Caring for your hedgehog

By: Emily Elliott

Before you get a hedgehog

Hedgehogs can make wonderful house pets, if they get proper care and attention. Generally, they are pretty low maintenance BUT they can be costly and time consuming, too! Hedgehogs can live for up to 8 years, but the average life span is 3-5 years. Hedgehogs usually costs anywhere from 150-250 dollars, depending on the breeder, the hedgehog and the location you are buying from. Hedgehog’s diets are fairly complex, needing premium quality cat kibble. They also require certain extra insects, meats etc…. They will need to be handled often, to maintain friendliness. There are other extra accessories that they’ll need in their cage too.

You will need to find a vet that treats hedgehogs, in case your pet needs to visit a vet. Hedgehogs are also illegal in some states and towns, so be sure that you check to be sure first!

A hedgehog may be the right pet for you, take this quiz to find out!

I am able to pay all vet bills that may arise
I am able to pay for all food, bedding, accessories, etc, that may be needed
I am able to spend time with my pet regularly & also have time to clean its cage and care for it.
I will be able to care for my pet for up to 8 years, or however its life span may be.
Hedgehogs are legal in my state/town.

If you answered ‘yes’ to all of these questions, then a hedgehog may be the right pet for you!

What to look for

When looking for a hedgehog, here are some things to look for:

Friendly hoglets
Clear eyes
Clean nose and back end
Clean overall body
No patches of missing fur or quills (it could be a sign of mites)
Clean feet and trimmed nails
Hedgehogs free from sores, wounds, or injuries

Things to look for in a breeder:

Generally clean cage, supplies, and etc.
An USDA licensed breeder if they have more than 3 breeding females
Knowledgeable breeder
Someone who won’t sell babies any younger than 6 weeks old
A breeder that doesn’t breed females until at least 6 months of age

Supplies you’ll need

A solid bottomed cage with room for all accessories and room for play(no tanks or multi-leveled cages)
A wheel with a solid floor usually 12”
A water bottle (or ceramic bowl) that will hold at least 8oz.
A heavy or ceramic food bowl that will hold at least ¼ c. of food
A igloo or something to hide in(preferably made from plastic)
Nail clippers
A high quality cat food(more details coming later on that)
Freeze-dried or live mealworms(no superworms!)
Aspen, Carefresh, kiln dried pine or a liner for bedding(NO cedar, regular pine or corncob)
Puppy or baby shampoo(I recommend Aveeno body wash which is soap and fragrance free)

Optional(but recommended) supplies

A digital scale that weighs in grams
A litter box

Colors & patterns

Hedgehogs come in many colors and patterns.

Some patterns include, snowflake: 30-90% of quills are white, while the others have the normal coloring; pinto: blotches of white quills with white skin beneath.

Some colors include: Apricot, Cinnacot, Chocolate, and Dark Gray. The most common being Gray and Chocolate.

There are two groups of coloring in pet hedgehogs. The first being Algerian. Algerian colors. An algerian hedgehog is easily distinguished by it's golden or brown patches under his eyes. Some other common traits would be blotches of black or grey on the hedgehog's stomach and a darker color range. This is referred to as molting.

Example of eye patches:

The second group is white bellied. This is just basically any hedgehog that does not have the cheek patches or does not fit into the Algerian range of colors.

Algerian and White bellied are technically 2 different species. But all of today's pet hedgehogs have been interbreed between the 2 species, so it's impossible to find a true Algerian or white bellied kept as a pet. So, when we call a hedgehog algerian or white bellied, we are referring to only the coloring.

Your Hedgehog’s Size

There really is not an ‘average’ or ‘normal’ weight for a hedgehog, you, the owner has to know what the average weight is for your hedgehog! Some hedgehogs can weigh as little as 200 grams (without being underweight) and others as large as 650 grams (with out being overweight). For a general idea, an underweight hedgehog would have an ‘hourglass shape’ and his sides would appear sunken in. An over weight hedgehog might not be able to role up in a ball, or would have rolls of fat. A healthy hedgehog should have a ‘tear-drop’ shape when all of his quills are flat! A scale that weighs in grams would be a good investment for any hedgehog owner.

You can get a good scale for $25-$50. I recommend one that lets you set the scale to ‘zero’. That way you can use a bowl when weighing wiggly hedgies. This feature is also called ‘tare’. The picture above is an example of a good, inexpensive scale

Sexing and Males vs. Females

First of all, males and females my equally good pets. With some animals one sex tends to be a better companion, but with hedgehogs it really makes no difference.

It’s pretty easy to sex a hedgehog. Look at the FEMALE above and the MALE below. The male has what appears to be a ‘belly button’(actually the penis seath) about a third up his stomach and the female doesn’t.

Hygiene

Like with any cages animal, you will have to clean you hedgehog’s cage, how often, depends on the hedgehog. If you choose to use loose bedding like aspen of carefresh, on average you'll probably end of cleaning the cage about once a week(give or take a little). If he uses a litter box, the litter box will likely have to be cleaned more than once a week, but the cage will have to be cleaned less often, maybe every other week.

If you choose to use a liner, the liner will likely need to be cleaned everyday.

No matter what bedding you choose to use, hedgehogs tend to use their wheel as a restroom while running on their wheel, so the hedgie's wheel will need to be wiped of often.

Bathing your hedgehog is another thing you’ll eventually have to do. Bathing isn’t something that you want to day daily, or even weekly. It’s something you should do on an ‘as needed’ basis. If a hedgehog is bathed too much, his skin will dry out and that isn’t good. For soap, you can use ‘fragrance and soap free Aveeno body wash’, tear free baby or puppy shampoo. I recommended the Aveeno body wash.

Put a inch or two of warm water in a container, scrub your little guy with the soap or body wash(sometimes an old tooth brush helps), rinse him off(keep shampoo and water out of his eyes), wrap him up in a towel, give him a treat for being good and dry off completely.

Be sure that you never leave your hedgie unattended in the bath. Hedgehogs do not normally like water and they can not swim very well at all.

Trimming nails

picture coming soon!

You’re also going to need to trim his nails every once in a while! Grab his little foot & look for the quick (that’s the pink vein in the nail), make sure that you cut BELOW that, or else he will bleed. A good thing to have on hand is ‘Kwik-Stop’, which will stop the bleeding in case you were to hit a quick. If you don’t have that, try flour instead!

Your Hedgehog’s cage

The cage you buy should have solid floors with no holes (that means NO wire grating etc….), if the floors aren’t solid, your hedgehog will get sores and could injure himself by getting his little feet caught in the holes!

It should be 1 leveled. I don’t recommend glass tanks (not enough ventilation) or multi leveled (could fall) cages. Hedgehogs can climb pretty well, so his cage should have a secure top. Just be cause then can climb, doesn’t mean they should climb. They can really injure them self if they fall even a few inches!

On the floor you can put, Carefresh, Aspen, Kiln dried pine or a liner for bedding. If you use a liner make sure that it has no lose threads that your hedgehog could get his claws caught on. Also if you use a liner you will probably have to wash it unless he is litter trained.

You may be able to train your pet to use a litter box, if you do litter train; cat litter (especially scoop able) is not recommended. Make sure that your hedgie does not eat his bedding. Do not use regular pine, cedar or corn cob bedding; it will give him repertory problems. Sheets of paper aren’t recommended, as they could slip and fall!

Be sure you get a wheel for your hedgehog so he can stay fit. The wheel should have solid floors(so that the hedgehog's feet/toes won't get stuck) and it should be 12” in diameter.

You can set up the cage how you would like to. Avoid placing your hedgie’s cage in direct sun light or by windows, vents, heaters and etc. Also be sure that your hedgehog is kept in a room that gets plenty of daily light and is kept fairly warm (i.e. 72-78 degrees), or else he may try to hibernate and that can kill a hedgehog. The African Pygmy Hedgehog isn’t created to hibernate anyway! A too warm house can kill a hedgehog also.

Should you think that you hedgehog needs to be warmed up quickly, try a heating pad or a Snuggle Safe Heat Disc. Please note that this is not a replacement for keeping the temperature at least 72 degrees.

For additional heat, should you be unable to keep the heat at 72 - 78 degrees, there are a few options.

First, you could use a ceramic heat emitter. This can not be used with all plastic cages(such as plastic bins). The emitter will need to be monitored to make sure they don't make the hedgehog's cage too warm.

Second, you could use a space heater. These will heat a whole area, instead of just the cage. As long as you buy a safe heater and use it correctly, there won't be a big fire hazard. You probably want to get one that is 'oil filled' and has an automatic shut-off to be safe!

How many Hedgehogs can I keep?

Hedgehogs, for the most part, are solitary animals. This means that they like to be alone. Males do not get along, because they are very territorial, and could greatly injure or even kill the other male.

Females will sometimes actually enjoy the company of another female! It just really depends on the female. At first, be sure to supervise the female's interactions until you're sure that they get along.

Never keep a male and female together, unless you plan on breeding. Breeding is something that should be very thought out before even attempting to do so. It can be very risk and heart breaking.

Breeding

I am not going in to breeding in this pamphlet. Housing a male and female together is a total disaster. Unless one of them are infertile, the female will most likely become pregnant. With the male in the cage with her, she will be very stressed and kill the babies. If she doesn’t kill them, the male will.

Breeding hedgehogs is not an easy, fun thing. It has many sad, heart breaking moments. It can be very expensive and difficult. Before you even consider breeding, I recommend that you have experience as a hedgehog owner first, that you do tons and tons research and that you have an experienced mentor .

Self anointing

Self anointing is triggered when a hedgie smells a new or unusual smell. They lick & chew on the scented object. This makes their mouth foam up. Then they spread the foam all over their backs with their tongue, yuck! No one really knows why they do this. Be sure to keep an eye on him while loose to make sure he doesn’t get in to anything harmful! Sometimes you’ll think you hedgehog is being ‘aggressive’ by biting you, but you really have an odd scent or taste on your hands & he is just trying to taste you!! This can be avoided if you just wash your hands with unscented soap before handling!

Feeding

Hedgehogs generally eat HIGH QUALITY cat food, with low fat(8-12%) and relatively high protein(around 30%). They also eat meal worms, boiled chicken, cottage cheese, and cooked egg as treats. Hedgehogs can easily become over weight, so it is a must to keep an eye on there weight. You may have to reduce the amount you feed them.

Here is a list of ingredients from a low quality brand of cat food. Everything that is bad for your hedgehog is highlighted in RED.

Corn, chicken by-product meal, wheat, corn gluten meal, beef & bone meal, salmon, chicken, beef, poultry fat (preserved with BHA), animal digest, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, titanium dioxide, vitamins, caramel color, natural & artificial flavors, taurine, yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, BHA (preservative), minerals, blue #1, zinc oxide.

Wow, 15 out of the 25 ingredients in this food are bad for your hedgehog!

Why are these things bad?

Meat By-products: anything that says ______ by-product is a substitute for plain meat. It contains necks, feet, intestines etc...

Any kind of food fragment: Is hard for hedgehogs to digest it and is a filler! Some examples are: Corn Gluten or Brewers Rice.

Generic named fats and proteins: These are not a sign of good quality. Some examples are: animal fat or meat meal. With it being that generic, 'animal fat' could be from any animal and you have no idea where it came from!

Artificial preservatives, flavors and colors: These are known to cause cancer and other diseases which can be fatal. What doesn't help this is that hedgehogs are already prone to cancer so you definitely don't want your hedgehog to be eating anything that could help bring it on! Some examples are: ethoxyquin, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) 'red 40' etc...

Some things to keep in mind:

Pure meat should be the 1st ingredient in the food.
Corn (if any), should be very far down on the list, as it is hard for hedgehogs to digest and is generally a filler.
Just because you pay a lot for food, doesn't mean that it's high quality!

When changing foods, do it gradually! Here is a list of some great foods, there are some others out there too, you just need to know what to look for! Out of all my extensive research; higquality, diet cat food has far exceeded every hedgehog food I’ve found. Most of the brands of the cat food listed below come in a diet or light form. Most regular cat foods have to much fat content in them for a hedgehog so the diet or light form would be best.

Felidae Platinum
Wellness
Royal Canin
Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul
Innova
California Natural
Life's Abundance
Katz-N-Flocken

You should offer your hedgehog foods other than just kibble. Some good supplements would be: meal worms, hard boiled eggs, cooked (unseasoned) chicken, low fat cottage cheese, baby food or canned cat food.

You should only give them a teaspoon or so of these extras, or else they may become over weight. Also I would offer a bit of fresh raw chopped fruit or veggies (make sure that it isn’t on the list below); on occasion. they won't always eat it, but it's still good to offer it.

Meal worms come in two forms, freeze-dried and live. You can feed either kind. Hedgehogs are insectivores so you can feed them many kinds of insects such as, meal worms, crickets, silk worms and beetles (no super worms).

What NOT to feed

Below is a list of things NOT to feed, if in doubt, just stay away from it, or ask someone knowledgeable about hedgehog nutrition!

□ Any sugary, salty, fatty, stringy, chewy or seasoned foods

□ Chocolate or caffeinated food/drinks

□ Raisins

□ Citrus fruits

□ Raw carrots

□ Celery

□ Corn

□ Onion

□ Avocado

□ Mushrooms

□ Raw meats

□ Pork

□ Nuts and seeds(of any kind)

□ Dog food

□ Bones

□ Milk

□ Bread

□ Wild caught bugs (could carry disease or pesticides)

□ Wax worms(too fatty) and super worms(will bite hedgehogs)

□ Cold foods (only serve room temp.)

□ Nothing that is considered ‘junk food’ for people

□ Alcohol

□ Artificial sugars

□ Nothing known to be cancer causing, since they are prone cancer

□ Honey

Toys

Every hedgehog should have a wheel. Don’t even think of a wheel as a ‘toy’; it should be a necessity for all hedgehogs! It should have solid floors and should be at least 8 in. in diameter. Hedgehogs love hamster balls. They also like the little cat balls with the bells in the middle. They like any thing they can burrow and hide in, like PVC pipes and dryer hoses, but make sure that he won’t get stuck! Another thing that they love to do is borrow up your pant leg, OWWW!!

Bringing your new pet home!

When you bring your new family member home, it may be a good idea to let him be alone for the 1^st day to let him get used to his new cage! After that hold him as much as possible! It is crucial that he gets to know you while he is still young, it will be a lot easier that when he is older. You may want to take him to the vet so he can be checked out....

If he is a baby, he should be no younger than 6 weeks old; if he is younger than that he is too young to be away from his mother. To help him bond with you, you could try sleeping in an old t-shirt, or with an old blanket and then give it to him in his ‘nest’ so he will get used to your scent! He can be feed kitten food mixed with diet food and should be weaned from the kitten food at about 4 months old and put on diet cat food after that.

Handling

Handling a nice hedgehog isn’t as painful as it may seem! The 1^st, most important thing to do is make sure that you don’t have any food, perfume, lotions etc…scents on you, or he may try to taste you! If he does happen to bite, DO NOT put him down (unless of course you are severely injured), or else he will learn to bite if he wants you to put him down!

To pick up a hedgehog that isn’t in a ball; stick your hands under each side of his stomach and lift. If you need a little assistance, try using a spatula to help. If the hedgehog is afraid, use a spatula to pick him up or a towel. If you must pick him up really fast (because he is in danger, etc), use gloves, other than that, I wouldn’t use gloves, as the hedgehog needs to get used to YOU holding him, not gloves! When handling him, keep him close to your chest or in your lap.

Be careful not to drop him, even from a few inches off the ground, it could kill him, this is a good reason why you should supervise children at all times when they are playing/holding the hedgehog!!

Health

Hedgehogs are prone to cancer and tumors, especially after 2 years of age. Your vet can help determine treatments and cures for this.

Another very serious disease that hedgehogs are prone to getting is WHS (Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome). WHS is a very sad, neurological disease that is debilitating and eventually deadly! It usually has a gradual onset, but some times can come on rapidly. The cause is not yet known; but is thought to be genetic. Hedgehogs tend to be affected around 18-24 months, but it could strike at any age. There is treatment for this, but no cure. Hedgehogs with this disease will have a wobbly gait, at first, then eventually, will not be able to walk at all and will become totally dependent on the owner, but there are things you can do to help! You can massage and move his limbs and body, to retain movement as much as possible. A healthy diet is very important too! There are many other things it could be too, so before assuming he has WHS consider this… it could be that he is to cold, has a hurt limb, long nails, arthritis(or other joint problems), a tumor, etc… Your vet can help rule out other problems!!

There is not a ton known about WHS and there isn't the funding to do the research needed to find cures, treatments and causes for WHS. If you would like to donate any monetary amount towards WHS research, please click on this button:

All money donated will go straight to The Hedgehog Welfare Society for WHS research. Thank you for your support!

Another thing to watch out for is mites!! Signs of a mite infestation are: itchy irritated skin, flaky skin, dry skin and missing fur and quills. Before treating for mites, try giving him a bath with a little olive oil as, it can help with mites, and will clear dry skin if that’s all that’s wrong too! So, if you give an oil bath and your hedgehog is still itchy etc… bring him to the vet. He will probably be treated with Revolution, if he has mites!!

If you ever have anything else happen (especially medically) and don’t know what to do, call your vet, don’t wait, a few hours could mean life or death!!

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I hope this has helped you out a little! Hedgehogs are wonderful little animals! If you ever have any other questions, feel free to email me anytime at pricklesnquills@gmail.com . If I don’t know the answer to your question, I will find it out for you!

Prickles n' Quills Hedgehogs

Breeding excellent quality hedgehogs!