In terms of water,
Filtered water is preferred. Most owners choose to offer water through a sipper bottle hung in the cage. If using a sipper bottle, ensure that your hedgehog will drink from it.
Water Bowls
Baby hedgehogs or hedgehogs that have difficulty using a bottle may do better with a water bowl. Some hedgehog owners prefer using glass or stainless steel bowls for drinking. Water bowls will need to be checked frequently to make sure they are clean and full.
The animal charity says all you need to do is leave a shallow bowl of water in your garden for the prickly creatures to drink from. It could help save their lives.
A full-grown hedgehog should be drinking 25-40 milliliters (1.5 -2.5 tablespoons) of water each day. Young hedgehogs drink far water more daily, owners have measured as much as 60 milliliters (4 tablespoons) in a single night. Extremely active hogs may drink even more than this.
The average hedgehog will be able to quickly and easily make the switch from using a traditional bowl to a bottle. It is best to keep a bowl with water in the cage until you see your hedgehog successfully drinking from the bottle, we don't want them getting dehydrated during their learning curve!
Oralade GI Support is suitable for oral rehydration in many wildlife species, including hedgehogs. The suggested maintenance dose is 50ml per kg per 24hrs, and additional quantities will be needed to correct a hydration deficit.
How Can You Help? Even those with the smallest garden can help keep a hedgehog hydrated! Just place a bowl or saucer of fresh water out every evening to be visited by thirsty hedgehogs. It's also a good idea to put out some wet cat or dog food to compensate for the lack of natural food available.
Things you can look out for are: Does its skin spring back when you pull up a couple of spines? If the skin appears to stay in place, the hedgehog could be dehydrated. Ensure the hedgehog has access to plenty of water if you suspect dehydration.
Hedgehogs should be bathed in warm water for their comfort. The water should be warm to the touch without being scalding.
Hedgehogs will drink water from natural sources such as puddles, but leaving out a shallow dish of fresh, plain water is the best way to ensure they stay hydrated all year round.
Many hedgehogs love to play in warm water and will enjoy themselves during bath time. We prefer to give hedgehogs a bath in a sink or a bathtub. Hedgehogs are prone to relieve themselves in the warm water so we prefer to use our laundry sink.
March. Hedgehogs will begin to emerge from hibernation, having potentially lost 1/3 of their body weight during their rest. This is the perfect time to start putting out supplementary food and water as they will be extremely thirsty and hungry.
Tips for leaving out food and water:
Never feed hedgehogs milk or bread - milk can cause diarrhoea and bread isn't very nutritious. Check the food and water bowls each day to top them up with fresh water and food, and remove any food that hasn't been eaten.
Please offer shallow bowls of plain water for hedgehogs - but please do not add any sugar or salt to it as suggested in some tweets, that's lethal for birds who bathe in it and not necessary for hedgehogs in the wild.
Hedgehogs are active during the night, so the best time to put out food is just after dusk, when they are starting to search for food. The Autumn and Winter months are the most important for them to find food to put on enough weight before hibernation, so always make sure you put out food at this time of year.
A hedgehog's go-to vocal is huffing and puffing, but he's not trying to blow the house down. This sniffing is a normal vocalization he makes while going about his business of exploring. An unhappy hedgehog, on the other hand, will show his disdain with a hiss or a clicking sound.
Many hedgehogs are busy and want to try to explore but a stressed hedgehog will be much more persistent and not easily distracted. The stressed hedgehog may also twitch or shake its head nervously. It is almost as if the hedgehog is saying “Sensory overload. I can't take it anymore.”
Signs of hedgehogs in danger of being too cold are decreased activity, decreased appetite, sneezing (as opposed to puffling). So, if she's not on her wheel and exploring at night, eating her food and turning down mealworms and other treats, check the temperature in her enclosure!
Wet items will just make your pet cold and uncomfortable. Please only bathe one hedgehog at a time. If you have multiple hedgehogs together in the bath, they could hurt each other by climbing, biting or 'holding on' to one another with their mouths.
What can I feed hedgehogs? Hedgehogs will relish any combination of meat-based wet dog or cat foods, or dry cat/kitten food. Just remember, they will be getting most of their food from insects and worms in the wild, and this food is only supplementary.
Use gardening gloves or a towel to handle the hedgehog, then take it inside in a box and place a well-wrapped hot water bottle underneath it. Fill the bottle with hot tap water (not boiling) – you should be able to hold your hand comfortably on the bottle when wrapped.
Can hedgehogs eat tuna? Yes, only if the tuna is freshed, unseasoned and no oil drizzled on it. Canned tuna that is usually drenched in oil is a strict NO for your hedgehogs. As canned tuna is being preserved with a high salt content, it might not be ideal for your hedgehog in terms of its health.
Many people get confused about how often they should bathe their hedgehogs. Your vet should be the ultimate authority here. That said, in general, about once a month is good. Don't bathe your pet too often: this could dry out his skin!
Make sure there is room for the hog to get off the heat if it gets too warm. You can also give them a small bowl of water. The National Recipe for rehydration solution is 1 litre of warm water mixed with a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt.