Hey everyone! I'm just wondering if anyone can point me to a good read [books or websites] on hedgehog genetics (color) / on going study on them? Anyone keep track of these? Would love to learn more. Thanks in advance.

Best,
Aros.

I must be stoned. Thanks. Corrected!

Plenty on the web explaining about colors, closest on some genetic work/effort is from here. Wondering if anyone keep such neat record as such (4-5 generation), then perhaps we can work together some math (I'm no geneticist, but I did took Veterinary Genetic for one semester, see if that could be up to good use!) .

Best,
Aros.

Anyone seen this in Malaysia lately? Last I saw was in 2011 in Great Eastern Mall.

Its time for V8 ladies and gentlemen vremmmm

This post has been edited by aros: Oct 2 2012, 06:10 PM

Personally think females have wider window of concentration to play with you, and also more affectionate. In return, the girl needs lots of love and attention.

Give the little guy some time, it will eventually desensitize/get use to you; bonding process may take some time.

The quills may cause bleeding especially near area of thin skin; eg distal end of fingers. Yes it may cause pain but the pain is nothing serious. Its the effect from the bacteria post puncture that may cause some problem, different people may have different reaction towards the puncture/injuries from the quill. Some may develop hypersensitivity and may have sub acute/ chronic dermatitis.

So practice safe handling of your hedgehog and always wash/sanitize your hand before/after handling them.

Have fun!

Best,
Aros.

Its good to hear that Willie. He seems like a handsome young chap. I'm happy for you. Please don't hesitate to throw silly questions here so everyone can learn & help out.

Best,
Aros.

I have some future plans for small animals aside from the mega herbivores, reptiles and amphibians if everything goes right. So have to start making friends with everyone

p/s: I'm no doctor YET!

This post has been edited by aros: Oct 4 2012, 01:04 PM

Still find this intimidating, no matter how long I look at them. Poor Spud.


This post has been edited by aros: Oct 21 2012, 12:01 PM

Section 2, besides Wet World there's a big aquarium shop that sell mealworms.

Wheel too small. The fella got stuck while running

Please bring it to the vet.

yes, that, or mites.

Hey,

I was just wondering if anyone have attempt to train their hedgehogs to do any simple task?

Thanks,
Best,
Aros.

Ahh yes. Thanks for the info. I'm reading this book; Valarie V. Tynes, (2010). Behaviour of Exotic Pets, Hedgehogs section, Wiley Blackwell, , pp. 169-179. There was a report from Merrit, DA. (1981) that captive hedgehog may have the tendency to pee/poo at one corner/spot without potty trained, but I guess they are unique individual after all.

Examples are like to follow you when you put them while playing outside, respond to a certain call or perform some task like giving hand etc.? Interesting, how do you train him not to climb from his home?


I see. Thanks, they are relatively hard to train. The book I'm reading, based on the work of Z. Säugetierk (1972), stated that an attempt to associate food reward with an odor resulted in three hedgehogs (Erineceus eurapeus, European Hedgehog) that required 1,500-2000 trials to learn the task (unreliably performed) and one hedgehog that never learned even after 4000 trials. I figured African pygmy must be smarter because my hedgehog (Problem) managed to associate me/human (the gf was there too on the third trial) with food after just 3 outings (each outing in 10-20 trials). This resulted in her following me/other human every where when I release her to the field.

I believe scenting is the best way to train them; always take (gather) their poo/pee and put at one spot/corner, sometimes the enclosure might be too small for the hedgehog that it resulted in the animal defecating on the food/water bowl?

I'm no expert, just my two cents.
Best,
Aros.

This post has been edited by aros: Nov 24 2012, 03:03 PM

Cool Efariz. Is there anyone else teaching any trick else? Yes they have a well-developed Jacobson's organ (vomeronasal organ), definitely important in their survival as their hearing compared to vision. Oh speaking of that, I might try some next experiment with colors with them

Well they are nocturnal. or perhaps you were sleeping soundlessly that night, hence not hearing him making any noise.

Get it recorded! I'd be interested to see them

Hi Desireeang,

Some hedgehogs activities are little hard to predict as the cue for night/day is constantly altered in captivity, try putting near a window and give them some darkness in the night to learn/see more of their natural behaviour. Option is to reverse this cue, turning light on at night and putting them in dark corner during the day; so its easy for you to observe their activity during the day (this seldom work, however worth a try).

One of my hedgehog just love sleeping and couldn't settle for anything else except for dubia and mealworm which excites her, I believe you will able to learn more about her behaviour over time and trust me each individuals have different habits.

Goodluck!

Hi Bobins,
Welcome to the thread.

Second the hedgehogs at petshops. I would recommend a big floor space container; readily use Toyogo/Rubbermaid, and slightly higher wall so they cannot climb out (some love to climb); a 80 litre container work just fine. Girls generally are friendlier. Price range vary from color variation and also age; expect MYR100-150 for hoglets, >MYR150 for adults. I am not sure whether there are breeders who has handled and socialized hedgehogs for sale because usually when that happens, the hedgehogs will most probably become the breeder's pet

Best,
Aros.

Cann. They are quite famous pets nowadays, I'm sure you can find a pet boarding place that accept hedgehogs if you look around.

Veterinary Hospital UPM, Serdang is also another option.

p/s: some video of my hedgehog training!



This post has been edited by aros: Dec 9 2012, 12:54 PM

Dear Efariz, ddr3,

Basically its to move from point A to point B. A really simple training, nothing much, just some playtime which I find amusing. The trick is to introduced the hedgehog out of the room/house to a total new environment where it is not accustomed to except for one item which act as a precursor, and to relate the item (which in this case is a box) as home/safe house; so it will always return back to the box when released after tired playing regardless of the environment. When you feed the hedgehog, it is to associate human to food so that they can 'recognize' the owner whenever you play with them, this actually works 30% of the time when she actually follow me when I walk/or she came towards me when she walk, but 70% NOT reliable as they tend to do what they want.

Perhaps as the training progress to more complex trick, it could be leading to something more interesting, or NOT!

Oh well, any other tricks that you guys tried to attempt to your hedgehog, care to share?

Best,
Aros.

p/s: Efariz, ddr3: I'd be interested in the success rate (percentage) of them going home (provided that they are in foreign environment). Be kind and post up some videos too!

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Added on December 9, 2012, 4:32 pmNo solid idea on the consultation fee, however should be <RM50

This post has been edited by aros: Dec 9 2012, 06:20 PM