How to Bath a Hedgehog (Video)

Hedgehog on Cyprus

Image via Wikipedia

I thought I would give a little insight into a hedgehog for those readers from Countries like OZ, that do not have these beautiful little creatures, and most would be very surprised to learn that you could have one as a pet.

Hedgehogs are found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand (by introduction). There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas (although fossils of at least four extinct species were discovered in South America). Hedgehogs share distant ancestry with shrews (order Soricidae), with gymnures possibly being the intermediate link, and have changed little over the last 15 million years. Like many of the first mammals they have adapted to a nocturnal, insectivorous way of life.

The purchase of Domesticated Hedgehogs has seen a considerable increase in the last few years, owing to their apparently innocent and playful looks. Hedgehogs are considered a low-maintenance pet. Their curiosity and need for stimuli make for quick adjustment to their owners, and their eating and waste habits make for a relatively clean housing environment for the pet. Overall they exhibit very few vulnerabilities to species-specific disease (although several do exist) and are easy to care for.
Learn more in Wikipedia.

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17 Responses to How to Bath a Hedgehog (Video)

  1. Rebekah says:

    Wonderful post, Mags!!! LOVED the video … that was the cutest bath!
    In my homeland they’re a threatened species… so sad. Used to be lots of them, in old times people used to put out a little milk for them. Not such a good idea, because they’re lactose intolerant, but people didn’t know back then. I’m not sure, but I think traffic is the big culprit.

  2. Barbara Rodgers says:

    Cute as a button! I loved the little sneezes when it was put back in the water!!!

  3. travelrat says:

    I think keeping one as a pet is illegal in UK (??) but I do have them come into the garden occasionally; one of the reasons I won’t use pesticides or slug bait. Couple of years ago, we found some orphaned babies (girls next door said their mother had been run over); they collected them up, & took them to the Wildlife Rescue Centre.

    I think there’s a rescue centre somewhere that deals exclusively with hedgehogs (St. Tiggywinkle’s … after the Beatrix Potter’s hedgehog)

    • magsx2 says:

      Hi travelrat,
      I just couldn’t imagine these little creatures coming into yards, I wouldn’t be able to help myself, I would be out there looking for them and feeding them so they would keep coming back. 🙂 I wish we had them here in OZ, they are so cute. Good on your neigbours girls for helping the baby’s, and giving them to a rescue centre.

  4. kymbo says:

    Great post! I’ve seen these things when I was in New Zealand some years ago, very cute..(in a prickly kind of way)

  5. Pingback: Ancient hedgehogs | Askdarla

  6. Earth Ocean Sky Redux says:

    Don’t you wonder whose blue toothbrush that was and if he PUT IT BACK in the glass?????? 🙂

  7. dearrosie says:

    Good grief I had no idea a hedgehog would enjoy taking a bath, or sit so calmly on one’s arm. Beautiful!

  8. Selma says:

    They are beyond adorable. We used to have heaps of them in our garden in Scotland. I miss seeing them so much, they were such dear little things. This bath was just lovely!

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