What should you put in your hedgehog house – hay or straw?
My personal recommendation (that fits with latest thought amongst many hedgehog rescues) is to use dust extracted barley straw. Hay (especially non dust extracted) tends to go wet and mouldy in our damp winters and the spores will not be good for hedgehogs to breathe.
I used to use dust extracted hay but have seen it go horrid and mouldy and full of spores too many times, even in a high quality and well situated hedgehog house.
Traditional straw is often said to be too sharp (risk to hedgehog eyes) although it does tend to stay dry in my experience and not go mouldy.
Dust extracted barley straw is slightly softer than traditional straw and doesn’t tend to go mouldy and so offers the best of both worlds.
In addition, don’t forget natural bedding:
Leave areas of grass long and hedgehogs will rip off mouthfuls and add this to their nest box as they choose.
Don’t rake up all your Autumn leaves. Leave plenty for hedgehogs to add to their nests. Use the rest to make leaf mould. It’s a brilliant, natural and cheap soil conditioner.
Because many hedgehogs are already hibernating, this isn’t a good time to check hedgehog houses in case you disturb a resident.
Please follow the above advice for new nest boxes you are putting out and you can also leave bedding material around the garden underneath a sheet of wood or similar to keep it dry. Hedgehogs will use it to add to their nests themselves if they wake up during hibernation or if they have not yet hibernated.
Please never line hedgehog houses with newspaper. It goes damp and mouldy. It’s fine for feeding stations where you are checking and removing it regularly.
Thankyou for helping hedgehogs! 
If you’d like to find out more about helping hedgehogs, I run online hedgehog care courses, including for beginners. You might also like my wildlife jewellery, which raises funds for my wildlife work.
Little Silver Hedgehog 