Hedgehog houses to buy: a shortlist checked against Hedgehog Street
What Hedgehog Street and PTES say a hedgehog house needs (13 cm entrance, untreated wood, a tunnel, shade and quiet), and three Amazon UK listings checked against that, with the gaps named.
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This is the buying shortlist. The longer guide, with what to feed and how to build a house yourself, is hedgehog houses and what to feed. Start with one honest point: Hedgehog Street says “We do not specifically endorse certain brands or types of commercially available hedgehog homes.” Its sister page at PTES adds that homemade houses “tend to be more popular with our prickly visitors”. So a bought house is optional, and none of the listings below has been endorsed or tested by anyone we can cite.
The sources, opened on 14 November 2026, are Hedgehog Street’s hedgehog homes page and PTES’s how to build a hedgehog house. Product details come from Amazon UK listings opened the same day.
We haven't tested this. Figures are as the maker states them (checked 14 November 2026).
What to check before you buy
From those two pages:
- A 13 cm × 13 cm entrance. PTES gives that size for its simple house, and it is the same 13 cm figure Hedgehog Street uses for a gap in a fence; see hedgehog highways.
- Untreated wood. Hedgehog Street says “We recommend using untreated wood for hedgehog homes”, and that pre-treated wood can contain chromated copper arsenate (CCA) compounds that are hazardous to many species. It names UK-grown larch, Douglas-fir and red cedar.
- A tunnel or a dividing wall. If the box has no tunnel entrance, Hedgehog Street says include an interior tunnel or dividing wall, to stop badgers or foxes reaching in with their paws. The cutaway diagram on this page shows the idea.
- A roof that opens. PTES says clean the house in March or April, once hedgehogs have finished hibernating and left, and before breeding, because disturbing a mother can make her abandon her hoglets.
- No food inside. PTES says avoid putting food or water inside the house, as it can disturb the hedgehog.
The awkward truth is the second point. Every house we found on Amazon UK on 14 November 2026 described some kind of treatment, coating or preservative. None said “untreated”. None named CCA either, and none of the coatings below is described as CCA. But you should know the shops are not offering what Hedgehog Street recommends, and decide with that in view.
Embed this infographic
<a href="https://finchwold.co.uk/hedgehogs/best-hedgehog-houses-uk/"><img src="https://finchwold.co.uk/assets/images/hedgehog-house-checklist.webp" alt="Infographic checklist for a hedgehog house: a 13 cm square entrance, untreated wood, a tunnel or dividing wall, a shady quiet boundary position and an opening roof for cleaning in March or April."></a>
<p>Infographic: <a href="https://finchwold.co.uk/hedgehogs/best-hedgehog-houses-uk/">Hedgehog houses to buy: a shortlist checked against Hedgehog Street</a> from Finchwold.</p>Three listings
What each Amazon UK listing stated on 14 November 2026. We have not seen inside any of them.
Riverside Woodcraft Hedgehog House With Anti Bacteria Coating
- Described as hand made in the UK, with solid wood sides, an OSB floor and solid wood feet.
- A 1.8 cm recycled plastic roof, hinged with a lock, which makes the spring clean easier.
- Sizing given as 200 × 520 × 400 mm (H × W × D), and described as having a large sleeping area and a predator-proof entrance.
- Finished with what the listing calls an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial colour-rich coating. It does not name the product used. That is a treatment, so it is not the untreated wood Hedgehog Street recommends.
- The listing offered an add-to-basket option when we opened it.
Riverside Woodcraft Hedgehog Eco House
- Described as handmade in the UK, solid wood construction, with a hinged lid and lock.
- A “staggered baffled entrance to deter unwanted guests”, which is the sort of internal barrier Hedgehog Street describes.
- A recycled roof and a resin-bonded floor, with the same anti-fungal and anti-bacterial coating as the house above. Sizing given as 200 × 520 × 400 mm.
- The listing offered an add-to-basket option when we opened it.
FeelGoodUK Hedgehog House and Hibernation Shelter (Sage Grey, Standard)
- Described as 18 mm solid wood panels, with a felted roof, a removable roof, and a solid wooden floor with a plastic easy-clean cover.
- A tunnel entrance. The listing gives the entrance opening as 120 mm × 125 mm, which is smaller than the 13 cm × 13 cm PTES uses.
- “Pre-treated with animal-friendly preservatives”. Again, not untreated.
- Listed dimensions 44 × 57 × 22 cm (D × W × H), weight 6.5 kg, assembly required. Shown as in stock.
We did not include several other houses we opened because the listings showed them as currently unavailable on the day.
How to choose between them
There is no winner here, and we will not pretend one exists. The Riverside houses have the opening lid and, on the Eco House, a baffled entrance; their coating is the drawback. The FeelGoodUK house states the thickest walls and gives an entrance size, but that size is under 13 cm and the wood is pre-treated. If untreated wood matters more to you than convenience, the PTES plastic-box house or Hedgehog Street’s wooden plans are the way to get it.
Where it goes matters more than which one
Hedgehog Street says choose a shady, quiet area. PTES says houses are best placed in sheltered spots, along boundaries, in back gardens and within 5 m of the house. Cover it with leaves, soil or grass cuttings, and put a twig over the entrance to see if anything has been in. And without a way into the garden, Hedgehog Street says a hedgehog won’t use your house, so a 13 cm gap in the fence may do more than any purchase.
A natural nest is better still: compost heaps and log piles, as in leaf litter, log piles and compost. Leave any house alone from autumn; hedgehogs in winter explains why disturbance is dangerous, and hedgehog hazards covers the rest of the garden. If you would also like a camera on the house, the camera guide is bird-box cameras, and its privacy note still applies.
Is a bought hedgehog house better than a homemade one?
PTES says homemade houses “tend to be more popular”. Hedgehog Street does not endorse any brand of bought house. A bought one is a convenience, not an upgrade.
What size should the entrance be?
PTES gives 13 cm × 13 cm for its simple house, the same as Hedgehog Street’s fence gap. Check the listing before you buy; one of the houses above states 120 × 125 mm.
When should I clean a hedgehog house?
PTES says March or April, once hedgehogs have finished hibernating and left, and before the breeding season.