Hedgehog General Care

Please Note: All information given here is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for the opinions of, or need to consult, a licensed veterinarian when a health issue arises. There is no substitute for proper veterinary care and we always recommend that you consult your veterinarian immediately about any health related issues that arise with your pet. Dreamflower Meadows holds no responsibility for any outcome when a licensed veterinarian is not consulted immediately.

Click on the links below for more information about caring for hedgehogs:

Feeding
Handling
Bathing
Self-Anointing

Feeding: Hedgehogs are classified as insectivores since they primarily eat bugs and worms in the wild. In captivity the main part of their diet should be a dry food (dry foods help keep the teeth and gums healthy). There are many brands of hedgehog food on the market today, but most are just repackaged cat foods sold at a higher price (and most of these are not made of quality ingredients). We feed primarily Purina One Adult Cat Food - Chicken & Rice Formula. This is a dry cat food that has chicken as the first ingredient and corn is lower on the list. There are other brands you can use, but always read labels. You are looking for a real meat (not a “meal” or “by-product”) as the first ingredient and corn should not be in the top 2 ingredients.

How much to feed is not a simple answer. As a rule of thumb, babies up to about 6 months old should be fed “free” amounts of dry food. If you notice, though, that your baby is getting very chubby then you will need to measure how much he eats a day and adjust that amount according to his weight. An obese hedgehog will not live nearly as long as a healthy one. Having a wheel in the cage from the time they are young is important. A hedgehog that is bored will eat out of boredom, but once they are over weight they usually will not want to run on a wheel, so it is important for them to learn to enjoy the wheel before they learn to enjoy food too much.

Other types of foods that you can give in moderation (no more than 3 times a week in small amounts) are: meal worms, crickets, hard boiled eggs, cooked lean meats, baby foods, vegetables, and very small amounts of fruit. The types of vegetables that most hedgehogs prefer are: chopped or cooked carrots, cut tomatoes, squash, zucchini, green peppers, cucumbers, etc. You will need to experiment with your hedgehog to see what he/she likes best. Offer only one type of new food at a time over a several day period to see if he/she likes it. Leave the new food in his/her food bowl overnight and remove any left-overs in the morning (having a separate bowl for this type of food is helpful). If he/she does not touch it after several days, then you can assume they do not like. Fruits are high in natural sugar and can make a hedgehog gain weight more quickly, so it is best to only offer these as a once a week treat. Some favorite fruits are: raisins, cut bananas, apples, etc. Just experiment to see what your hedgehog likes best and try to offer them when you have time for bonding because the quickest way to an animal’s heart is through their stomachs. It has been reported that grapes can be toxic to hedgehogs as they are in dogs, so avoid them to be on the safe side.

Handling:  When you first bring your hedgehog home you should let him/her settle into their new home for at least a day before handling them. Once they are settled in, then you may handle them as you please. Being nocturnal they are most active in the evening hours, but they can and will adjust to nearly any schedule. When handling a shy or sleepy one you may need to wear gloves or use a thick towel to pick him up. But once they are awake or relaxed then you can use your bare hands.

Since most people can not pick up a hedgehog that has its spines up without it hurting too much, here at Dreamflower Meadows we do use and encourage others to use leather gardening-type gloves to handle their hedgehogs when they are first woken up (unless you are lucky enough to be able to take home and "Amazingly Friendly" one). Many breeders are against the use of gloves at all when handling their hedgehogs. They often gives reasons like, "the hedgehog will not get used to your scent" or "you should wait for them to wake up on their own" or "they will learn to bite the gloves". However, we have observed over the years that when a hedgehog is allowed to "wake up on their own" they are often similar to teenagers who don't want to wake up at all. These hedgehogs often get "grumpier" over time, since they are getting their way of wanting to sleep longer and learning that this grumpy behavior keeps you from picking them up. And we have seen over and over again how, by using gloves to pick them up when you want to, most hedgehogs will actually become "friendlier" over time since they are not "rewarded" by acting nervous and they learn that the sound of your voice and the lifting of their house means that they will be picked up and they do not fear it any longer. The excuse that the hedgehog will not get used to your scent is, also, not a factor since the gloves are only needed when they are first woken up and then you can take them off once they have lowered their spines. The excuse that they will bite the gloves is easily remedied as well. Hedgehogs usually only bite things (and sometimes it can be a person's hand) when there is a new smell that they are fixated on and want to self-annoint with. So if your hedgehog starts to lick the new pair of gloves (or your bare hands) put them down and put the pair of gloves in their cage over night and they will fixate and self-annoint over night and by the next day it is no longer a "new" smell that they must fixate on. Once you have worn the gloves a few times and have them in your house, then the gloves will also smell like you, so this is not a factor either. Gloves also make things like nail trimming easier for the average person. Gloves in no way harm a hedgehog, so we say, "why not train them right from the beginning."

Between the ages of 7 - 10 weeks, young hedgehogs go through a phase that breeders call "quilling" and they can become a bit grumpy during this time. Basically they are getting in an adult set up spines that are considerably larger than their juvenile spines. They go through several other "quilling" phases from the time they are born until this time, but this is the most dramatic of all the quilling phases. If your normally very friendly pet is suddenly grumpy, check to see if there are new spines poking through the skin. This is similar to “teething” in a human baby and they should be handled gently during this time. However, it is important that you do handle them and continue to feed treats a to keep his/her trust, but do not pet him/her since this will irritate the skin even further. Don’t worry, though, once the "quilling" is over, your hedgehog will go back to it’s normal self in no time.

Bathing: Most of the time hedgehogs do not need to be bathed. In the event that they self-anoint a lot or get dirty some other way, then bathing them is a simple matter. Just fill a sink with about 1 – 2 inches of warm water and use an old toothbrush to wash out their spines. Soap is not needed or recommended. Be careful not let their noses go in the water when you first lower them into the sink or they may inhale the water which can lead to pneumonia in extreme cases.

Most often it is just a hedgehog's feet that need to be cleaned after a night of running on his/her wheel. Just a half inch of warm water is all that is needed in this case. Just let them walk around in the shallow, warm water for a couple of minutes and their feet clean up really well.

In the case of hedgehogs live in very cold or arid climates (like up north in the winter or the western US all year), you may need to give occasional oatmeal baths (Aveeno Oatmeal bath is a good choice). Some types of heating are more dry than others, as well, so pet owners in other locations may need to do this as well.

Self-Anointing: When hedgehogs encounter new smells they have a strange habit of licking and biting things that smell strongly. They then are able to turn their saliva into foam (a similar consistency to foaming hand soaps) which they then lick over as much of their bodies as they can their long tongues. It is not clearly understood why they do this exactly, but the most likely reason is that they are trying to camouflage their scent with something from their surrounding.  Don’t worry - your new pet does not have rabies or any other disease, nor is your hedgehog car sick. This is just normal hedgehog behavior.