Overview:
Hedgehogs are a very unique pet, although very prickly for young children, with proper care, patience and regular handling, hedgehogs are fun for all ages. The breeding and selling of hedgehogs is closely regulated by the USDA. In the wild they live a solitary life, always foraging for insects under rocks and in the dirt. About the only time 2 hedgehogs come together is for reproducing and that is only for a few minutes. They live an average of 3-6 years, but have been known to live as long as 10 years. Gestation is 35-40 days with an average litter size of 4. When born the quills are actually very soft and harden up after only a few days. Hedgehogs like dry warm environments (75-80 degrees – they should NEVER be in a room below 75 degrees without supplemental heat) and are mainly insectivores and hedgehogs that are fed a high quality staple diet do not tend to eat many other foods but some hedgies enjoy fruits and vegetables occasionally. Most enjoy cooked chicken, egg, turkey as well as insects for treats and as part of their regular diet.
Housing:
We recommend guinea pig cages with a solid plastic tub bottom and a removable wire top for housing. 40 gallon aquariums (or larger) do also make adequate housing, but they are much more cumbersome to clean. Hedgehogs should, under no circumstance, be housed in an enclosure that has any wire flooring. Supplemental heat is a must to keep your hedgehog healthy. The enclosure should be 75-80 degrees F. In the cooler months, a heating pad ma also be added under the cage to assure that the hedgehog is cozy when it is sleeping. A breathable blanket may be placed over your hedgehog’s cage at night to help retain the heat and assure that the cage is dark so that the hedgehog will be active. We recommend Carefresh® Ultra litter for lining your hedgie’s home. Fleece cage liners with an absorbent layer if changed daily can also be used but will be more messy. Pure kiln dried pine or pure Aspen shavings are ok as well. Never use mixed woods or cedar shavings!
Nutrition:
Fresh clean water should be available at all times and changed everyday. They can use an 8 to 16oz. hamster water bottle without a spring loaded ball or a heavy shallow dish for water. We feed our hedgehogs a primary diet of “Select Diet Premium Hedgehog Food” and a variety of bugs, cooked chicken and chicken eggs for treats. We strongly recommend keeping your hedgehog on this food. We have included some other diet options below in the event that you decide to change your pet’s diet. Changing your hedgehog’s diet should be done slowly after it has settled in with you. Sudden changes in diet can lead to runny stools, refusal to eat, or other illness.
Recommended Diet:
-Select Diet Hedgehog Food – In most cases, you can “free feed” this food, meaning, you can feed your hedgehog as much as it will eat. On rare occasions, your hedgehog may become overweight. If this happens you will have to limit its food. (Select Diet is available from us at https://hedgehogsnw.com/shopping/ )
-Insects, about 3 times a week (10-20 meal worms, 1 or 2 crickets, 2or 3 superworms, 3 or 4 wax worms, etc) -2 Tablespoons of chopped cooked chicken and chicken eggs can also be offered on occasion
Alternate Diet #1 (for one adult hedgehog) per day: 1 heaping tsp. bird of prey or insectivore diet 1 ½ heaping tsp. high quality kitten food (Science Diet® , Iams®, Nutro Max Kitten, etc)* 1 heaping tsp. fruit/vegetable mixture** 10-15 med-large mealworms or 1-2 crickets
Alternate Diet #2 (for one adult hedgehog) per day 3 heaping tsp. high quality kitten food* 1 heaping tsp. fruit/vegetable mix** 10-15 med-large mealworms or 1-2 crickets
Alternate Diet #3 (for one adult hedgehog) per day 3-4 tsp. commercial insectivore diet (ex: Pretty Bird Intl® , Reliable Protein Prod® ) 10-15 med-large mealworms or 1-2 crickets
Remember baby hedgehogs should have as much as they want to eat, they are growing! *When choosing a kitten food, make sure you find one that has at least 30% Protein and 15% Fat. The higher the protein the better. Also, check the ingredient list to ensure that meat is the first ingredient and that corn or other “fillers” are much further down the list. ** Fruit/vegetable mix: chop together 1/2 tsp. diced leafy dark greens (spinach, kale, leaf lettuce), 1/4 tsp. diced carrot, 1/4 tsp. diced apple, 1/4 tsp. diced banana, 1/4 tsp. diced grape or raisin, 1/4 tsp. vitamin/mineral powder (Vionate or crushed Feline Favor tab). If you discover that your hedgehog will not eat the fruits and veggies, you can discontinue the fruits and veggies. You do need to ensure that your hedgehog has another source of fiber available, however. Toys, Handling and Exercise:Hedgehogs don’t usually play with toys but almost all hedgehogs love to run on wheels. Choose a solid plastic wheel that is marketed as a good size for a chinchilla or guinea pig. Clean your hedgehog’s wheel regularly to avoid foot infections. Hedgehogs also need to be provided with a safe hiding place to sleep in during the day. Plastic Igloo® Houses are ideal for this, because they are easily cleaned. If you are wanting to build a safe playground for your hedgehog, try a children’s’ wading pool with a thin layer of dirt or shavings on the bottom and a few live crickets or mealworms. They’ll love hunting for their treats and you won’t have to worry about them getting stuck under something. A large exercise ball can also provide safe out-of-cage time for your hedgie. When picking up and handling your hedgehog we recommend scooping them up from underneath with some of their shavings with both hands, this way you don’t get prickled as much. Once you have your pet up in your hands slowly work the shavings out much like separating a yolk of an egg. Once your hedgehog can feel the skin of your hands on its underside they start to relax and lay their quills down. It is a natural reflex when anything startles them or approaches them from above to huff up their quills and to click in order to protect themselves. If they get really excited about a smell they will start to lick and foam at the mouth, this is referred to as “anointing”. In most animals licking is a sign of affection but not in hedgehogs, it means either food, or something they think might evade a predator. They generally do not bite unless extremely agitated or if they think it’s food. Don’t be startled if your hedgehog starts foaming at the mouth. Bathing and Hygiene:It is important to keep you hedgie clean. You will notice that their feet will show signs of filth before the rest of your hog will look dirty. It is very simple, and important, to regularly bathe your hedgie to keep it’s feet (and the rest of it, clean) Do this by running ½ inch to 1 inch of warm water in the sink. Place your hedgie in the warm water and use a tooth brush and baby shampoo to gently scrub your hedgehog. Also, be sure to thoroughly rinse and dry your pet. Regular nail trimming is also very important. You will notice that the two inner nails of the back feet will grow much faster than the rest of your hedgehog’s nails. When you notice that they seem too long, carefully trim them. If you find that your hedgie isn’t very cooperative in this process, you may find it easiest to trim their nails while they are having a bath. Bad Habits: All hedgehogs possess one bad habit: They all LOVE to run on their wheels to the point that they will not get off their wheel to poop or pee. Because of this, they will poop and pee on their wheels and then proceed to run in the poop. This makes a mess of their feet and wheels and causing both to need frequent cleaning. The babies are especially are bad about this. Adults do also do it some, but typically, by the time a hedgehog reaches adulthood, it is in limited amounts. We find that most adult hedgies only need their wheels washed weekly during normal cage cleaning. Soiled wheels are easily scrubbed with hot, soapy water. To avoid the need to scrub you can soak your hedgehog’s wheel in hot, soapy water for about 10 minutes. This will make it easily rinsed and wiped clean without the need for scrubbing.
Toys, Handling and Exercise:
Hedgehogs will sometimes play with toys. They may push around a small ball, stack their food dishes into a pile and hide or run through 4″ PVC tubes. Almost all hedgehogs love to run on wheels. Choose a solid plastic wheel that is marketed as a good size for a chinchilla or guinea pig. Clean your hedgehog’s wheel regularly to avoid foot infections. Hedgehogs also need to be provided with a safe hiding place to sleep in during the day. Plastic Igloo Houses are ideal for this, because they are easily cleaned. If you are wanting to build a safe playground for your hedgehog, try a children’s’ wading pool with a thin layer of Carefresh or shavings on the bottom and a few live crickets. dubia roaches or mealworms. They’ll love hunting for their treats and you won’t have to worry about them getting stuck under something. A large exercise ball can also provide safe out-of-cage time for your hedgie. When picking up and handling your hedgehog we recommend scooping them up from underneath with some of their shavings with both hands, this way you don’t get prickled as much. Once you have your pet up in your hands slowly work the shavings out much like separating a yolk of an egg. Once your hedgehog can feel the skin of your hands on its underside they start to relax and lay their quills down. It is a natural reflex when anything startles them or approaches them from above to huff up their quills and to click in order to protect themselves. If they get really excited about a smell they will start to lick and foam at the mouth, this is referred to as “anointing”. In most animals licking is a sign of affection but not in hedgehogs, it means either food, or something they think might evade a predator. They generally do not bite unless extremely agitated or if they think it’s food. Don’t be startled if your hedgehog starts foaming at the mouth.
Bathing and Hygiene:
It is important to keep you hedgie clean. You will notice that their feet will show signs of filth before the rest of your hog will look dirty. It is very simple, and important, to regularly bathe your hedgie to keep it’s feet (and the rest of it, clean) Do this by running ½ inch to 1 inch of warm water in the sink. Place your hedgie in the warm water and use a tooth brush and baby shampoo to gently scrub your hedgehog. Also, be sure to thoroughly rinse and dry your pet. Regular nail trimming is also very important. You will notice that the two inner nails of the back feet will grow much faster than the rest of your hedgehog’s nails. When you notice that they seem too long, carefully trim them. If you find that your hedgie isn’t very cooperative in this process, you may find it easiest to trim their nails while they are having a bath.
Bad Habits:
Almost all hedgehogs possess one bad habit: They all LOVE to run on their wheels to the point that they will not get off their wheel to poop or pee. Because of this, they will poop and pee on their wheels and then proceed to run in the poop. This makes a mess of their feet and wheels and causing both to need frequent cleaning. The babies are especially are bad about this. Adults do also do it some, but typically, by the time a hedgehog reaches adulthood, it is in limited amounts. We find that most adult hedgies only need their wheels washed weekly during normal cage cleaning. Soiled wheels are easily scrubbed with hot, soapy water. To avoid the need to scrub you can soak your hedgehog’s wheel in hot, soapy water for about 10 minutes. This will make it easily rinsed and wiped clean without the need for scrubbing.
Hedgehogs Northwest 