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African Pygmy Hedgehogs, Atelerix albiventris are amazing Insectivores.

Here are some pics of the couple at home, Mr. Hedge Hedgings and Mrs. Koupa Hedgewina Hedgings.

I've had Hedge for over 2 years now and Koupa has been with us for the last year.

They get along quite nicely and like to run together on their wheels most of the night and well into dawn.

They are kept separated for obvious reasons but nature has its ways and we may be expecting the little pitter patter of small paws in some 35 days which is their gestation period.

Apart from their prickly exterior they are soft and cuddly. Hedge is a bit of a bitter when he gets fed up but Koupa will lick you to death shes so sweet.

Also very smart, they will come to eat when called on and are amazing problem solvers.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and I will keep you informed if there are offspring in the near future.

All the best,

James

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Hedgehog Pens

Here is Hedge coming out from under his blankey...

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Hedge

He is waiting on me to feed him...

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Impatient Hedge

He eats catfood as basis of his diet but also gets ocational treats compossed of insect, usually in the form of meal worms, Tenebrio molitor.

The pointy things in its mouth are the teeth.

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Dinner Time

The lady of the house...

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Koupa

She is shy but very loving and tender...

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Shy Koupa

She gets the same diet as Hedge does, but that will be changing as due date approaches and she may need different nutrition to meet her needs.

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Dinner Time

Hope you enjoyed the pics and if you have some feedback on living conditions that may be improved and or questions about them drop me a line thus I welcome them fully.

Also if you have any experience or tips on breeding them and would like to drop a couple of cents to help this first timer grandpa out I would very much appreciatte it.

All the best,

James

Never ended up getting one partially because of how hard they are to find here but this was the best forum and information resource I found: http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=e54135e606d237cf2c71a3e2f99b1cf1&f=37

AWWWWWWW they're so cute!!! Okay so maybe Hedge didnt want to hear he was cute, but Koupa will love it I'm sure!

Very cute faces, can't wait to see the little pitter critters!

^_^

Aww yes.....so cute! But Mama seems heftier than the Dad does? Is that normal? I always thought it would be cute to have one of those.......but after seeing their teeth........ weeeeel
........ I don't think so.

Thanks for sharing, & when the babies arrive, please let us see.

GAHH.. MUST...RESIST...STEALING...HEDGE... sooo cute T_T if you need a baby sitter for the babies on the way, you know who to call. (not ghost busters O.o)

Sham,

Thanks for the great link, that site has proven to be very informative for a newbie soon to be grandpa.

Babel,

Hedge likes the attention as well, under that hard rough exterior lies a tender sweetie that enjoys being cuddled. Koupa is just all around sweetness.

Patty,

The momma hedgehog is actually quite smaller than the poppa. Their size when curled up could be compared to a
softball next to a baseball. This size difference is the norm where the male is larger than the female.

They are cute and if you get one that has been properly weaned and raised to accept humans, they are very docile and make great company. For instance Hedge is a bit rough around the edges, I attribute that to the fact that the LHS I got it from was really large, noisy and he didnt have a nice environment. Also he was probably not handled much as a baby since he is very independant and likes to throw tantrums at people.

He will bite if he is not comfy, nontheless he now only threatens to bite or throws a superficial bite, where as when I first got him, he would lodge himself to my finger and wouldnt let go until I totally relaxed my hand entirely, something hard to do when you are having 4 vampire like teeth embeded in your muscles.

Dont get me wrong, its not something that happened every day but Koupa on the other hand has never attempted to bite me and I had the same feedback from the previous handlers. She'll lick you to death though, thats pretty scary too.

Ham,

You are their long, long, long, distant uncle who only sees them on hollidays and such, no need to steal him. You are welcome to baby sit anytime.

Well people,thanks for your comments, I will be posting more pics as things progress in order to keep you all up to date.

Thanks again,

James

I laughed until my eyes teared up when I saw these lovely little creatures.



Thank you so much for sharing.

Only thing finer would be to see Mrs in a leetle bonnet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Wish!

She'd be just like Mrs Tiggy-Winkle from Peter Rabbit then !

^_^

Wish-ga, Babel! You Guys!

Well if I can get a bonnet that small I will comply and post the pics.

That is if Koupa agrees to it! Bonnets may not be as trendy as they were in Peter Rabbit.

James

James you are right - but they never went outta fashion in children's books. Miss Tiggy winkle indeed Babel..... or has she changed it to Ms Tiggy-sanizzle and ditched the bonnet in favour of a goth corset?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Ok! Bonnet or goth corset? Gotta make up your mind.

Cuz the two of them kinda clash together!



James

Pity you cant get them in Australia (they would probably eat all the Kangaroos or something). I would definitely own one.

Very interesting pictures REDPHANTOM. I never saw a hedgehog that close before & those are really cute.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com