Herbie Hedgehog Rescue

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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Herbie Hedgehog Rescue, Charitable organisation, Reading.

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

07/10/2026

Two weeks since giving birth Georgina and her four hoglets (two males and two females) are doing well. She’s being an attentive mummy to her beautiful hoglets 🥰❤️

29/09/2026

Remember Georgia who featured on the page couple of weeks ago (scroll down the page for her video during her release in 2025) ? Well, she gave us all a surprise last Wednesday by giving birth to four lovely little babies. We say surprise because her X-rays didn’t show any babies a week prior to the birth! They seem to have been tucked away!

Luckily her dislocated leg was fixed just two days before and so far she’s been taking great care of her babies. They’re a very vocal lot who are keeping their mummy in check when she’s not feeding 🥰

She is not being disturbed by us and is only being given food and water which is going down well to keep up with the demand of feeding the little mouths.

These are the babies that are called autumn juveniles and they’re plenty in number in the wild. Whilst these babies are in the warmth here and the mum doesn’t have to go looking for food and water, there will be several others who are not so lucky. Please provide a shallow bowl of water and a dish of cat/kitten biscuits for the mums and juveniles. Without food, water and the depleting sources of natural food as the weather gets colder, these juveniles and adults will start eating slugs and snails as a last resort which give them lungworm and make them very poorly.

Poorly autumn juveniles have already started coming to the rescue and are being treated for lungworm, roundworm and fluke.

For now, we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that this lovely little family will thrive and grow up to be healthy hedgehogs.

Please consider donating to us so that we can help many more hedgehogs that will be coming in this year and beyond. Georgia is also a previous Herbie guest who came as an autumn juvenile herself in late 2024 and was released in early 2025. So the work we do helps in increasing the population of these very precious creatures 🙏🦔

Enjoy the video of the babies feeding in the comments.

27/09/2026

A Volunteer vacancy has come up for the following day:

Weekly Tuesdays - 10:30 am - 1:30 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.

24/09/2026

I was really hoping this wouldn’t be the post I was writing about Mouse. All seemed to be going well until last night when I noticed that both of Mouse’s eyes had a white spot in the middle. I suspected either an ulcer which we have fixed in the past in other hedgehogs or the worst case, cataracts which is irreversible and no sight left. I sent Mouse to my vets and sadly the worst was confirmed - cataracts. I had a long chat with my vet Abi who also specializes in ophthalmology and she confirmed that it can happen in younger hedgehogs as it can be a congenital issue.

Since Mouse’s behaviour had changed after the onset of cataracts showing unsettled symptoms and stress, we decided to put an end to Mouse’s suffering. We don’t release blind hedgehogs on ethical grounds. Whilst some rescues put them in enclosed gardens, we don’t believe it helps wild animals where they cannot find a mate to increase their population. We do this work so that hedgehogs can live wild and multiply and not in captivity. Many have a different opinion but one of our main goals is to NOT put our emotions over a hedgehog’s need to live how they should - wild and free to be able to forage going from one garden to another and reproduce.

This is the sad reality of wild animal rescues - many of them come in already with irreparable damage and no matter how much care we give, the outcome can be sad. Mouse was a very special hedgehog and had soon become a volunteer favourite and sometimes it’s the broken ones that pull our heart strings.

A big thank you to my vets Vets for Pets Winnersh who always make time to see the hedgehogs and give their 100% to make them better.

Thank you to the kind followers who sent special food for Mouse which was very well received.

RIP Mouse 🦔

15/09/2026

A little video of Georgia who was released on 23rd March 2025 in one of my release sites. She sadly came back today with a dislocated hind leg that will have to be fixed by an external fixator. She is in otherwise very good condition, weighing 1100g and was found last night at the release site. Hopefully she’s had some babies in the last 18 months!

I often have people saying they’re disappointed that the hedgehog they released didn’t stay in the hedgehog house for long and they aren’t sure if the hog is still visiting. I always suggest that they put food out all year long irrespective of any hedgehog activity as they will be around somewhere nearby and other hogs will also benefit from the food.

With microchipping releases and some coming back years later, we have gathered good data to show that where there is a reliable source of food, the hedgehogs usually stick around. They may not stay in the hedgehog house for long, they still use it frequently and keep themselves healthy with the food and water provided by release sites. Injured hogs coming in decent body condition stand a much better chance of recovery than the one that is dehydrated and weak.

Thanks to Clive for sharing Georgia’s video.

09/09/2026

This adorable little hoglet weighing only 113g, arrived this week. Sadly he has not had a good start to his life. He has no fur on his face and his underside and was being eaten alive by fleas! He is now free of fleas and is having treatment for mange and ringworm and hopefully will grow fur and look like a normal hedgehog. He is called Mouse because of his large eyes and ears that would’ve looked more normal had he had fur on his face 😍🥰

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.

Address

Reading

Telephone

+447598794442

Website

https://www.herbiehedgehogrescue.com/

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