Prickles n' Quills Hedgehogs
Breeding excellent quality hedgehogs!
FAQ
Are hedgehogs rodents?
No, they are insectivores. This means that their main diet in the wild is insects. They are also nocturnal, which means they are awake at night and sleep during the day.
Is that a porcupine?
The picture on the left is a porcupine and the right is a hedgehog. Porcupines weigh 15-25 lbs and hedgehogs usually around 1lb. Hedgehogs eat insects and porcupines eat bark and leaves. There is a BIG difference in between these 2 animals!
Can I keep a pair of hedgehogs?
Well, sometimes. Sometimes female hedgehogs actually enjoy the company of another female, but other times they can hardly tolerate living together. Males should never be housed together, as they will almost always fight for their territory. Housing a male and female together is a total disaster. Unless one of them is infertile, the female will become pregnant and having the male in there will cause her to become very stressed and kill the babies. If she doesn’t kill them, the male will and it isn’t a pretty sight. So, all that said, only house females together and only if you are SURE they get along!
Why a Hedgehog?
- They don't need yearly vaccinations.
- They don't need to be walked.
- Most people who are allergic to dogs and cats aren't allergic to hedgehogs.
- They are easy to care for.
- They don't stink very much and can be trained to use a litter box.
- They are great for people who work all day, as they are most active at night and early morning.
- They make great pets for people who have limited space.
- They are ADORABLE!
- They are very unique!
Why can't I just get one for my local pet store?
Well, 1st of all pet stores HAVE to be USDA licensed to sell hedgehogs. Most pet stores get their hedgehogs from dealers. In order for the breeder to make money selling to dealers, they have to mass produce hedgehogs. These breeders are equivalent to a puppy mill. So these hedgies are often not pedigreed, over bred, malnourished & unproperly cared for. This results to unhealthy & often diseased(including genetic) animals. Many hedgehogs can carry genetic, often fatal diseases, so that's why the pedigrees are so important!
Diet
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 & 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 extra tips!
- 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 & is generally a filler.
- Just because you pay a lot for food, doesn't mean that it's high quality!
