A hiding place like this doesn't have to be complicated. There are enough variants that are ideal for hobby craftsmen and even for those with less craftsmanship, a hedgehog house can be easily made by using, for example, fruit boxes, bricks or even a flower pot. Curious and already motivated? Then we'd better get started right away!
General tips for a good hedgehog house
Simple should not mean inadequate. To ensure that our garden friend has a really good time in his winter quarters, there are a few things you should keep in mind when you build and set up the hedgehog house yourself.
- Where and when should you put the house?
So that the hedgehogs have enough time to discover the house you have set up before the extreme cold, you should put it up as early as possible. They generally start their search in October, but we recommend setting up the hiding place around the beginning of autumn in September at the latest.
When setting up the house, also make sure that the opening does not face a direction that is often exposed to wind. The entrance must be facing away from the weather so that the hedgehog stays nice and warm inside. You can also separate the sleeping area from the entrance, creating a small hallway that also has an insulating and protective effect.
- With or without floor?
In principle, both are suitable, after all, in the wild the animal has no floor to hide in. However, the following should be noted:
If you use a hedgehog house without a floor, it should definitely be on dry ground. If you are unsure about this, you can dig a small pit before installation and fill it with gravel, which will serve as drainage (and even a toilet). Then comes the filling material.
A model with a floor runs the risk of inadequate ventilation. If the air accumulates, moisture can form inside, which promotes diseases and parasites.
- What should you fill the hedgehog house with?
Anything that the animal would use outdoors is suitable: dry leaves, brushwood and straw, but also some twigs, branches and the like.
- How do you attract hedgehogs to a hedgehog house?
If you have set up the house in a suitable location and filled it with suitable materials, you have already created good conditions that should attract the hedgehog as soon as it starts looking for a hiding place. But you can also put cat food, because this, as well as the thingsfrom this list, love the animals. But you should also be patient because it can take a while for a hedgehog to find your gift.
How to make your own hedgehog foodfind out here.
- Is a rat flap necessary?
It is definitely recommended, as rats like to help themselves to hedgehog food, but it is not a mandatory element. If you choose a door to protect against rats, it should be able to swing. Because it moves, rats then avoid the entrance.
You can find out how to keep rats out of compostread here.
Useful upcycling: You can easily build a hedgehog house yourself using these things
After you've thought about the location, timing and filler material, it's time to build the hedgehog house. We can recommend two cases for this:
Use a fruit crate
A wooden fruit box placed upside down is perfect as protection from the winter cold. To do this, you should seal them a little. As you know, the boards are spaced apart so that air can circulate in the filled box and fruits and vegetables can be stored for longer. But this is not a good prerequisite for the hedgehog.
You should therefore close the slots. To do this you can:
- Attach additional boards or chipboard from the outside over the slots.
- Place a protective film over the fruit crate and secure it with nails or thumbtacks.
- Place the box in the intended location and then cover it well with natural materials. Use twigs, branches, pine greens, leaves and whatever else you use for a hedgehog pile.
You can separate the entrance area from the sleeping area with a simple wooden panel. Panels can often be cut to size at a hardware store if you don't have the necessary tools at home.
Important: Make sure that there are no sharp nails or anything similar sticking out inside the winter quarters that could injure the hedgehog.
Fruit boxes are toofor these purposesvery practical.
How to build a hedgehog house from a flower pot
An old, larger bucket offers the best conditions for a hedgehog's quarters.
- Carefully punch a hole in one side (if there isn't one already).
- Place it where you want.
- Add a small entryway by placing two bricks or pavers next to the opening and placing boards on top of them for roofing, for example.
- You can make the whole thing more visually attractive by later covering and hiding the house with peat or other natural materials.
Tipp: You can do the same thing with an old woven basket. However, you should weigh this down from above with bricks or paving stones so that it doesn't fly away in strong winds.
Building instructions for a house made of bricks
A little more time-consuming, but still very easy to build, is this recessed brick hedgehog house. As you know, these have excellent insulating properties that can also benefit our gardening enthusiasts. Do you still have a few left over from your last building project? Then you have now found a perfect use:
- Dig a hole in the garden where the house will eventually be located. The height corresponds to the width of the bricks.
- Place the bricks upright along the earthen wall. Also plan a small area around the corner where the hedgehog can sleep protected from any wind. A small hallway between the entrance and the sleeping area is also recommended.
- Make sure the bricks cannot tilt inwards. Just in case, you can also clamp branches between the bricks on the ground and then cover them with soil.
- Fill the hedgehog house with the selected material.
- Place thin sheets of plywood as a roof over the stones.
- Shovel the dirt back and over the cottage to turn it into an underground quarters. Feel free to form a small hill. To ensure that no earth falls into the area when covering it, you should first make sure that the wooden panels cover the entire opening.
- Now cover the earth with natural materials so that the winter quarters are even more hidden.
Turn cardboard into a hedgehog house
Another idea for a winter quarters that is cat safe,can be found here.
Cover photo:@garden_ninja_lee/ Instagram
