More About Harley

After my post the other day about Harley I’ve gotten a lot of questions.  I’ve posted about him in the past welcoming him home and showing off his new bachelor pad but it’s been a while.   People are still confused about the whole hedgehog as a pet thing.

Some of the main questions I get are:

• Can he shoot his quills like a porcupine?
• Are his quills sharp?
• How big will he get?
• Aren’t they protected and not allowed as pets in Europe?
• Can you hold him?

I took some photos to give a better view of his size compared to my hand…

 

Now I’ll answer some of the questions and explain all about Harley.

He is an Algerian Chocolate African Pygmy Hedgehog, which is a smaller more domesticated breed than the European Hedgehogs that we see in the wild here in Europe.

The Algerian Chocolate is what he is called due to his coloring and markings.  He has chocolate colored bands on his quills and a chocolate colored nose, and he has a ‘mask’ on his face which shows that he is Algerian.

Hedgehogs come in many different colors, as you can see on the color guide.

Hedgehogs cannot shoot their quills when they are frightened, as porcupines can.  When they are frightened they make a hissing sound and curl up into a ball, making their quills stand up in end.   You can see this in the top photo I posted.   Harley was in a grumpy mood because he was sleeping when I took him out of his cage…  so he hissed and puffed up his quills in protest!

You can also see in the photo that I am holding him in my bare hand while his quills are up.   The quills are sharp and poke into your hand, but they aren’t sharp enough to break the skin unless you put a fair bit of pressure on them.   You can see my hand in the 2nd photo after he relaxed and came out of the ball, there are no punctures.

It’s not comfortable, mind you… but it’s indeed possible to hold them when they are being ‘huffy’.

Harley has reached almost his full size.  He won’t grow as big as the wild hedgehogs but he may grow a tiny bit bigger than he is in the photos which is much smaller than the European Hedgehogs we see tromping around our gardens.

Also, unlike the European Hedgehog, it is entirely legal to have them as pets here in Europe.   The laws differ in other countries, such as in the US I believe it’s illegal in some states but not in others.  You’d have to look that up yourself.

All in all they make very unique and interesting pets.  They are completely nocturnal so you won’t see much of them during the day.  You will, however, hear them puttering around their cage at night and running marathons in their wheel.

They are quite fragile and require very dedicated care in regards to cleaning and environment.  They don’t like the cold and require warm temperatures above 25 degrees celcius.  So you have provide that for them (we keep Harley in our spare bedroom where we can regulate the heat).  

They also need frequent bathing and nail clipping.  Their favorite pastime is running in their wheel and they do most of their peeing and pooing during that time so they can get ‘poop boots’ and a little dirty.  So it’s up to you to keep them clean… and their wheel!

Well, that’s all I can think of at the moment but hopefully it answers some of the questions people have about these adorable little animals! 

You can see more photos of Harley here.