How to build a hedgehog house

Learn how to build a hedgehog house with our hedgehog shelter DIY.

Turn your outdoor space into a hedgehog-friendly garden with our easy-to-make hedgehog home. It’s a safe, warm and inviting space for these nighttime visitors to curl up, rest and hibernate.

Suitable for: Adults, and children with their adults!

Season: All year round

Hedgehogs are regular visitors to our gardens, with as many as 10 different hedgehogs travelling through in a single night. However, the UK’s only spiny mammal species is in decline. A loss of natural habitat means less shelter and food is available for hedgehogs – which is why they need us more than ever.

By making your garden hedgehog-friendly, you’re providing them with a safe space to survive – and thrive. Building a hedgehog home will help hedgehogs in the UK by offering a habitat in which they can rest, nest and hibernate.

They may stumble across the hedgehog house when out snuffling for food, or choose to rear their hoglets inside this new home. Whatever the case, this simple and fun activity will give hedgehogs a chance to make it safely through the winter, knowing they have a human on their side.

However, if you don’t have the time or tools to make your own, you can buy a hedgehog house here.

Build your hedgehog house

Instructions

1 Find a good spot for your hedgehog house. Choose somewhere shady, quiet, out of the wind and rain, and on a flat-ish surface. In a corner of the garden or behind a shed are ideal spots.

2 Create the shape of the house in bricks. Build it to be around 40cm by 30cm, with an entrance tunnel at the front that’s about 13cm wide, so the hedgehog can get inside but predatory animals, like foxes and badgers, can't.

3 Add another layer of bricks. Overlap the bricks if you can, as this will make the walls stronger.

4 Add a third layer of bricks. Try not to leave gaps – it needs to be cosy.

5 Cover the top of the tunnel. Use the smaller paving slab, or two or three bricks crossways, to cover the top of the tunnel.

6 Put on the roof. Use the larger paving slab to make the roof – this will help to keep out predators.

Remember: Be careful with the heavy lifting, and watch your fingers!

7 Cover the top and sides. Cover the roof and sides of the hedgehog house with soil, logs, twigs and leaves. This keeps the house warm and attracts insects for hedgehogs to eat.

8 Use leaves for bedding. Leave a pile of dry leaves outside the entrance. Hedgehogs will drag these inside to use for bedding.

9 Leave out food. Lastly, to make the hedgehog home even more appetising to spiny visitors, leave out some food. Hedgehogs like tinned meaty cat and dog food, or crushed cat or dog biscuits – but don't put out bread or milk, as these aren't good for them.

0 From hedgehog homes to hedgehog highways. Hedgehogs are nocturnal wanderers; they can cover one to two miles every night! You can help them find their way to your hedgehog house by making them a hedgehog highway – just cut a 13cm x 13cm hole at the bottom of each fence and they might pay you a visit (but ask your neighbours first). Add a hedgehog highway sign to mark the spot.

What you'll need

20 to 30 old bricks

A couple of paving slabs or tiles – one small and one larger

Tape measure (to check the entrance size)

Small logs, twigs, leaves and soil from your garden

Gardening gloves

Look after your hedgehog house

Keep your hedgehog house a safe and cosy place for hedgehogs by:

Topping up the old leaves by the entrance every once in a while.
Only cleaning it in October – after hoglets have left, but before hedgehogs hibernate.
Placing any food you may leave out away from the hedgehog house, as they prefer to sleep away from where they eat.

Hog tip: Don’t disturb the occupants. To find out if your house is being used, put a small twig across the entrance – if it’s moved, someone’s been there!