people do not intend to poison owls but their prey, mice or rats. However, once the poison is in their food chain in affects the owls too.

Make sure to follow for updates on our patients. Following, liking and commenting are all amazing ways of supporting us 🦔♥️ Thank you 😊

15/05/2026

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14/05/2026

A finder has just been advised by a national organisation to release a hedgehog found running around in the road in the daytime. They did. And it was straight back out in the road again. Thank goodness they called for a specialist rescue for advice and it is now on the way to a rescue.

Any hedgehog out in the daytime is potentially life threateningly ill. Yes, pregnant and nursing mums CAN be seen out in daytime gathering nesting materials or having a quick bite to eat and a drink of water. BUT they move with very definite, focused purpose and a few simple questions can determine if that is the case. Worst case scenario, they have a quick check over at a rescue and it's easy to see if her ni***es are enlarged or she is nursing and she can be sent straight home to her hoglets.

We have had calls from people that have been given terrible advice from people online, other organisations and even vets. Some are great, but sadly, many are not. If something doesn't feel right, double check. Often finders feel that something is wrong but don't know why. That's an instinct that is often absolutely spot on and if they hadn't called elsewhere those hedgehogs will have died long, slow, painful deaths if left.

Please, please contact a hedgehog rescue for advice regarding any hedgehog out in the daytime. I guarantee that you can call any rescue in the country from wherever you are and we will be happy to help you and help you locate your nearest rescue if needed. If the advice you get dosnt feel right, call another rescue and check. An extra phone call may make all the difference.

We aren't in the business of bringing in hedgehogs that don't need rescue and don't bring them in without good reason.

Photo is of a hedgehog seen out in the daytime whose abscess could not be seen without assessment. It was his behaviour and movement that indicated a problem. It has been drained and he is receiving pain relief and antibiotics.