The Joy Of Hedgehog Breeders

Animal lovers across the globe own all varieties of pets and become breeders out of love, and hedgehog breeders are no different. Hedgehogs are a very small animal that can make a very big place in your heart with their soft eyes and humorous antics. After seeing a hedgie scoop up an empty toilet paper tube and prance around like an explorer with a periscope, it is hard not to love them and want to have more of them around.

One must have proper space, a great amount of patience and love, and must be willing to abide by the tried and true methods that seasoned breeders use. Sometimes it may seem heartless to allow a hedgehog mother to abandon a hoglet, but there are times they can sense a problem that we cannot detect. It is one of nature’s ways of ensuring survival of the fittest.

Other times a hoglet may wander out of the nest and be returned to the nest without disturbing the mother or risking the rest of the litter. A hoglet that is younger than a week should never be touched by human hands, but can sometimes be lifted with a spoon and placed back in the nest without leaving a human scent on it. Disturbing or upsetting a new mother can stress her to the point she will kill and/or eat her young. Males cannot be near a new mother with young as they may kill and/or eat the young so the female will start another breeding cycle.

For a first pregnancy, a female should be as close to a year old as possible. Younger hogs often get internal injuries from forcing a pregnancy too soon, while older females may have trouble with a first time conception. To ensure a pregnancy, the female should be put in the male’s cage for up to 7 days. They will fight, but the female will eventually let the male breed with her. After she is removed and put back in her own cage, time should be charted, as pregnancies last from 30-45 days.

A nesting box should be placed in her cage a week prior to the expected due date and not removed until the litter is weaned at about six weeks of age. If the mother allows it, the hoglets can begin to be handled at about three weeks. Do not attempt this too soon because abandoned hoglets rarely survive being bottle fed.

If a person wishes to become a member of the hedgehog breeders world, they should own hedgehogs prior to attempting breeding and seek out advice and help from seasoned hedgehog breeders.

By: Alan Stables

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Alan is a lover of animals and nature. He writes on all types of alternative farming topics, as well as nature articles. Apart from the www.greektortoise.net/”>greek tortoise , other animals he writes about are www.epetturtles.com/”>pet turtles and www.hedgehogsaspets.net/”>hedgehogs as pets.