African Pygmy Hedgehogs- Our Hoglets Are Highly Recommended By New Owners

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Hedgehog As A Pet

African Pygmy Hedgehog

This is a family run website, we are also a breeder of the popular Pet Hoglets. You will find all the information you could need on caring, housing, health, diet and all other aspects of hedgehog keeping. We have gained much of our experience from being hands on ourselves with our beautiful hedgies, please have a look through we are always adding new content that we feel will help you in all aspects of hedgehog keeping. We breed various colours. They can live can live for up to 8-10 years in captivity. 

They are are a small exotic mammal from Africa, they have spines on top and lovely soft fur underneath. Please scroll down the page for more facts on the small mammal taking the UK pet market by storm or visit our For Sale Page

Pet Hedgehog Facts

African Pygmy Hedgehogs are native to Africa with their habitat being dry savannahs and semiarid.  They originated from there to the pet hedgehog market. They can be found in scattered groups from seneal in Western African to Southern Somalia and Tanzania on the continent's border.  They have been kept as pets in America longer than the UK. Generally they weigh  between 200 grams and 700 grams, we find that 250 grams to 600 grams is the average weight, a majority of ours being on the smaller end. Pygmy hedgehogs are normally around 6-8 inches long. They have a pointed snout with various colour face marks and dark eyes, although again eye colour does vary, in the albino african pygmy hedgehogs they have red eyes and the Apricots have ruby red eyes. 



It may seem strange to some, but pygmy hogs have 4 toes on their back feet and 5 on the front. They have soft white/cream fur on their tummies and sharp spines on their side and backs, serving to fend off would be predators, once the hedgehogs are pets they will often put their spines down for their owners, although not all do this some pet hedgehogs keep their defence of spines raised up.



They seem to have an acute sense of smell and you can see their little noses sniffing everything out. Their sight is not as good as their smell. They are nocturnal, being asleep all day and waking when it becomes dark. They are incredibly active upon waking often running 5-10 miles in their exercise wheels and running around the cage, it surprises many how well they can climb and this risk has to be assessed when keeping them as pets. 

Their lifespan is around 3 years in the wild and have been known to live upto 10 years in captivity, with 6 years being a mean average. 

Pet Hedgehogs are solitary animals and do not need company, in fact in the wild many males will stay 50 feet or so away from other males, keeping two males together is a risk and they are likely to fight and seriously injure one another. Two females can be kept together but it’s not guaranteed they will get along and there is no need to keep two together, it is best if wanting two pet hoglets to house them separately. 

As part of their defence they often roll into a ball, becoming a ball of spikes and spines, one will often find once they pick them up they will begin to uncurl in time and start to explore their surroundings. They often huff and click/pop which makes people jump, but remember it is part of their nature to keep themselves safe from harm. On occasion they have been known to scream. 

They have a peculiar habit which is called self anointing, when they try something new or a new taste, they turn round and lick their back covering it with froth and the new  item, I often find mine with great big red stains on their back from the red bell pepper they have eaten the night before.  



I find by providing mine with a varied diet the babies eat everything and new owners don’t end up with fussy or picky hedgehogs. They love insects, cat food (without fish ingredients), vegetables and fruit.



Baby Hoglets begin quilling at around 8-10 weeks old, quilling is when they lose their spines and get new ones, often hedgehogs become quite unsociable at this stage, but this should pass within 4 weeks, it must be painful as it is like teething in that the spines have to break through the skin.  You can apply aloe vera and coconut oil to help ease the discomfort of quilling.

They should be kept at a temperature of 23-24c, we recommend a minimum of 22c although every hedgehog is different as to what temperature they like, there are reptile radiators which are fantastic for warming one end of the cage up.

They should never be allowed to hibernate, this can kill them, if your pet ever gets cold warm them up with a warm towel or hot water bottle that is warm not hot, if you catch it early they should recover quickly.

Another irrelvant but interesting fact is the romans used their spikes as needles in their time.

African Pygmy Hogs do not carry fleas, they can sometimes carry mites but this is easily treated with a spot on medicine or we use stronghold prescribed by our vet