Wobbly hedgehog syndrome is a neurodegenerative disease which affects the brain and spinal cord of African pygmy and European hedgehogs.It has been reported that the disease may affect up to 10% of African Pygmy Hedgehogs in the USA. Research has shown that patterns occurr in defined family lines, thereby suggesting this disease is heritable. The first signs of Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome can appear between the ages of 1 to 36 months. The average age of onset is 18 months and it affects both males and females without bias. Within 18 months of the first signs of the disease, most hedgehogs are paralysed and can no longer move. To date all treatments have proved to be unsucessful in curing this disease or even slowing down its progress.

Symptoms

The symptoms of Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome may include:

• falling consistently to one side
• tremors
• exopthalmos (bulging eye)
• scoliosis (abnormal spine curvature)
• seizures
• muscle atrophy (muscle wasting)
• dysphagia (problem with swallowing)
• wasting
• ascending paresis (slight or partial paralysis)
• tetraparesis (paralysis in all four limbs)
• self-mutilation (rare).

These signs and symptoms are not unique to WHS. They may also be signs of other common hedgehog diseases such degenerative disc disease, brain tumor, or septic meningoencephalitis.

WHS and MS (Multiple Sclerosis)

WHS affects hedgehogs in the same way that MS affects humans, in that it slowly degrades muscle control. The first signs of Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome is a “wobble” when the hedgehog tries to stand still. In time the animal will lose control of all its muscles from the rear to the front of its body. There is no cure for Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome. Some treatments for MS in humans have had similar results in hedgehogs. These have included high vitamin E diets. Vitamin E conceals the effects of WHS (as it does MS) but does not slow it down. Over time the hedgehog will form a resistance to vitamin E and the effects of the disease will continue.

The cause or causes of both WHS and MS are unknown.

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with pet hedgehogs. But a friend of mine asked me to put this on my site and as a dog lover how could I refuse. To cut a long story short what I am going to do is ask you to click on a link and sign a petition, in an effort to save an innocent dog’s life. So I hope you’ll bear with me and take the time to read the story and watch Bruce’s video.

Bruce’s Story

Bruce is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. He was found wandering as a stray puppy by a family in Northern Ireland in the UK. He lived happily with his family for several years and then suddenly on 19 September 2007 he was snatched away by officials from the local town council and incarcerated in a dog kennel. The reason these officials could seize the dog is that they decided that Bruce  had the appearance of “pit bull type” dog and was therefore banned by the Dangerous Dogs Act (Northen Ireland) Order 1991. What this basically means is that an official can decide that a dog is dangerous simply because he looks like a pit bull! The fact that Bruce has never bitten or acted aggressively towards anybody is not relevant. The fact that Bruce has never put a paw wrong is not disputed by the town council.

In August 2008 a trial at Bangor Magistrates’ Court ruled that Bruce was of the “pit bull type” even though two expert identification witnesses gave evidence that he was not. Two weeks later Bruce was condemned to death.

This sentence caused an uproar and the family and their neighbours have done everything in the power to bring this matter to the public’s attention.

Since his time in the kennel Bruce’s physical condition has deteriorated markedly. He has lost weight and has an open and infected sore on his nose, which has been caused by his constant attempts to open his cage’s door. He has also had to have his tail amputated and is suffering from pressure sores. Despite the pain he must be suffering, experts that have examined the dog have said that he still does not present any danger to the public which is amazing considering what officialdom has put him through.

Please Watch This Video

The Law is Truly an Ass

The most ridiculous part of this story is that if Bruce had been living across the water in England, Wales or Scotland he would not be in this situation.  Had he been living literally a few miles down the road in the Republic of Ireland he would happily be living his life with his family as there is no law in that country banning “pit bull type” dogs.

In 1997 England, Wales and Scotland amended The Dangerous Dogs Act so that dogs that proved to be unlawful by appearance (i.e. they look like pit bulls) but were otherwise friendly pets no longer had to be put down. Instead they were entered into a register. Unfortunately even though Northern Ireland is part of the UK it did not adopt this amendment so dogs are still in danger of being destroyed due to their looks alone, notwithstanding the fact that they may have never done anything to merit such treatment.

Many well known animal welfare organisations in the UK have spoken out against this situation and have called for a change in the law. These include the RSPCA, The Dog Trust and the UK Kennel Club.

A dog sanctuary in the Republic of Ireland has even offered Bruce a home, but the court has so far refused to accept the offer.

At the time of writing Bruce has been granted another stay of execution by a Judicial Review of the case while “every avenue of the law is explored”, however this is only temporary. Please add your voice to the many thousands from all over the world that have already signed the petition to clearly state that THIS IS WRONG, JUST WRONG.

Please take a few minutes to go here and sign the online petition.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/BRING-BRUCE-HOME-X

Thank you.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of a hedgehog is his quills. It is actually interesting to watch a hedgehog roll into a tight ball, and to see his quills stick up in every direction, all for the sake of protection. But, if you have a pet hedgehog, how can you handle him without getting injured by his quills?

First note that a hedgehog’s quills are not as dangerous or as damaging as those of a porcupine. In fact, unless he feels threatened, his quills are actually quite soft. Do not think, however, that they won’t hurt if they poke you.

So, the first objective is to make sure that you have a hedgehog that is well socialized, as well as a hedgehog that understands that you never mean him any harm. Start socialization at a very young age. First, socialization should begin with the breeder, and the hedgehog should be handled regularly starting when he is about two weeks old.

Next, when you bring your new hedgehog home, make sure that you handle him a great deal. Always scoop him up…slowly and gently…by his underbelly, which will enable you to avoid being pricked by his quills. If he is in a ball, you will have to search for a spot to start smoothing back his quills. However, if the hedgehog is well socialized, and not being threatened, he will generally unroll from his ball on his own within a few minutes, and you can simply wait until he does to pick him up.

Try to keep the same smell. Remember that hedgehogs have very poor eyesight, and he probably actually has no clue what you look like. Instead, he knows you by smell, and if you change soaps, shampoos, and perfumes, this can confuse him, and he may feel the need to get to know you all over again from scratch.

Try to avoid patting or petting your hedgehog’s quills if you can. They simply do not like this, and it can cause them stress. Instead, pick them up, and set them in your lap, and just let them sit there. As trust develops, he will actually start to enjoy petting, and will especially like gentle scratching between his quills. Don’t rush this, however.

Some people acquaint picking up a hedgehog with picking up a pincushion with all of the pins turned in the opposite direction, but in reality, it really isn’t that bad. You should not wear gloves when handling your hedgehog. Instead, give him time to get to know you – your smell and the sound of your voice – and to associate you with friendliness. This can be accomplished by talking to him while feeding him small treats.

Allow the hedgehog to sniff your hand before you attempt to pick him up. This is very important, especially if he doesn’t know you at all. He may even want to taste you, and this should not be painful for you. If it is, this may not be a hedgehog that you want at all. Use both hands when picking up your hedgehog, but do not allow them to meet in the middle of his belly. If he gets nervous and rolls into a ball, you will be in a fix…a painful one.

The photograph above is Leo, Ian and Julie’s African Pygmy Hedgehog, from the time he was undergoing treatment for his ringworm infection.

This blog has been inactive for the past couple of months because I have been away teaching kids my version of English at a summer camp in the Alps.

As many of you will know, over the past few months this blog has been reporting on the case of a “breeder”, Heavenlyhogs, who sold two pet hedgehogs that subsequently went on to infect three people with ringworm. The story is not about the fact that the new owners were infected with ringworm, but the appalling manner the breeder dealt with the matter when it came to light.

The aftermath of this story resulted in literally hundreds of forum posts on various exotic pet forums in both the UK and the USA.

Rather than repeat the saga in this post I direct you to this page where you can begin reading the whole sorry tale:

Introduction to the Ringworm story

Here are the links to the various forum posts which formed the source material for this blog’s report:

Heavenlyhogs is banned from  the Pygmy Hogs UK Forum

Heavenlyhogs’ first post on the Hedgehog Central Forum

Ian and Julie’s rather angry post on Reptile Forums UK

Heavenlyhogs’s “No Criminal” post on Reptile Forums UK

Ongoing discussion about the story on the Pygmy Hogs UK Forum

At the end of May I wrote to my local MP asking her to clarify the law concerning the importing of pet hedgehogs into the UK. She contacted the ministry concerned and sent me their reply in July. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly like to thank Ms Siân James MP and her staff for their help in this matter.

The reason for writing to my MP was that the breeder concerned, Heavenlyhogs, claimed that she had accidentally illegally imported several hedgehogs into the UK. She goes on to say that once she realised her mistake she contacted the appropriate authorities (DEFRA) and they gave her permission to “home quarantine” the hedgehogs. There is strong circumstantial evidence that these illegally imported hedgehogs went on to infect Heavenlyhogs’ herd. It is worthy of note that both Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and now the Animal Health Central Operations Services categorically state that “home quarantine” would not be allowed under any circumstances.

An online newspaper article about the illegal importation of the hedgehogs

My MP’s and the Ministry’s replies concerning this can be found in the following two links:

Letter from Ms Siân James MP

Letter from Animal Health Central Operations Services

Some of the people that have made comments on this blog about this story have wondered why I got involved in this and continue to be involved in something that is none of my business. I suppose I’m just a stubborn old SOB who knows that people like Heavenlyhogs believe that if they procrastinate long enough, people will just get fed up and go away. Well not this time…

My next step is to contact the Trading Standards office and report the suspected illegal importation of Pygmy Hedgehogs into the UK.

I’ll keep you informed about how that goes.

Each year literally hundreds of millions of legally imported exotic pets flood into the United States and Europe. Many of these animals can be happily hopping, swimming or crawling in the wild in South America, Asia or Africa one day, and find themselves in a cage in some child’s bedroom in say, Ohio, less than a week later. Very often many of these pets are not subject to quarantine or any form of screening and come straight from the bush into our homes. Unfortunately many exotic pet owners are completely ignorant of the risks these animals may pose to their health.

Zoonotic Diseases

A zoonotic disease is one that can jump from animals to humans.  The latest “Swine Flu” outbreak is very good example of a zoonotic disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that these types of diseases account for 75% of all emerging infectious threats. Here is just a small sample of the diseases that exotic pets have passed or could pass on to humans, i.e. your family.

• Cowpox - In a recent case in France four people were infected by cowpox after being scratched by pet rats that were all bought from the same pet store. In three of the cases surgery was required to treat the disease.(1)

• Salmonella – The majority of Salmonella infections originate from contaminated food. However it is estimated that 5 % of infections are linked to pets. It is believed that around 90% of reptiles, especially iguanas and turtles, carry Salmonella. The CDC estimates that 70,000 people in the USA are infected with Salmonella by pet reptiles every year. Between 2003 and 2004 many people in ten states all over the USA were infected with a drug-resistant form of the disease which was subsequently linked to pet hamsters and other rodents. (2)

• In 1994 African Pygmy Hedgehogs were linked to a rare form of Salmonella (S. tilene), when a 10 month old girl became the first human to be documented with this serotype in the USA. The girl’s family kept a breeding herd of 80 hedgehogs and significantly she had not been in physical contact with them herself, only with a family member who had handled them. The same serotype was later diagnosed in 10 hedgehog owners in Canada. (3)

• Psittacosis – According to the CDC there are about 50 confirmed cases of Psittacosis each year in the USA, although they believe there may be many more cases that remain misdiagnosed or unreported. The disease is transmitted by pet birds such as parrots, parakeets, macaws, and cockatiels. Psittacosis can cause severe pneumonia and there have been several fatalities.(4)

• In New England in 2005 three transplant patients died after receiving organs from a human donor who had been infected with the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus by a pet hamster. (5)

• Monkeypox – In 2003 there was an outbreak of Monkeypox in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Monkeypox is related to Smallpox and its symptoms include fever and the development of a papular rash. In all cases the people with the disease had been in contact with pet prairie dogs that had all come from the same source. (6)

• Ringworm – Despite its name ringworm or Tinea is actually a fungal skin infection. One source of ringworm is known to be pet and wild hedgehogs. Over the past few months regular readers will know that this blog has been covering a story where three people were infected with ringworm by two hoglets bought from the same breeder.This story is all the more disturbing as the breeder in question somehow managed to circumvent the UK’s stringent quarantine laws and import several African Pygmy Hedgehogs directly into the country from Germany. She claims that the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) allowed her to “home quarantine” the hedgehogs. It later transpired that the German breeder’s herd was infected with ringworm. While at the breeder’s home this infection was spread from the “German” hedgehogs to the “parents” of the two hoglets that later infected their new owners and a family member. It should be noted that Defra state that “home quarantine” would not be allowed under any circumstances. (7)

• Another recent CDC study lists an alarming number of confirmed and potential zoonotic diseases that pet and wild hedgehogs can carry. The confirmed diseases include Salmonella, Yersina, pseudotubercolosis, Mycobacterium marinum (also known as “Fish Tank Disease”), Herpesvirus including human herpes simplex and Rabies. The potential diseases include Yersina pestis (also responsible for Bubonic plague) and hemorrhagic fever. (8)

What can you do to reduce the risk of infection?

Many researchers in the field of infectious diseases actively discourage ownership of any kind of exotic pet. However, exotic pet ownership is a fact of life and millions of them share our homes all over the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have several web pages that provide some excellent advice about reducing the risk of infection and information about the diseases themselves: HEALTHYPETS.

If you do decide to purchase an exotic pet, buying it from a reputable breeder rather than a pet store or pet distributor, should provide you with more guarantees about the animal’s origins. While the risk of catching some terrible disease from your pet is relatively small, owners must be aware that the risk is real and does exist. If you follow the advice given on the CDC web site that risk is greatly reduced.

References:

1. Ninove L, Domart Y, Vervel C, Voinot C, Salez N, Raoult D, et al. Cowpox virus transmission from pet rats to humans, France. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 May; [Epub ahead of print]
2. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – May 6, 2005 / 54(17);429-433
3. Journal of Clinical Microbiology Nov. 1997, p. 2786 – 2790 Human Salmonellosis Associated with Exotic Pets; David L Woodward, Rasik Khakhira & Wendy M Johnson National Laboratory for Enteric Pathogens, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
5. Margaret Ebrahim and John Solomon Associated Press Article – Nov. 27, 2006
6. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report – Centers for Disease Control and PreventionJune 13, 2003 / 52(23);537-540
7. Author’s blog
8. Patricia Y. Riley and Bruno B. Chomel Emerging Infectious Diseases www.cdc.gov/eid Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2005

As many of this blog’s regular readers will already know, we have recently devoted a lot of time  and space to a tale of what happens when things go very wrong when buying a pet hedgehog from a breeder. The story involves un-kept pre-sale promises, ringworm and unpaid vet fee refunds.

At the time of writing, i.e. 6 months after the original purchase, this story has still not been satisfactorily resolved. If you haven’t already read this story you can find the start of it by clicking on this link.

The breeder in question, Michelle Fountain, (aka Heavenlyhogs) has still not refunded her customer’s vet’s fees even though she has repeatedly promised to do so here on this blog and in several other well documented occasions over the past six months.

Problems of this nature are rare in the hedgehog world. No doubt situations like this do arise, but responsible caring breeders are quick to resolve them amicably and in private. [It should be noted that for whatever reason, in the case mentioned above, it was the breeder herself who made the ringworm story public with a somewhat dramatic, almost hysterical post on the Hedgehog Central Forum].

It is obviously in the best interests of breeders to resolve complaints as their reputations as ethical breeders may be at stake. Also dealing with a problem in a prompt responsible manner, however damaging it might initially seem, will actually enhance a breeder’s reputation.

So what can you do to avoid this happening to you?

When choosing a pet hedgehog breeder the best recommendation is probably one you receive from a friend or family member that has had dealings with him or her.

Before buying from a breeder you should ask for the names of other customers and contact them to find out what their experience was like.

The Hedgehog Central Forum maintains a list of USDA licensed and non licensed pet hedgehog breeders for the USA. They also list Canadian and European breeders. The advantage of using one of the breeders listed here is that they have to agree to a Breeder Code of Ethics before they can be listed on the site.

In the UK the PygmyhogsUK forum maintains a list of breeders that have been recommended by the UK African Pygmy Hedgehog Registry. Again before they can join this list, the breeders have to agree to a code of ethics and meet the requirements of certain criteria.

No doubt there are many other responsible breeders who are not on these two lists, but obviously using one from a list or buying from a classified pet ad  that demand a code of ethics from its breeders or advertisers does add some degree of dodgy dealing protection.

What should you do if things go wrong?

First and foremost you should try to resolve the issue with the breeder. It is strongly suggested that wherever possible you do this over the phone as very often the “tone” of the written word can be misinterpreted and a situation can escalate out of all proportion because of these misunderstandings. That said, you should also ask the breeder to send you an email listing what was agreed upon verbally so that you have some kind of documentary proof.

If this fails and the breeder is listed on one of the two forums mentioned above, or somewhere else that requires a code of ethics, you should complain to the people responsible for maintaining the list. If they agree with your complaint they may put pressure on the breeder to resolve it.

In the USA, if the breeder is a USDA license holder you can probably complain to them as well. Obviously the next step would be legal action of some kind but this can be expensive.

You can also go “public” with your complaint and post about your experience on exotic pet forums. Unfortunately these kinds of posts are often shut down by forum moderators before the full story is told.

This blog is always happy to air well founded complaints about dodgy breeders. Contact us by email and we’ll consider posting it here.

It is perhaps worthy of note that Michelle Fountain aka Heavenlyhogs was actually banned from the PgmyhogsUK forum for unethical behaviour before she even started breeding hedgehogs!

It has also been alleged that she was removed from the Hedgehog Central list of breeders after complaints were received about her, although she denies this and says she asked to be removed.

The above actions by these well known and influential pet hedgehog forums  means that both  take their codes of ethics seriously.

If you have any other ideas about how buyers can protect themselves from dodgy dealing practises please add a comment below.

Bringing a pet hedgehog into a home where young kids are present is something that should be cause for concern for any responsible owner. However, hedgehogs do make great pets and children take delight in them. It will all depend on the children in question and how their parents educate them.

African Pygmy Hedgehogs are small creatures and can easily be injured by rough handling. Undoubtedly there are very few children out there who would purposely harm any animal, but often kids don’t know their own strength so injuries caused by small hands are common.

That said, pet hedgehogs are not completely defenceless and they do have their quills to protect themselves. If child handles one roughly your hedgehog will use its quills to protect itself and then it is the child who is likely to get hurt rather than the hedgehog.

It is a good idea to wait until your child is about 9 or 10 before you bring a hedgehog into your home. Whatever the age of your children you will need to establish a few ground rules and know that they will be obeyed. It goes without saying that the rules are for your kids and not the hedgehog. Your hedgehog will go on behaving much as it has done for the past 15 million years or so and react by instinct alone. This is something you should also bear in mind if your child is injured by your hedgehog.

The most important thing your child needs to understand is that only you or another responsible adult are allowed to open the cage. Until your child is old enough, only you or another adult should pick the hedgehog up.  You should get your child to sit down and put the hedgehog in your child’s lap so that he or she can stroke and caress it gently. You should do this until the child is old enough to be able to gently pick up the hedgehog him or herself.

Young kids must know that they are not allowed to feed the hedgehog anything unless you have given your permission first. Your hedgehog shouldn’t be allowed to roam freely in your house either as small feet are just as capable of crushing the life out of one as large adult feet. When the hedgehog is out of its cage and roaming, children should make sure their small toys are not lying around and they shouldn’t give a hedgehog one of their toys to play with unless you have given your permission first.

Please do not leave any child unattended with your hedgehog until they are capable of actually taking care of it themselves. You obviously don’t want your hedgehog or child to get hurt and the only way to avoid this happening is with supervision and a few unbreakable rules.

If you found this article useful or have any criticism to make please leave a comment below.

You will be able to tell how your pet hedgehog is feeling from its body language and the sounds it makes. Here are some of its typical responses and what they signify.

Rolling up

Rolling  into a ball is a defence mechanism and it means it is frightened or doesn’t like what’s going on around it. Reasons for this could be sharp noises, the smell of a predator or when a person it doesn’t know tries to handle it. Hedgehogs also sleep rolled up in a ball but not as tightly as when it is in its defensive posture.

Raising its forehead spines

Hedgehogs will raise the spines on their foreheads to protect its eyes whenever it is feeling wary or distrustful.  It will often raise its spines when you are caressing its back and your hand strays to close to its head. When young hedgehogs play together they always keep their forehead spines raised.

Flat spines

Once your pet hedgehog gets to know  and trust you, it will keep its spines flat while you are caressing it. It might take a while longer for it to stop raising its forehead spines.

The flehmen response

When a hedgehog smells something interesting or dangerous it will hold its snout high with its mouth slightly open and its top lip curled back. This behaviour is known as the flehmen response and is also seen in cats and dogs.

Self-anointing

You will sometimes see your hedgehog foaming at the mouth and if you don’t know what’s happening it can be quite disconcerting at first.  This behaviour typically occurs when it smells something new in its cage or its surroundings.  It will sometimes lick or chew the scented object and salivate profusely producing foam. It will then spread the foam over the spines of its back and neck and the hair along its flanks. Nobody is really quite sure why it does this and theories range from it being a way adding a form of toxin to its spines to deter predators, a kind of perfume to attract a mate or a defensive strategy to make the hedgehog blend in with its surroundings.

Sounds

The most noticeable and frequent sound your hedgehog will make is the huffing and snuffling noise you will hear as it searches for food or moves things around in its cage.  It will also hiss and make a jumping motion if it disturbed or annoyed. You’ll hear soft grunts or sniffs of contentment as it goes about the important business of feeding. If you hear loud screaming or squeals it means your hedgehog is in severe pain or danger. If you have more than one hedgehog in a cage it may mean they are fighting and they should be separated immediately. Baby hedgehogs make a chirping sound that later turns into a cry which can become loud and piercing if they find themselves separated from their mother.  A happy hedgehog will make soft snuffling noises as they crawl all over you but will hiss and huff if they are startled by something while being handled. Hedgehogs will often snore while sleeping and make other noises that may indicate they are dreaming.

Observing your hedgehog

Apart from the typical responses and behaviour mentioned above, you’ll also find that your hedgehog will develop its own individual characteristics and quirks. One author reports that one of his hedgehogs learned to stand on its back legs and lean its fore paws against his leg when it wanted attention. If you observe your pet you’ll soon learn about how it is trying to communicate with you and further increase your enjoyment of owning your spiky little friend.

This article was written by Ian Miles who is the owner of Leo, one of the pet hedgehogs involved in my ringworm article. It describes how he built his own locust incubator and provides some good tips for anyone thinking about constructing one for themselves. For our American readers, Ian is lives in the UK so all the stores he mentions are UK based. You guys can probably find everything used here at your local Home Depot.

I decided to try my hand at constructing a suitable cage or housing in which to rear purchased young locusts to feed to our newly acquired African Pygmy hedgehog.

I had never done anything like this before so decided to search the net. Over the next week or so I searched hundreds of sites and forums trying to find a decent guide or account of how to raise and possibly breed Locusts. None of them had what I would consider to be a suitable guide. Using bits gleaned from various sites I set off to the local timber merchants and also ordered some of the electronics from various web sites.

I drew up a list of the major 6 requirements and these formed the basic design and operating guidelines.

1. A housing of approximately 2ft wide 2ft high and about 18 inches from back to front.
2. A daytime temperature of between 28 to 35 degrees centigrade,
3. A night temperature of 25 to 30 degrees centigrade,
4. Lots of ventilation, as a damp environment causes fungal infections which are lethal.
5. Ample perches and hiding places
6. Containers of about 5 inches deep to hold the moist sand for egg laying.

I decided to make the unit as simple to run as possible and therefore as automated as possible. I didn’t want the hassle of having to physically turn lights on and off for set periods of time.

The first purchase was a two channel timer to give me my set day and night periods. The second to control the daytime temperature was a Habistat dimming thermostat as I wanted to use light bulbs as my daytime heat source. These thermostats never actually turn the lights off they simply dim them as the required set temperature is reached. As the environment cools the lights brighten again giving more heat.

For the night time heat source I wanted to use heat mats so I opted for a Habistat mat thermostat with two heat mats connected. Unfortunately the two mats didn’t keep the cage hot enough in the cold spell we have just gone through so I fitted a 60 watt tubular heater to the roof of the cage. This is not controlled by the mat stat but is simply switched on by the night timer.

The timer was set to 16 hours of daytime and 8 hours of night.

I also fitted a low voltage LED night light to simulate moonlit conditions this was also controlled by the night portion of the timer.

Three holes were cut into the bottom of the cage for the egg laying containers. The ideal containers for this job I found to be from Asda, they sell cheese sauce and various other items in them, the ones I bought were the 600gramm ones. They are an ideal depth and have a snug fitting lid for retaining moisture in the sand after the eggs are laid.

The basic cage is made from 12mm MDF from B&Q, they cut it to any size for you if you are not to handy with an electric saw.

The glass doors are cut to size by my local glass merchant, they also sell the sliders for the top and bottom.

The unit took me about 3 nights to build and paint and a further 2 nights to wire up.

The sensors from the dimming thermostat, the mat thermostat ant the thermometer were mounted through tight fitting holes mid height in the cage wall.

I left the cage running for 3 or 4 days to adjust the day and night temps.

When I was sure it was running satisfactorily I ordered 100 young Locust from a live food dealer.

I decided I wanted to try and maintain a temperature of 34 degrees centigrade throughout the day and 30 degrees at night.

The 100 Locust arrived on the 28^th of January as 5^th Instars.

They were fed a constant supply of spring greens, shredded cabbage, bran and Pro Grub. They also liked the odd piece of orange or banana.

Five days later on the second of February the first ones began to moult and emerge as fully winged adults. This continued for the next few weeks.

As my wife dislikes feeding live Locusts to Leo our African Pygmy Hedgehog I culled 50 and froze them.

As the adults began to mature the males began to change from a buff colour to yellow and the females remained buff. On the 7^th of February I observed the first attempts at mating.

I sterilised sufficient bird sand by placing it in a tray and baking it in the oven on full power for one hour, once cooled I filled the plastic containers and moistened the sand with boiled and cooled water. Once wetted a light daily misting seemed sufficient enough to keep it moist.

On Monday the 9^th February I removed another 20 Locusts.

The following day on Tuesday the 10^th February the first hole appeared in the sand. The top of the hole was filled with what appeared to be white foam. I removed the container to check and I could clearly see the clump or pod of eggs. They were right at the bottom of the container almost 5 inches down and the column of foam extended down to the eggs almost as a plug.

Over the next few days several more holes appeared in the sand all plugged with white foam. I removed the sand container and fitted its lid to retain moisture which I found out the eggs need before they will develop and hatch. The container was stored at the rear of the cage to give the developing eggs the same temperature as they were laid in.

Another container of sand was put in its place so further eggs could be laid.

Eggs were continually laid and the full containers again stored.

On Friday 13^th February, I removed a further 10 Locusts leaving us with 10 laying pairs.

On Monday 16^th February I removed all adults as we now had 5 containers full of eggs.

The cage was stripped cleaned and sterilised and the containers returned to it after it had dried.

Tuesday 24^th February, the first batch of eggs seems to have swollen or grown in size slightly and seen to be getting a lot lighter in colour, almost white in parts.

Wednesday 25^th February, several young Locust emerged today so I placed several pieces of fresh spring greens in the cage along with a small pile of bran and some progrub to give the young hoppers a selection of foods. This gives us an incubation time of 10 days at 34 degrees since the first pod was laid.

Thursday 26^th February, lots more young hoppers are out today.

Friday 27^th February, literally hundreds hatched out today.

Tuesday 10^th March, the locusts are now 13 days old and to me appear to be what is called 4^th Instars. I have no idea how many there are but I would guess at around 500 to 600. They need several good feedings a day, four large Spring Green (Cabbage) leaves last about half an hour. I removed the first batch today to feed to Leo our African Pygmy Hedgehog.

Below is an image gallery showing the development of the locusts from mating, egg laying and emergence from the containers of sand.

[View with PicLens]

12►

Once this article was published I informed Heavenlyhogs through the Reptile UK Forums of its existence. This morning I received her reply which I post here in its entirety, exactly as it was received by me:

Quote:

Dear Ms Fountain,

I’d like to inform you about a blog article I posted earlier today about you on my site
Hedgehogs as Pets

Thanks for your time

Regards
Spike

Hi there
thanks for that i found it very very interesting what i also find interesting is your lack of Balls to actually name yourself.
Let’s get a few little things straight shall we?
Check my feedback and you will see i have had people to my home recently and it is NOT filthy as your bulls article implies.
Futhermore no vet report was ever received from chazy babe and im sick of her and others using her health issues as a sympathy card whilst meanwhile all those concerned acuse me of using my sons as a so called sympathy card,my sons made the offer,shoot them for their love of me and their pets why dont you.
Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would be aware of the freedom of information act to find out if i was ever indeed prosecuted for any illegal importation of hedgehogs including youand clearly i was not so therefor einstein NO offense could have been comitted.If it was why would they drop the case with no action…deeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr
Why dont you print some lovely articles on the very people spreading RUMOUR and crapola of so called authority on inbreeding and keeping hedgies in plastic boxes with no excercise wheels all stacked one on the other.While you’re at it check out the uk website if you want to see filthy husbandry with lots of zoozones stacked on top of one another with the insides being absolutely appalling and no wheels ect.Those breeding hoglets through inbreeding that were born with extra limbs and non functional back legs and sold with owners merely offered a NEW hog no mention of paying vet feesyet i had a ringworm issue and all hell breaks loose well i guess im really bad for wanting vet reports from BOTH parties before issuing ANY payments.And i’m ever so sorry i will not be walked all over for the likes of you or anybody else,my apologies for that.Why the hell would i issue refunds with no vet report?
As for the breeders list i do not care for it in light of the above.
I am setting up my own hedgehog club and and will mention the breeders you haven’t and this story,there isnt a damn thing you can do about that.No one will drive me away from my passion at that includes YOU.
I am not miss fountain or Viljoen by the way
New husband new surnameand for the record i will leave the money making up to 90% of uk breeders.I am a millionairess why the hell would i care for the disimal money for a hedgie.
IDIOT
Mrs mindyaowngoddamnbusiness

__________________

I think the email speaks for itself and no further comments are necessary from me. I did try to use the Reptile UK user interface to reply to Heavenlyhogs but it appears that she has shut down all means of doing so at her end. I have posted a reply on a forum where she has pictures of her latest litter and that can be found here (please note my username is Alley-Cat on this forum):

http://www.emerald-isle-exotics.com/hedgehogs-f20/some-of-my-boys-t37.htm#258

As this post is likely to be deleted soon I’m also pasting my reply below:

Hi again Heavenlyhogs,

Unfortunately you have turned off the means of communicating with you on the Reptile UK Forum.

Thanks very much for your reply.

My name is Paul Murphy and I live in Verona, Italy. I’m ex-army (SIB) and teach English for a living. I’m 54 and have an 18 year old daughter. (So please stop accusing me of hiding behind my computer.)

Please note that nowhere in my article do I say that you were prosecuted for importing hedgehogs illegally into the UK. Perhaps I’m not quite as stupid as you imagine.

If you can supply me with links to anything or any evidence about what you said about other hedgehog breeders please send them to me and I will carefully consider writing an article about it as well.

Please feel free to make comments on my blog about anything you feel is inaccurate or misleading.

Hedgehogsaspets.com

Regards
Paul

The text below was first sent to me as an email and then posted as a comment on the Follow-up page. Due to its length I am posting it here (as I intended to do with the email anyway, Heavenlyhogs beat me to it). Again it is posted in its entirety.

Hello Paul
i saw your message on my websites guest page.
Firstly may i point out that you have named me and i’m not sure unless you have 100% proof of claims that that is altogether fair or even legal.
This would mean you would have to have all copies of both parties vet bills,along with RSPCA reports and my own vets reports.Otherwise it is hearsay and unreliable.
also the list of recommended breeders are all friends of each other and also the UK reg is not a uk reg but a branch so that needs to be straightened out.
I find your article highly unprofessional in light of what i have said so far.
Let me take you back to the begining,i originally started out as thehoghut several months before becoming heavenlyhogs,i even had a forum to that effect and a member of that forum was Bonnie martin aka happyhogs.I had a male hoglet on reserve from her and 1 other lady Alicia Chantrey at the time.I showed bonnie my site which at the time also had an availables page.Yet she NEVER uttered a word about the available page being inappropiate and was still happy to sell me the hoglet i ha reserved.Now if there was any doubts at that time why would she have been supporting me and giving no mention of the available page.She knew i wanted to breed someday but never uttered a word about it being inappropiate to have an availables page on my website or a FORUM.
Not too long after and just about a week before i was due to collect my boy from both breeders my grandmother(who lives abroad)was taken seriously ill and my partner was hospitalised with ptsd,my personal life has no baring or any business of anyone but out of goodwill i sent both breeders emails telling them i had to let them down and why.And i also closed down the forum as i didn’t have the time to contribute to it then.
I had to go to be by my grandmothers side and at the same time be there for my partner so i thought i acted in the best interest of the hoglets concerned at the time.I thought the breeders would accept this and not talk about how BADLY i had let them down if it was in the best interests of the hoglets.My mistake.
So i went to see my grandmother and fortunately she made a satisfactory recovery.Not long afterwards i had a boy on reserve from another breeder,i emailed the breeder sent my £10 deposit via paypal and collected him a few weeks later.I was delighted and yes perhaps i got a little carried away coming back and opening a new website and forum for newbies but i was fascinated and passionate about these animals although my intentions may have been somewhat misinterprated at the time.However no one said anything and i even went into uk pygmy forum all excited to tell of my site name change,still no one said anything other than it was looking great.
I then went from england to belfast to collect a hoglet for me and one for a friend.I paid double the cost to do that as the ferry i had already booked and paid for refused carrige at the last moment despite previous confirmations that this would be ok.
I had my hoglets 6mts when i decided to breed and alot of new owners do the same when they buy hoglets although they’re afraid to admit their intention to breed due to reprisals.In this 6mts i researched more and more and joined various forums ect.I had already researched hedgehogs a year prior to purchase,in fact i had noticed them and decided on ferrets instead.When i lost my boy ferret i thought of the hedgies i had seen and began researching and finding reputable breeders.
I’ve always been upfront and open of my intentions to breed from the begining i’ve not kept it hush hush as most newbies do.
I had learned a lot about the uk gene pool and wanted to do something about it so i contacted defra and was told in emails and telephone conversations that it was fine for me to import from holland via germany that no quarantine was needed.
So i thought great and set about my journey,yes the email you mentioned was out dated that’s because i didn’t have the original one they sent.Hell i didn’t think i would need it.My mistake again.The reason that later one came about is because i made exactly the same enquiry at the same time defra actually informed me when i of my own FREE will contacted them on the advise of another registra to ask them if they had been mistaken and the hedgehogs should have been indeed quarantined.That in itself just goes to show what a pigs ear they were making of things STILL.It was that email that saved me so to speak.I was told that they would be i touch and no one contacted me until 3 mts later after lengthy investigation to say that i could now keep the hedgehogs in my home since they were there for the 3 months i was waiting to hear.In the meantime i went without buying new furniture for my home and kepy a bidget just in case,my children were upset at my being upset and offered to h!
elp.
All this time myself and my family and other pets were placed at risk.Would i intentionally do this?NO.That’s insane as far as rabies is concerned.
So as i said 3mts later they contacted me to say that the hedgies must rmain on the property until the 6 month period was over and that i should report any symptom to them and a vet immediately.
No charges were ever brought and if i had intentionally imported without the propper papers,procedures then i’m pretty sure i would have been,but i did to my mind do everything by the book and rely on them for the correct information.
I went on to have my first litter and sold all those in the litter as you well know.Yes it is most unfortunate that ringworm was evident.But all i can say is that i apologised to those concerned(i still have their emails)and would do all i could to rectify the situation.
None of my animals showed any visable signs of ringworm at any point so there was no way i would have known about it.I did contact my vet with the intention of binging every hog and it was explained that skin scrapes would need to be made but the best course of action was to treat for ringworm immediately.I was advised by keepers/breeders that imaverol was very sucessful in the treatment of ringworm in hedgehogs and available without perscription.I rang my vet and had a consultation and they had a look at one of my hedgies and said that no sign of ringworm was evident.I told my vet about the advise i had been given on imaverol and they looked up the ingredients to make absolutely sure it was ok to use and they said it was and did i want themto order it in to whichi replied i had already sent for some but just wanted to make absolutely certain of its use.
And i indeed treated all my hedgies.
One of my recent litter babies was also tested to the tune of £100 and tested negative and my vet said there and then it was highly inprobable that any of my other hedgies had it since i treated and practiced good hygene.
I have offered both parties vet fees and i did receive an invoice from iain and julie but i have ot to date ever received an invoice from chazy.Despite my many requests.I was polites and courteous up to the point and a little beyond of the rep uk forums posts.I found it highly offensive and unecessary to word it in the way it was and innacurately say that i was “convicted”of illegal importations.
I still to this day maintain that monies(despite these posts and accusations)for iain and julie will be sent to hedgehog welfare.
To date as i mentioned i have not received anything from Chazy and i would like very much to see this pm’s or emails she thinks she has sent to me requesting the refund.It is standard practice for all breeders to request such documentations.
With regards to stacking cages,yes i do in 2′s and there is nothing wrong with it.Have you even bothered to look at my set ups on the forums or my hedgies to check anything.As for my home being filthy that is also VERY untrue.Ask lota front in my feedback she recently visited my home to deliver a lizard and commented in the feedback that i was a nice person and my reptiles were in fatastic shape so i resent you remarks not only toward my hedgies which are quite clearly healthy looking and in suitable housing but for the other exotics i keep.I would like evidence of this.
With regards to the rspca that is a blatent lie and i welcome yu to ring them,i will give my permission for details to be released on your behalf.
Forgive me if i’m wrong but standard practice for animals hat have beendenied a vet and filthy condition is removal,not time time for rectification when they urgently need a vet.The animals would have been removed there and then.
With regards to other breeders and all i have said i think it is for you in light of what you are doing to research facts thoroughly before publishing works.This in my opinion is most unprofessional.You can find full details of what i have said in the breeders helping breeders yahoo forum in the archives quite frankly i don’t have the energy for this email let alone go delving into what has past.But the same breeder attacking me was accused of bad breeding practices herself.
I find the mention(as an ex army member yourself)of my partners ptsd,my children and my grandma totally uneccasary.They are of no concern to anyone.
It was at my request i be removed from the hhc breeders list as i am emigrating and will no longer be part of the uk.I’m sure i have this email request in my sent folder somewhere.Really i do not have the fight in me.If you’re professional and passionate about what you contribute then this article would never have been made without first consulting all those involved and having 100% proof.
As for money making i don’t think so.
My partner has an incredible job(his own business now)which nets him millions by the year.Also i donate to hedgehog research for every hoglet i sell,unfortunately due to about £1,000 of vet fees in recent month this has not been possible.I am also currently setting up an animal sanctuary.
Michelle

nothing futher to add