What is with the hedgehogs as pets craze/ thingy?
African Pygmy Hedgehogs especially can be very rewarding pets. I’m personally completely against someone trying to keep a native hedgehog indoors as a pet like a dog or cat.. but there are a lot of exotic hedgehogs, particularly from Africa, that make very rewarding pets. They’re not too hard to look after if you know how, and I know a lot of people who say they get very tame. The one’s for sale in PROPER exotic pet shops WILL stay “small and cuddly”, ignoring the quills anyway. They’re usually over £150 in the UK, which tends to put the idiots off. Also, they’re not that readily available and you tend to find more being bred and then sold online than in shops. Also, I’ve found that most places selling these tend to provide quite strict care instructions, as I’ve enquired about them in the past. Successful breeders online rarely sell theirs until the prospective buyer can prove they’ve done their research. &If you search for “African Pygmy Hedgehog Caresheet” you’ll find lots of inform
Domesticated African Pygmy hedgehogs who have been raised in captivity are actually excellent pets. It’s not any more cruel than keeping a dog or cat or even a hamster. If you trap a hedgehog in the wild to keep as a pet, that’s a different story, but buying from breeders is perfectly fine as long as you know how to meet their needs and give them proper attention and care.
Hedgehogs have their place and some people want a pet, but can’t have what we all consider as ‘normal’, so hedgies can fill that void. They do stay small and cuddly and as long a owners are responsible and do some research before buying it’s no worse than people buying dogs or cats. In fact, more dogs and cats are abandoned and abused than Hedgehogs.
