Charity Work
Natural Spa Supplies is the Official Sponsor for Hog House Hedgehog Home, our local hedgehog sanctuary.
Without everyone’s help, British hedgehogs could go extinct
We are proud to be official sponsors of Hog House Hedgehog Home, a small privately funded rescue centre, ‘hedgehog charity’ just near our work unit in Long Stratton, Norfolk.
The home takes in injured and poorly hedgehogs and does everything in its capacity to help the hogs to get better and to get in prime condition for release back into the wild.
We help by supplying natural products, such as our naturally antimicrobial Hemp Oil Soap for human hand hygiene and washing wounds and deodorising cages, Rhassoul Clay as a no-tears shampoo for the hogs, Scrubbies for cage cleaning…
We help by supplying natural products, such as our naturally antimicrobial Hemp Oil Soap for human hand hygiene and washing wounds and deodorising cages, Rhassoul Clay as a no-tears shampoo for the hogs, Scrubbies for cage cleaning…
You can imagine, nearly everything we stock, from the Amphoras which make tap water taste more natural, to wonky sponges, can be put to use in this environment, especially where health and hygiene are so important. Together our aims are to:
- Revolutionise hedgehog care using the most natural of resources.
- Make general cleaning, easier, faster and safer, with no plastic waste.
- Use natural hygiene measures to keep the carers safe from zoonotic diseases (diseases which pass from animals to humans).
- Save space with multipurpose products.
- Cut costs with great value products.
- Help the hedgehogs to get better faster so they can be released to live their natural lives in the wild and start their own families – so they don’t go extinct.
- Make general cleaning, easier, faster and safer, with no plastic waste.
- Use natural hygiene measures to keep the carers safe from zoonotic diseases (diseases which pass from animals to humans).
- Save space with multipurpose products.
- Cut costs with great value products.
- Help the hedgehogs to get better faster so they can be released to live their natural lives in the wild and start their own families – so they don’t go extinct.
How We Help
As well as giving our natural products for use by the sanctuary, we give training on their usage and we will be donating a percentage of our Christmas sales to update the sanctuary’s equipment and increase their provision.
To assist further, we will increase public education among our customer network to help hedgehogs to thrive in gardens, so that everybody will have the opportunity to help hedgehogs on their own patch.
How the Hedgehogs Have Helped Us!
One of the reasons that hedgehogs are bought to Hog House is because through illness, stress and starvation the hedgehogs have lost their spines and underfur. Without spines, they are defenceless and without their furry undercoat, they would die of cold.
Many hedgehogs who had recovered from their injury or disease, were being kept in the hedgehog sanctuary, because their fur and spines hadn't grown back. They were missing out on opportunities to live their life in the wild and to breed. Plus it was extra work for the carers to look after them in addition to the very poorly hogs.
The carers had been applying linseed oil to soften the skin and help new spines to emerge. However it would leave a sticky film around the base of the spines which could potentially harbour disease. They would then invest time, in cleaning off the remains of the linseed oil. I invited Tracy, the owner to try out our locally grown hemp oil. This was deemed a success straight away because, the hemp seed oil was easy to wash off (with Rhassoul Clay).
So many of these furless and spineless hedgehogs also had skin issues - their skin might have been degraded by clusters of ticks, fleas or through injury, so I decided to add, pine tar to the hemp oil. Pine tar, or Stockholm Tar, is used in natural horse and cattle care, to quickly heal wounds, to seal the navels of new born calves, and to protect the hooves from fungal infections.
I then decided to add some extra ingredients, that also help to arrest hair loss and to help restore hair growth, so we included some rhassoul clay and some seaweed. Finally, I decided to add a blend of organic essential oils, lavender, rosemary and cloves, to encourage faster growth of fur and spines.
I wanted every ingredient to be familiar to the hedgehogs. If you think about it, a hedgehog would feel comfortable rooting about a hemp plant field, it would visit a bonfire (which smells similar to pine tar), it might hide under and lavender or rosemary bush. I wanted the hedgehogs to enjoy the oil treatment and to feel at ease!
And the results? Previously with the linseed oil applications, some hogs had been waiting for 3 months or more for spine and fur regrowth. With the fur and spine growth oil - new spines would emerge on adult hedgehogs in a week and with the young hedgehogs, within days. We have now released the hedgehog oil for humans and called it Hair & Beard Oil and I am sure this will help many people.
Thank you to our hedgehog friends!
Thank you to our hedgehog friends!
What to do if you find an injured of sick hedgehog
One of the most vulnerable times of the year for hedgehogs is in April when hedgehogs are emerging from hibernation. Please check you garden twice a day for hungry hedgehogs. Many of them wake up emaciated with barely enough energy to forage, so please do put food and water out for them, they really do need it.
If you see a hedgehog out and about during the day, or simply laying on the lawn, it does need immediate help. Put it in a box, offer it cat food and water, if it feels cold give place a covered hot water bottle in the box, with room so it can move away from the hot water bottle if it gets too hot. Get in touch with your local rescue centre without delay.
There are many small hedgehog rescue centres dotted all around the country. Many are too small to have charitable status and don't have the budget to run their own website. Most will however have a Facebook page where you can contact them.
Rather than calling us, it is best to ring your local rescue centre without delay. When rescuing a hedgehog, time really matters as they can deteriorate very quickly, particularly if they are cold. If you can't identify a local hedgehog rescue centre, please call the British Hedgehog Preservation Society on 01584 890 801 and ask them to help find a rescue centre near you.
Official Hedgehog Food Bank
We are very excited to be nominated, the Long Stratton Hedgehog Food Bank Donation point from 1st-7th December 2024.
We welcome donations of gravy-rich dog food, kitten meat and kitten kibble, or hedgehog food (but without mealworms please!) These will be passed on to Hog House to keep the hedgehogs happy over Christmas and the New Year. Please drop off your donations at in our Eco Warehouse Shop at 11B Salamanca Road, Tharston Industrial Estate, Long Stratton, NR15 2PF. We are open Mon-Fri 9.30am-3.00.
Please support our eco business to support the hedgehogs!