# Baby hedgehogs! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312 "2010-06-07T18:03:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/1 "2010-06-07T18:03:40Z")
I work in the education department of a zoo, and our hands-on animals include a pair of African pygmy hedgehogs. We introduced the male to the female a few months ago, and have been carefully monitoring the sow’s weight. She gained a tiny bit, then a tiny bit more, along with an increase in appetite. Three weeks ago, because of the gain, when we suspected, but weren’t quite sure, that she was pregnant, we separated them, made her a nesting den, turned off her lights and stopped handling her. And waited. Yesterday, she gave birth! We’ve seen at least three hoglets, and she still looks pretty rotund, so maybe there’s a few more in there. The average litter size is 4, but can be up to 9! The babies are born with spines, but they are covered with a membrane, which dries up and falls off within a day or two, as the spines start growing. Right now, they look almost like bumpy pinky mice. APHs, like lots of domestic species, have been selectively bred for interesting colour patterns for some time - our boar is “champagne” and the sow “salt-and-pepper,” which I believe is the dominant colour. We’ll see when the spines develop their colouration in a few weeks. We have instituted a very strict Hands Off policy, since any stress to the mother right now can lead to her cannibalizing the young. We are only opening her enclosure to add food and water. Hedgehog poop is pretty nasty, but we’re going to forego cleaning for at least two weeks, at which time, we’ll count and sex the babies for registration on our database, have the vet check them out, and start handling them. We intend to keep the babies - however, if we do end up with more than four, we may rehome one or two, to other accredited zoos. Here in CA, it’s illegal to keep hedgehogs as pets. In other states and countries, they’re allowed, and quite common, although, to me, they don’t seem to be a great pet species. They’re nocturnal, eat live bugs, are covered in pokey spines… But they’re pretty cute! [These](http://www.flickr.com/photos/idalingi/20097296/) aren’t our babies; I think they’re a few weeks old. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/2 "2010-06-07T18:15:51Z")
The cuteness! It burns! Seriously, thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/3 "2010-06-07T19:08:23Z")
What a cool job you have! Please post pics of the babies once you can take them. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/4 "2010-06-07T19:46:18Z")
I had no idea there was such cuteness in the world as baby pygmy hedgehogs! Utterly adorable! ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/5 "2010-06-07T23:14:51Z")
They look like sushi. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/6 "2010-06-07T23:59:56Z")
Popples! ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/7 "2010-06-08T01:17:59Z")
I had a pet hedgehog in the barracks until the company commander caught me. He was cool (the critter, not the captain). And he’d eat anything. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/8 "2010-06-08T02:02:28Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > What a cool job you have! Please post pics of the babies once you can take them. Ditto… ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/9 "2010-06-08T13:42:17Z")
They look too cute to be real! ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/10 "2010-06-08T15:12:11Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > But they’re pretty cute! [These](http://www.flickr.com/photos/idalingi/20097296/) aren’t our babies; I think they’re a few weeks old. So those will, like, fit in your pocket so you can smuggle one to me, right? Then I’ll love him, and squeeze him, and call him George. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/11 "2010-06-08T15:30:51Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > So those will, like, fit in your pocket so you can smuggle one to me, right? Then I’ll love him, and squeeze him, and call him George. You’ll put your eye out with one of those. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/12 "2010-06-08T17:34:18Z")
[You can see lots of them here.](http://cuteoverload.com/tag/hedgehogs/) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/13 "2010-06-08T17:45:45Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Here in CA, it’s illegal to keep hedgehogs as pets. In other states and countries, they’re allowed, and quite common, although, to me, they don’t seem to be a great pet species. They’re nocturnal, eat live bugs, are covered in pokey spines… > > But they’re pretty cute! [These](http://www.flickr.com/photos/idalingi/20097296/) aren’t our babies; I think they’re a few weeks old. We have one as a pet. They’re not too much work, but they’re not that much fun either. Cute, sure. But they don’t actually do much. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/14 "2010-06-08T17:58:08Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > We have one as a pet. They’re not too much work, but they’re not that much fun either. Cute, sure. But they don’t actually do much. How do they taste? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/15 "2010-06-08T18:01:16Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > How do they taste? With their [widdle tongue.](http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/funny-pictures-hedgehog-baby-flavor.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/16 "2010-06-09T05:52:49Z")
Mini update: peering into the nest box today, the babies look very strange! They look a bit like pink walnuts, with enormous pale spines, almost as long as their mama’s, with bare blunt noses and closed eyes. No headcount yet, the sow seems calm, but we don’t want to disturb her. This week, I am also arranging the transfer from another facility of our new friend Tonka, a six-banded armadillo! ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/17 "2010-06-09T13:37:50Z")
OK, **araminty** , you are breaking SDMB rules. We require picture(s) of Tonka at least. You can’t just dangle out the prospect of all that cuteness without providing some relief! Btw, do you have any anteaters? I really like anteaters. Also sloths. And tapirs. Aw, fuck it; I like mammals, at least once they’re old enough to have hair. The revolting pink grub stage, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/18 "2010-06-10T02:59:08Z")
Sorry, no pics yet, Tonka won’t arrive for another couple of weeks. In fact, our quarantine facilities are going to be busy for a while: capybaras, fennec foxes, fruit bats and more, all due soon! Our zoo reopened in March after renovations, so we have lots of new exhibits to fill. I think one of our coolest mammals is a fossa! She is gorgeous, and fascinating to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/19 "2010-06-10T18:10:17Z")
Cool! I’d never heard of a [fossa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossa_(animal)), but it looks like a cat crossed with a meerkat. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312/20 "2010-06-12T05:20:22Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > Cool! I’d never heard of a [fossa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossa_(animal)), but it looks like a cat crossed with a meerkat. We do call her “Kitty” sometimes 🙂 We have now got a definite total of four hoglets. Got a good look yesterday while mama was out of the nest. Looks like two dark and two light. The name shortlist has begun. My personal faves include Tiggy, Winkle, Beatrix and Norman (after Mr Warne, Miss Potter’s editor and fiance.) Unfortunately, all the good “prickly” names have already been bestowed on hogs and porcupines long gone, and we can’t reuse them, to keep the databases straight. So no Burr, Thistle, Spike, Rose, Bramble, etc. Dare I ask… suggestions? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-hedgehogs/542312.md?page=2)