Hedgehog Care
Some basic care will be shared here. Please also do your own research if you are considering bringing a hedgehog into your family.
Hedgehogs are sensitive exotic pets. They are very expensive and need specific care to thrive.
Before thinking about getting a hedgehog, do plenty of research and make sure that they are legal to keep as a pet where you live!
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Basic Information
African Pygmy Hedgehogs are not natively found anywhere. They were bred specifically for pets and cannot survive on their own in the wild. They are not related to porcupines. c:
Hedgehogs are solitary animals! They don't need a friend. Often times, hedgehogs kept together will fight. Females may be housed together rarely. Never house males together as they will fight. Never, ever allow a male and a female to live or even "play" together. You will end up with babies, which is incredibly risky if the proper steps aren't taken.
Housing
Hedgehog housing needs to have enough room for their wheel, hide, dishes, and a roaming hedgie! It is commonly recommended that the cage is at least 3-4 square feet. However, if you have the room and the ability to heat the cage, the bigger it is, the better! Make sure that your housing choice has a solid floor, rather than wire floor(as is the case in many rabbit cages). Wire floors hurt sensitive hedgie feet! Also stay away from housing with ramps and multiple levels, as hedgehogs are not excellent climbers. They also have poor depth perception and will walk right off an edge, likely causing injury. Multiple level cages must be approached with extreme caution and you need to be prepared to make many modifications. Hedgehogs do best with a lot of horizontal floor space rather than vertical.
Popular housing options include wire cages, large plastic bins (with ventilation holes), and C&C cages. Glass aquariums may also be used, but they are not recommended. Aquariums are heavy, expensive, and have problems with ventilation. They also hold in humidity and don't retain heat as well as a plastic bin.
Vertical bars are more highly recommended than horizontal bars. Make sure that, if your cage has horizontal bars, the bin is deep enough that the hedgehog can't climb. If not, you may have to construct some kind of extension.
A lid for the cage is also always recommended.
Hedgehog owners use many different kinds of bedding for the bottom of their hedgehog's cage. There is not one "best" bedding. However, owners and breeders agree that cedar should never be used as it can cause health problems.
Popular bedding choices include fleece, paper beddings(like carefresh), wood pellets, and wood shavings.
Fleece is a fairly long-term investment. Simply buy a couple yards of anti-pill fleece(so that it wont' wrap around hedgie toes/claws), cut to size, double over, and put it in the bottom of the cage. They can be shaken out, washed, and then reused. Fleece is not always very absorbent. Some people also sell custom cage liners that are made from fleece and an absorbent inner layer.
Paper beddings and any wood beddings provide a digging opportunity and they are absorbent, but are also very messy and hard to clean up. It is important to freeze all paper/wood bedding products to kill any mites that may be living in the bedding. Hedgehogs are very susceptible to mite infestations. Be watchful with wood bedding, as it can stick to/in a hedgehog's sensitive areas and cause infections or irritation.
