This is Hedgeetta and her new friend Gonzo.
He is a full grown male about the same age and size of Hedgeetta.
He is a White-bellied Hedgehog just like Hedgeetta. They seemed to get along
very well. Hedgeetta seemed more interested in Gonzo. He seemed to be
shy around her. He visited Hedgeetta for one week. Female hedgehogs are called
sows and males are called boars. The babies are called hoglets.
We are hopeful that Hedgeetta will have hoglets in about 35 to 38 days.
We will not know for sure until the hoglets are born.
There are certain things that you must do when preparing for hoglets.
About a week before you expect them to be born you should thoroughly clean
the cage and put new pine and cypress bedding in the cage. Give the sow extra
food during this time period.
Hedgehogs are mammals and like all mammals their young are born alive. The hoglets spines
are very soft and covered with a membrane that will dry up after birth.
The spines will harden after a few hours. It is very important not to
touch the sow or hoglets after she has given birth. If touched or bothered
she might abandon the babies or seriously harm them. It is important to keep
the cage cleaned during the next few weeks. This can be done by using
a spoon to remove waste matter.
Mammals feed their young with milk from the mother's body. This is true
with hedgehogs. The mother hedgie will nurse her hoglets.
It is important that there is lots of food and water for the mother
hedgies while she is nursing her hoglets.The hoglets will drink milk from the
sow for about 2 to 3 weeks. After this time the sow will wean them
and they will
start to eat the food provided.
Hoglets must not be handled during this time. They can be touched
and handled when they are
6 weeks old. At this time they can be gently held and touched. This
will allow them to get use
to your smell. You need to be very gentle with them as you
want them to trust you. Hedgehogs that are held since birth make better pets. These are
called hand-tamed hedgehogs.
If you would like to ask any
questions about having a hedgehog
as
a classroom pet,
E-mail Mrs. Bruner's classroom at
[email protected]
Thank you for visiting!
Created 9-1-98-Last Updated 9-5-1998
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