Herbie Hedgehog Rescue

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Herbie Hedgehog Rescue

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Rehabilitation centre in Reading, Berkshire for sick, injured and orphaned wild hedgehogs
Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release
Registered Charity: 1203949
www.herbiehedgehogrescue.com

27/08/2026

A Volunteer vacancy has come up for the following day:

Weekly Friday’s - 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Volunteers will weigh hedgehogs, clean the cages, provide food and water. Training will be given. Please note this is a physical job involving bending, stretching.

Reliability is essential. No time wasters please as there is a lot of time being invested in training volunteers. You must be able to get to the rescue either by public transport or your own transport.

Volunteer positions are open only for applicants 18 and above due to insurance.

If you’re interested in being an important part of hedgehog rehabilitation and a member of a lovely friendly volunteer team, please specify which day you’re applying for and contact through https://www.herbiehedgehogrescue.com/contact-us

Rescue is based in RG6.

20/08/2026

Hey sweetie!! 🥰❤️

This little girl is one of the many babies that were born in the rescue in summer. She was born to the hog whose leg was caught in a rat trap and had caused damage to the leg. This girl was the only survivor of the litter of three sadly and after a very tricky start to her life, she is doing okay now and is now separated from her mum living a solitary hedgehog life. A little while to go for her to get to release weight but right now she’s getting to enjoy her food here.

14/08/2026

Sharing with permission from Poppy’s mum. Poppy and her friend Erin recently held a lemonade and cupcake stall to help raise funds for the hedgehogs in our care. From making buntings, decorations to lemonade and cupcakes, they did a brilliant job and raised an amazing £51!!
We would like to say a big thank you to the girls for their hard work and support. It’s so lovely to see the next generation do their bit for wildlife and help in their own way from such a young age.

🦔🦔🦔🦔

29/07/2026

This hedgehog definitely has made it to the list of ‘unusual places to find a hedgehog’. She was found swimming for her life in the river Thames in Henley! Luckily a family who were riding on a boat found her, rescued her and brought her here. She’s very lucky to have not aspirated water which can be detrimental to them. She will be released soon in a release site away from rivers so she can live a normal hedgehog life 🦔🦔

This is the second case of hedgehog found in the Thames. Last year a large female hog was found in the river in Windsor and she was successfully released.

25/07/2026

Earlier this week, I had a call about a hedgehog that was stuck down a hole. The hedgehog had been left there for over 48hrs sadly. Thanks to Bob who volunteered to go and rescue the hedgehog. She was very tired, cold and dehydrated upon arrival but is now on the mend.
Please cover any drains or holes left open. Hedgehogs can easily fall into them when they’re out at night and they won’t be able to climb back up.

06/07/2026

Another five have arrived today adding to the ever growing list of hoglets which is quite common at this time of the year. The hoglets - three females and two males are a bit dehydrated as the mum hasn’t been around for a bit. They have a dab of nail paint for monitoring the weight of each hoglet.

Thank you so much for donating towards puppy mousse and also purchasing it. The total hoglet count is now 24 at the rescue and no doubt there will be more coming. Some are with mums but most of them are either in with their siblings or on their own. The puppy mousse will go down well with them 🙏🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔

05/07/2026

It’s been a busy weekend here in the rescue!! 8 hedgehogs in today and 4 yesterday! I’ve admitted hedgehogs of all sizes, the smallest being 52g, the largest 1189g and everything in between! Pictured here is one of the admissions from yesterday who came in with his siblings after found wandering in the middle of the day.

We’re using more puppy mousse than we can purchase at the moment with over several hoglets that we’ve admitted this month. We also use puppy mousse for very poorly hedgehogs to help them get rehydrated whilst having something palatable without much effort.

If anyone could donate a few pennies towards the purchase of puppy mousse, we would be very grateful! Thank you!

If you’d like to purchase it directly instead and send it to the rescue, please message us for the address.

Link to purchase the puppy mousse:

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/wet_dog_food/royal_canin_veterinary/gastrointestinal/1691910

🦔🦔🦔🦔

02/07/2026

This week I have dealt with some finders who have kept hedgehogs on the pretext of “helping it” while the hedgehog was actually suffering. Both hedgehogs had an amputation of one of the hind legs and the remaining hind leg broken. The only and the kindest option in this case is euthanasia. Sadly one of these hedgehogs were kept by the finder for couple of days as they didn’t have time to take it anywhere and that every rescue they asked for help said the hedgehog needs to be euthanised, rightfully so.

Today we had a finder who dropped off a hedgehog in a similar condition at my vets and the hedgehog had to be euthanised. When explained to the finder by my vets and me, we were only met with abuse from the lady which is totally uncalled for.

We all follow the FIVE FREEDOMS of The Animal Welfare Act which is shown in the photo (sourced from the internet) below. Please understand that any hedgehog (or any animal) should have all the freedoms and we CANNOT and MUST NEVER compromise on any of them. Finding a hedgehog in distress is quite heartbreaking but we must remember that our emotions should not influence the welfare of the animal. The pain they are in is far worse than how we feel for the animal. To be met with abuse when the vets and rehabbers have done the right thing for the hedgehog is definitely not on.

A big thank you to my vets who have handled the distressing experience with this member of public with kindness as they were only trying to help the hedgehog.

Please respect the experience, knowledge and commitment my vets and I show towards the welfare of hedgehogs. We have a zero tolerance policy towards rude and abusive members of public on the pretext of caring about a hedgehog.

Vets for Pets Winnersh

🦔🦔🦔🦔

27/06/2026

A difficult week trying to keep nearly 50 animals cool including ten of my own pets (rabbits, chinchillas and hamsters), temperatures are easing from tomorrow for a short time. This also means that much awaited releases have resumed making space in the rescue to split litters.

Photo is of one of the hoglets splooting which is what they do when they’re hot.

🦔🦔🦔🦔

24/06/2026

Please get in touch with the Reading University team directly via email. I’ve only been asked to share the poster.

Reading University are looking for volunteers to participate in their research. Please contact them via email to participate. Research helps us learn better about hedgehogs in the wild leading to better welfare so please do participate.

Address

Reading

Telephone

+447598794442

Website

https://www.herbiehedgehogrescue.com/

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