November 27th 2009
African Pygmy Hedgehogs The Newest Pet Craze
An Aafrican Pygmy Hedgehog is classed as a rodent, they are becoming increasingly popular and are as easy to keep as hamsters. Pygmy hedgehogs are a result of crossbreeding some aafrican species. Aafrican Pygmy Hedgehogs can come in numerous colours, we keep chocolates, browns, albinos, dark eyed cinnicot, chocolate pinto, these are just a few of the popular colours.
Our hedgehogs all live in large zoo zone cages. It is best to buy them as a baby hedgehog when you can spend time and bond with your new pet as much as possible, remember though they are nocturnal so only come out at night, if you try and wake them up during the day you will likely get spiked!! They can be prone to becoming over weight so a quality diet and exercise is a must, ours have spaceship wheels, aafrican pygmy hedgehogs can run 5-10 miles per night in their wheel. The best food is a chicken and rice cat food, preferably the lite version.
The pygmy hedgehog is about 8 inches long at its largest, they can live for up to 6-7 years. When they curl up into a ball they are similar in size to a tennis ball. They can be grumpy at times, it is worth remembering they are not that domesticated yet and building up trust is very important. If he should ever bite down on you with his mouth, try to remain still and keep calm. It is their instinct to bite down harder if you wriggle or try to pull your hand away. Touch wood we have never been bitten by any of our hedgehogs.
The aafrican pygmy hedgehog, hen it is fully socialised with families and hand tame will generally not be a fan of other pets. There are very few cases where a baby african pygmy hedgehog may be introduced to a friendly dog or cat and build a trusting relationship, but keep his safety at the forefront at all times. A hedgehogs instincts is dog and cats are predators so keep him safe at all times.
Our Aafrican Pygmy Hedgehogs enjoy a variety of works, fruits and vegetables, sweetcorn being a huge favourite, they all have guinea pig igloos to hide and nest in. They all have cat balls too with bells in and we here these chiming whilst we are in bed.
If you provide a loving and safe home you will find a friend in your hedgehog, who will waste your time day in and day out, you cant help but watch their cute personalities. They are great too for those who work full time and would like a pet but are worried about leaving their new pet at home while they work, rest assured your new hedgehog wont miss you, he/she will be cosy in in their house snoring away, awaiting for you to come home and do dinner!!
Aafrican Pygmy hedgehogs must be kept warm, this is very important, if their temperature drops below 7c they could try to hibernate, unfortunately because they are domestic pets they would be likely not to survive any hibernation.