Pet hedgehogs are a playful and adorable addition to your family. When you are looking for an exotic pet, a hedgehog is an excellent choice. They’re notoriously easy to care for, easy going, and don’t take up much space or make a mess. They’re perfect for a busy family, especially if you only have time to spend with your pet in the evenings, since hedgehogs are nocturnal.
You can never mistake a hedgehog for something else. Their unique, spikey nature gives them a stand-out appearance you can’t forget. Pet hedgehogs are becoming more popular because of their gentle nature and insanely cute faces. They’re also unique creatures, and must be handled with the utmost care.
In the United States, the most common type of pet hedgehog is the African Pygmy variety. They’re the most quiet and calm of the different breeds of hedgehog; however, you still need to be sure to not startle them, or they’ll deploy their quills. Hedgehogs have over 7,000 quills each, and those spikey things are very sharp if you get poked with one directly. Each quill on a hedgehog points in a different direction and forms a protective barrier around the animal when it rolls into a ball. This is how a hedgehog protects itself in the wild.
One of the most challenging aspects of keeping a pet hedgehog is feeding it. These animals are omnivores in the wild, eating both plants and other animals. Dry cat and dog food can satisfy a hedgehog, and provides it with the essential nutrients it needs to live. Giving it some meal worms and other small insects will also help it thrive. For treats, hedgehogs love fruit; this isn’t an everyday food for your pet, but giving him a little bit of his favorite fruit a few times a week will certainly make him happy! Experiment with different kinds until you find the type he likes best (every hedgehog is unique and has his own personal favorite foods).
Please make sure you always keep a sufficient amount of water available to your pet, since hedgehogs need to drink liberally while they’re awake.
As far as your pet’s living space goes, he’ll need a large cage, as hedgehogs like to move around. Like any animal (including humans!), he also needs exercise to stay healthy, so be sure to put wheels and tubes in the cage so he can have some recreation. In fact, without recreation, your pet will get bored and make a mess of his cage!
If you follow these simple guidelines, you’ll find that having pet hedgehogs is a real joy! Properly cared for, your hedgehog will give you many years of enjoyment, and the two of you will likely become the best of friends.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
If you have homes for the babies planned, can a male and female hedgelog live together peacefully in the same cage, or will they fight. I read that they should only be put together for breeding, and they separated. We have a pair, not siblings, age 14 weeks old, together at this time. They are happy together and we would like to keep them together, if possible.
Hello, I am interested in getting a hedgehog as a pet. So i looked for a site to help me do so, and i came across yours. Thank you so much for the article, it helped me get a basic idea on keeping one as a pet. Thank you!
Hi Mary I’m glad you found the information useful. I hope you enjoy your Hedgie if you decide to get one
Hi Spike
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Hope you can give me some advice. I rescued a wild adult hedgehog from a busy road yesterday. He is now free in my garden with some cat food. Would it be cruel to keep him there and should I take him to a nearby field where I know there are wild hedgehogs?
Many thanks
We have had a hedgehog roaming our apt for over a year and a half. He has been fine with cats dogs and a turtle. Just yesterday we noticed he was having difficulty breathing and mucus is coming from his noes. I removed some hair stuck to him from muy shedding dogs and cleane dhis nose and put in small dog eyedrops but he still seems to be gasping for breath. Some air bubbles are coming from his nose. It started last night. We live in Abu Dhabi but he has been in the AC all this time. Normally he runs free and has little box huts around for his use. Now I have him in a large doig cage to keep an eye on him. He did not eat last night and does not seem to want to drink water. I am worried. What to do? Thank you so much.
this was intristing. I definently found it helpful!
thanks
hi im looking for help in seeing what i can do for dry skin with my hedge hog
I am thinking about getting a hedgehog and i was wondering if they are playful and know who the owner or “master” is?
Hi Spike,
I am seriously considering getting a hedgehog and was wondering how well it could adjust to a house with a cat and a small dog. They have lived with rats for about 4 years and will learn not to mess with a hedgehog the first time they get quilled, but I am not sure if they will hurt it.
I am a hedgehog owner and have been for a long time. Jan, if I were you, I wold release the hedgehog, because he will probably not make a very good pet. Wild hedehogs bite, scratch, and are generally not the sweetest animals.
Janet, to help your hedgehog’s skin, give him a tiny bit of vegetable or olive oil on his food. watch how much you put, thought. Too much oil could cause him to gain lots of weight.
Robert, I have a dog, and he leaves my hedgehog alone, but the cat would be something to worry about. Cats will sit right next to the cage for long periods of time, and this might traumatize your hedgehog. If your heart is set on a hedgehog, you might consider placing it’s cage in a room that your cat cannot go into. Cindy, I would separate your hedgehogs, they are very solitary animals and come together only for mating, so if a male and a female are in the same cage, they will soon mate, and you will have baby hedgehogs. Although this sounds cut, not only will you run the risk of your female hedgehog dying during pregnancy or birth, baby hedgehogs cost a lot to feed and care for. Animal Luver, most hedgies are very playful, but, like humans, each one has a different personality. And yes, most of the time, they know who the “master” is. Leigh, get your pet to the vet ASAP-this could be a life-thretining disease. I hope he is ok!
So me and my boyfriend are planning on getting a hedgehog soon and we often sleep with the window open i was wondering if i used one of those lizard heating rocks in his cage or if it would be to hot for him, or would that be okay? Just so if he was cold he could snuggle up next to it or on it.
I have a hedgehog and he so cutie but he gets scard alot my cousin gave me him he as a big cage and space and everything he needs to play with when my couin had him you need gloves to pick him up i have to do that all the time and he can only get use to me on the weekends cause i live with my mom must of the time so i need help to make my headghog more frieldly.
Hi soon i’m geting one hedghog and i don’t have enhof money for a hedghog cage. So let me tell you the story we yst to have hamstrs and they died after acuple muths and I was wudering if we culd keep the hedghogs in a cage?
Can you pless anser soon?
And here is a? ok we have 3 cats and 2 dogs what wuld hapen if my hedghog goes to one of the cats and the harts him? And don’t werey about the dogs becase they mostly stay outside.
hi aggin
Tristian I think a hamster cage would be a bit small for your hedgehog. If you can’t afford the hedgehog AND everything he needs to be happy right now, just save up and don’t buy the hedgehog yet. Your cats would probably kill it if it got out, so it needs to be secure.
the pictures on here are so cute one of them is my screensaver. where do they get them from?
thanks for the great help i think my parents might go get me a hegdehog sooon
I used to have rabbits and while I know the cage is not suitable for a hedgehog would it be safe to keep one in the rabbit’s old playpen? It’s basically the equivalent of a metal puppy fence with small gaps in the bars. It can be extended for a very large area for them to run around and I can definately provide toys for him. We have two dogs but they’re only downstairs and the playpen would be in my room upstairs.
I was wondering if a hedgie can tell one person in a family from the others in other words will it know its me not someone else?
I was wondering, where is it legal 2 get a hedgie cuz i REALLY want one. Plus also, what types of things startle hedgies?
I was just wondering, how do you convince your parents to let you have a pet hedgehog? I really want to have one because there soo cute!!! plus there not hard to care for.
I loved your site. I am getting my new hedgehog on may 1st and the information that you have provided has been most helpful. My question is we have ac ( we live in Florida) would a heating lamp be okay to keep it warm? If not do you have any suggestions? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
My dad wants to get a pet hedgehog and so do I. Are they legal in Everett Washington? Also, how well do hedgehogs get along with other household pets. We have two female mice, two female rats and a male chinchilla. Would a hedgehog do okay in the same room as those pets, if they were all in cages?
Hiya, I live in Oregon, and I was wondering where I could get one. I’ve been researching them like a loon and I’m fairly certain that I’ve fallen in love! But I’ve no idea where to even get one! Please help!
i am gettin a 7 month old male hedgehog tom and am also waiting on a baby hedgehog from a diff lady…. will i have to keep them seperate? and does it matter if the baby is a boy or girl?
what size cage do they need????
I was wondering if a 20″ inch by 32″ cage would work for a hedgehog cage
I am considering to get one pet hedgehog. However my flat is very small. Is it possible not to keep it in a cage but a small box as it’s bedroom? When it wake up, it can walk/run/play around in my flat instead of in a cage? However, will it litter up the floor? Bite the furniture or cable?