HEDGEHOGS: PIN-CUSHION CACTUS BALLS!

Long have I been fascinated with hedgehogs. I first saw live hedgehogs as a freshman college student and ever since I’ve been wanting to own one.

My curiosity prompted me to research about them since they’re so unfamiliar and strange to me. I bought books, read magazines with hedgehog articles and searched every website pertaining to hedgehogs but all these are still aren’t enough to prepare me when I finally got my hedgehog pair.

After college, I have enough money and time to take care of these wonderful pets so I sought sellers and breeders, contacted them, asked of their prices and decided from whom will I buy. The knowledge, experience, expertise, proximity, and affordability of the pet must be taken into consideration. Expensive pets doesn’t always mean healthy and plump pets.

The person or the pet shop where you bought your pet should guide you after you bought your pet from them. Get their contact numbers and every line of communication they might have so that they’re just one call away when you have questions to ask. With hedgehogs, these are essential things I have learnt. I’m now applying this method with my other pets whenever I acquire one.

Hedgehogs, although they look like rats, doesn’t belong to the family of the rodents (porcupines do belong to this family). They have changed little for the past 15 million years of their existence! The popular pet hedgehog is a hybrid of the African (Atelerix albiventris) and the Algerian (Atelerix algirus) species.

I personally went to the farm of my seller because I wanted to see how he rears his pets and after careful inspection and discussion with him, I am convinced that he has an extensive knowledge and I am assured he could guide me well. So afterwards, my pair of hedgehog at hand plus free wood shavings and food, I was in cloud nine-at last my own hedgehogs!!

When I brought them home, they were rolled into perfect pin-cushion balls, afraid and stressed. Yet I was determined to let them feel that they are in good hands with me. I started handling them from their underside or bellies which is the only soft part without spines. They rolled tighter but good thing I was also a cacti grower that their spines isn’t much of a threat for me but still, like a cactus, the sharp spine tips will occasionally make you say, “ouch!”

After doing this for several times, they began to unroll bit by bit, licked my palms with tender nipping and then licked their spines. This is called “anointing”. A hedgehog behaviour of identifying things around them.

Then shortly, they were already walking and running into my hands and arms. They’re highly inquisitive animals. Jilin was my boy hedgehog, a little bit more aloof than Sichuan, the girl hedgehog. Sichuan was so affectionate and gentle, staying into my hands as I walk around the house. I learnt from her that when they’re afraid, they shiver and becomes immobilized for a few minutes. Jilin on the other hand, never fails to nip me when I handle him. At one time, he nipped me then rolled into a ball and hang from my palm in that position! Instead of hurting, I got used to his nipping and laughed at his antics.

I found out that female hedgehogs are friendlier than male ones. That’s why my bonding time with Sichuan was longer. I also let them eat on my palms. I fed them twice a day with cat food and once a week, an occasional super worm treat. The cat food should not be the fish-and-slime smelling kind but the biscuit-smelling one. They eat around seven pieces of cat food per eating session. I only give them 2-4 pieces of super worms although they lavish this treat so much since these are high fat foods and fatty foods aren’t good for hedgehogs.

On average, I interact with my hedgehogs for an hour every feeding time and habitually play or caress them every now and then whenever I’m at home.

When they’re full, they love poking their noses in-between my fingers and trying to go inside once they know they could separate them.

Female and male hedgehogs need to be housed separately except when you want to breed them. Short introductions are good for hedgehogs so they will be acquainted with each other and facilitates for easier breeding when they are old enough and you intend of doing so. It is always the female that you introduce to the house or cage of the male. A couple of hours introduction is enough, longer time means the start of squabbling and nipping.

They are also not quiet pets as they snort and grunt. They do this when they don’t want to be handled, when they are startled, or as I found out, when they’re deep in sleep and you woke them up. If you do wake them up, they will not only snort and grunt but roll into a ball and try to poke you with their spines! They love sleeping a lot. I believe that their twitching while asleep is an indication that they also dream like humans.

As nocturnal animals, they’re most active during the night and come twilight, they kept walking around their house, biting their chewable dog toys and the terra-cota plate I gave them. But they will also be active around 5-6 am and already waiting for me to give them their morning meals.

Hedgehogs are also easily frightened. The softest voice will scare them-even when you call out their names. Loud noises and booming sounds are also a disaster for them. After quite a while, they learnt to recognize my voice and would raise their heads as they hear me out.

The hearing and smelling senses of hedgehogs are highly developed and these compensate for their very poor eyesight. They can even smell things which humans can’t detect and can hear things too faint for us to hear. I never succeeded taking a picture of my hedgehogs while asleep because they can smell me and hear whatever small noise I make when I approach them!

Once when I was on a three-day provincial trip proved disastrous even if I have provided food and water for them before I left. When I came back, Jilin hardly could breathe for unknown reasons to me. I hurriedly called my breeder-seller and asked him what to do. He told me to get dextrose sugar, mix it with water and let the hedgehog drink this until it revives. So, hurriedly I did this and was able to rescue my beloved hedgehog. Now I know that first aid stuff should always be at hand for the pets you have.

Hedgehogs, I noticed, won’t be able to roll into perfect balls if they have some ailments and won’t be as active.

The spines or quills they have can be raised or lowered at will but they cannot dart this to somebody since they are fixed to the hedgehog’s body unlike porcupine quills which are more expendable although they cannot dart these too. You can start holding the spines near the rear of the body and when they are accustomed to, the rest of the body. But they don’t want you touching the quills nearest their foreheads. Although they get tickled when you hold their ears.

I change their wood shaving medium every two weeks while I scoop out their poop every day. Hedgehogs are clean animals and don’t get stinky. You must also remove uneaten food after 24 hours and keep their houses dry. The combination of wet media and left-over food encourages fruit flies that could pester your hedgehogs.

Tzu His became my third hedgehog, also a female, she was bigger than both Jilin and Sichuan. She also got a meaner temperament during her first two weeks with me. Often she would roll into a ball and try to poke me when I get near her. So I handled her with a clean shirt while I feed her. Then, during the 3^rd week I gradually let her eat into my palms and she began anointing herself with my scent. After a month, I could caress her spines and got friendlier.

I also jot down every day in a diary what my hedgehogs are doing, how they interact with me, the amount of food they ate, the time I fed them, the wood-shaving changes, even their poop as I believe all these are checks on their health and references on how they develop and grow and how I progress as their pet-keeper and friend.

Now I have three “pin-cushion cactus balls” which are my joy and my pride. Next time, I’ll try breeding them and make my hedgehog family bigger and happier.