I’d like to hear all about your hedgehog. I’ve been considering one for a pet and have been reading up a lot, but I’d like to hear your personal experiences. FWIW, I am an adult, responsible pet owner with 2 dogs now that are ridiculously well cared for. I have the room and money to do what I need to for pet care, so that’s all good. Also, I live in south FL (Key Largo) so we’re a pretty tropical climate. I use central AC for a few months of the year, but otherwise it’s about an average of 75 or so in my house, I’d say.
I’m curious about their housing, eating habits, sleeping habits, personalities, etc. Can anyone shed some personal light on this for me?
I have been a hedgehog owner for 6 years now. While they are fascinating creatures with the potential of growing into good, loving and even protective pets, I do not recommend them for anyone who has not been blessed with God’s greater share of patience, dedication and courage. Their appetite is a major consideration as well. The common Burmese hedgehog will require between 40 and 75 pounds of fresh, raw meat daily. It sounds like the climate you’re in is perfect, but be sure to maintain a large tank of water for it to soak in on hot days. It is a well known fact that hedgehogs love water and, unlike many predators of their size and power, will take a break from stalking game and maintaining its vast territory in favor of a playful aquatic romp.
The ferocity of a hedgehog is not to be underestimated. They are relentless predators by nature and even the most domesticated specimen can turn deadly if his space and mood are not respected. Under no circumstances should one attempt to rub a hedgehog’s belly when it is feeding or hunting, for instance.
I have had hedgehogs as classroom pets, and although they’re nowhere near rats as being friendly and intelligent, they’re okay. They have very poor eyesight, so their first instinct at any movement is to ruffle up their spines, so you have to learn to move slowly and carefully any time you’re around them. I must say that baby hedgehogs are one of the cutest things on the planet, and mine got to where they would sleep on my lap, but I never got the feeling they really bonded with me.
Facinating!! 40 to 75 lbs of fresh raw meat daily, eh? Are you sure you’re not thinking of a Bengal tiger? If not, how big of a tank should he have for cooling off, about 20’ x 20’ x 8’? Man, I have seriously underestimated these critters!
Inigo Montoya is spot on. Also, you need to be careful when you let them out of their cage, as they can achieve speeds of over 100 miles per hour from a standing start. You’ll never see it coming.
I haven’t had any hedgehogs for a few years but they were wonderful pets. In the summer they liked getting Junebugs in their cage for a treat. The only problem I ever had was an ill-advised attempt to have them share a cage for a while, that didn’t go well.
She was a good, but completely boring, companion. I got her while in college because of the cuteness factor (I’ve always been fond of hedgehogs). She lived in a large Rubbermaid bin with the lid off. I gave her the run of my appartment when I was home and could look after her. She liked to hide behind the refrigerator. If anyone wonders, a ladle is a perfect tool for removing a pygmy hedgehog from behind a refrigerator.
For a while I had half a hollow log for her to sleep under. She would stand on it and escape. Once she unwound my Joan Osborne tape, and once she chewed tiny teethmarks in my leather sandles. I took the log back out.
Denali slept all day, and tried to dig her way to China all night. I gave her a wheel to run on, but she knocked it over and tried to dig under it.
I made her a pouch out of denim and hung it around my neck for outings. She liked to curl up against me in her pouch. She enjoyed a trip to a local preschool where the kids were thrilled to see the “porcupine” and the adults were scared of her. A neighbor in my college apartment was shocked that I had an african hedgehog. He was from Kenya, and in his home village they considered them pests in the garden.
Later I married and got a cat, then a dog. The cat and dog each touched Denali exactly once. The cat proceeded to ignore her. The dog would run around her in circles, barking and snapping in the air above her head. She’s an australian shepherd - I believe she was trying to herd the hedgehog (who rolled in a ball until she went away). It was really quite funny, I still wish I had got it on tape.
I would compare having a hedgehog to keeping a really prickly hamster. Only she lived twice as long as your typical hamster. I changed her box weekly and put in fresh pine or aspen (never cedar!) shavings, and she ate high quality cat food. Sometimes she’d get treats of yogurt or hard boiled egg. If she got something odd (raspberries were funny), she’d self anoint with it. Sometimes I had to give her a bath in a few inches of water (to get the raspberries off) and trim her nails (most of the time the digging kept them short). If it got chilly in my apartment, I’d put a heating pad on low under one end of the box to keep her warm. Late in life she got slower and eventually went off her food. Her quills thinned, and she lost weight. I took her to the vet and had her humanely euthanized and that was the end of the hedgehog.
OH, great information! I have a few stupid questions.
Do they run? I’m thinking like mice/rats. Are they hard to catch or if you’re out with him in public do you have to worry that he’ll run away if he gets out of your hands?
When you say he dug to china each night- are we talking relentless, loud scratching?
Also, do they make any noises at all besides scratching? Do they peep or bark or meow or anything?
I used to have one, for about 5 months before I realized he really was’t a good pet for me. This guy had been raised without much handling, and wasn’t overly happy with it.
They are mainly nocturnal, smell pretty bad, and need a lot of supervision when they are out of their cages.
This is a good description of what they do. I used to clear out an area of the room and let them run around for a while with the dogs, the dogs never got very close but were fascinated by them. I don’t know if all hedgehogs are like this but mine loved exploring, simply rearranging the furniture in the area was enough to send them scurrying and sniffing furiously as though they had been dropped on another planet. Toss in a live Junebug and it was quite a party for them
They run, but top speed is about average human walking speed. They’re very easy to catch, assuming they haven’t got behind the refrigerator again. In public I would put her on a table. She was smart enough not to walk off the edge.
The digging to China got annoying. I couldn’t sleep in the same room with her because of the bumping of the plastic bin against the wall, which was louder than the scratching. If I kept her in an aquarium it might have been quieter. Many of them like to run on wheels instead, which are quiet as long as you keep them oiled. There’s good instructions on the web for building or lining wheels with plastic craft mesh. The little wire spokes can be hard on hedgie feet.
Hedgehogs snuffle, especially when they’re rolled in a ball fending off intruders. They sound like tiny steam engines. It’s very quiet, but for some reason alarms people who aren’t familiar with them.
As for smell, the only time mine got smelly was when her cage was overdue for cleaning, or that one time she self anointed with an onion.
