hedgehogs for adoption, hedgehog breeders, hedgehogs for sale, hedgehogs Michigan

  Hedgehog Breeding

  Check back as I will be adding more information to this page.
 

  There are many sub-sections (including articles written by me that may have been published  
  in IHA newsletters) to this page.

  Careful Consideration-

  Before anyone ventures into breeding, there are some serious things to take into
  consideration. Below is a list of things to think about:

  1. Experience- how much experience do you have with owning hedgehogs? If you haven't
      owned a hedgehog as a pet for at least two full years prior to breeding, do you know
      enough about how to properly care for them? Have you spent the time researching
      every aspect of breeding? Have you met fellow breeders and learned from their
      experiences? Just because you know how to handle a hedgehog, feed them a good diet,
      or do basic care, does not mean your ready to take on breeding. Do you know about all
      of the illnesses and diseases that face hedgehogs? Do you know what to do in weird cases
      of accidents with your hedgehog? These are things that shouldn't be taken lightly.

  2. Mentor- do you have a mentor? If you are new to breeding, it is best to find a breeder in
      your and see if they are interested in being your mentor. Chances are your going to run
      into situations that will require advice or help from someone with experience. The
      breeder you choose to mentor you should have at least 4 years experience with owning
      and breeding hedgehogs.

  3. Legal responsibilities'- do you have the proper state and/or federal licensing?

  4. Quality Stock- do you have animals with sound lineage that you know are free from
      hereditary and/or  genetic illness or disease? Animals from pet stores and animals with no
      lineage should not be used for breeding as disease like cancer and WHS are life
      threatening. Don't buy hedgehogs from breeders because they are giving you a "deal" on
      them. And don't buy hedgehogs for breeding that don't have sound temperaments.

  5. Proper care- can you afford regular vet care, emergency vet care, proper housing, proper
      diets, etc? Vet care is going to be a regular need for breeding. While every respectful
      breeder can attest to, an emergency will come at some point in time that can cost as
      little as a few hundred dollars, to more than a thousand dollars, do you have the
      financial means to support all vet bills, including emergency vet visits, as they are
      needed? Can you properly house all the hedgehogs and all offspring that you produce? 
      If something happens that you can't sell your babies, are you going to be able to keep
      them permanently with you? Baby males can reproduce as young as 6 weeks of age
      and you will need to make sure that you can house the males separately from the female
      siblings and from their mother. What about diet- as a breeder myself, I will say that a
      a diet that is free of pesticides, insecticides, preservatives, and crappy filler ingredients
      is important for me. I prefer to feed my animals an all natural diet with healthy
      ingredients. We feed only foods that offer whole meats, no corn fillers, and offer things
      like probiotics, Omega 3's & 6's, antioxidants, etc. A good proper diet is going to be harder
      to get locally, and will cost more. But it can save your hedgehog from developing cancers
      or other health problems like FLD and cancer that can be caused by all the unnatural
      products in commercial feeds.

  6. Record keeping- keeping solid records on lineage is a must, things like line breeding and
      inbreeding can happen without paying close attention to lineages. Keeping records on all
      the animals you own for breeding (including those that are no longer living) is important.
      A responsible breeder keeps track of every baby born, who it was sold to, and so forth.

  7. Support- are you able to offer your buyer's support when they make a purchase from you?
      There are many times that you may send a baby home and then the buyer may call or
      email you with questions. A responsible breeder will know how to answer each and every
      question or concern that is brought to them. Do you have enough knowledge of these
      animals to better assist your buyers? The buyer's will rely on you the breeder for advice
      and support to help them better care for their new pet. If you can't provide them the
      proper information, then they may not be able to care for your baby properly.

  8. Commitment- you need to set time aside on a daily basis to handle babies, socializing
      them is crucial if you want your buyer's to be happy. You also need to have the time to
      do daily checks on each breeder you own, and offer fresh water daily. If a buyer decides
      at some point they are no longer able to keep their hedgehog, are you able to take
      that hedgehog back? Your commitment to the babies born don't end because you sell
      them, and you need to make sure that you will always be able to help your buyer's out
      at any time during the life of their hedgehog.

  9. Contribution- what is your contribution to the breeding community? A responsible and
      ethical breeder works closely with many breeders and only breeds animals that come
      from genetically disease free lineages. If you live in a state that all ready has a few good
      breeders, is there something that you can offer potential new buyers that the current
      breeders do not? The market for hedgehogs (no matter where you live) is not a huge
      market. So be prepared that if you breed, you may have to keep the babies born to your
      animals. If you really care about the animals you breed, you will know that breeding out
      the illnesses and diseases that face these animals is an absolute must! Breeding animals
      that are purchased from pet stores, or breeding animals that have no lineage is not
      acceptable! Doing so- you are forcing the buyer's to have to deal with unknown genetic
      problems that can be very costly, and an emotional burden on them.

  10. Rescue- work is something that goes hand in hand with breeding. If you breed because
       you love these animals, chances are people are going to call you and ask you to take in
       their unwanted hedgehog. Are you willing to take in unwanted hedgehogs? Will you have
       a place to keep them apart from your breeders (as any new animal should be
       quarantined)? Are you able to find them new homes that will best suit that hedgehogs
       needs? What about the medical expenses that come along with rescues? Most of the time
       (not all), rescues are being given up because the family doesn't want the financial burden
       of the illness or disease they discovered that just hit their hedgehog. We have seen that
       too many times, and unfortunately it is a costly burden to take in rescues that are in
       ill health. But we do it because we love these animals and feel a responsibility to them.

 Breeding Woes-
  What do you mean breeding woes?  Well hedgehog's are one of the hardest animals to breed
  successfully. Although many people may tell you otherwise, the breeders that have been
  breeding for a long time can tell you that if you do breed, and your doing it long enough,
  you will run into just about all the problems of breeding that there is. Most new breeders
  have their own horror stories too. Just a few of the problems that face breeders are:
 
  1. Ruptured uterus- a female can die from a ruptured uterus if she was bred after her
      pelvic bones fused. The pelvic bones in the female will fuse around 16 to 18 months of
      age. If a female was never bred before that time, she may not be able to deliver naturally
      and if the breeder is not prepared, they may wake to a dead hedgehog.

  2. Abandonment- a female may abandon or shun her offspring for many different reasons.
      Usually if a female abandons or shuns her babies, she doesn't want to take care of them.
      Attempting to place the babies back with the mother should only be done with extreme
      caution, and with advice from a more experienced breeder. Breeders with abandoned
      babies either will foster them with another mom, or hand feed them.

  3. Cannibalism- a female may cannibalize her new babies in the first two weeks of life if
      she is disturbed by anyone, or if something is wrong with the babies.  They may also do
      it for numerous other reasons, such as severe weather, barometric pressure changes,
      temperature changes, etc. There is a good reason responsible breeders do not disturb
      mother hedgehog's with new babies. It isn't appealing to find babies with their heads
      bitten off, or to only find a patch of quills left behind. The death rate in baby hedgehogs
      is around 50%.

  4. Uterine infection- a female could retain too much gases and can even retain unborn
      babies which can lead to uterine infections. If not caught quickly, and treated by a vet,
      you run the risk of loosing the mother hedgehog and any babies that were born to her.

  5. Breach delivery- yes, even hedgehogs can go through this. If a mother hedgehog is
      having difficulty laboring and can not deliver the baby, she will need to be seen by a vet.
      Normally when this happens, a c-section would be performed.

  6. C-sections- Hedgehog's that can not deliver on their own, or if they are facing other
      complications, will need a c-section. This is a very costly procedure, and when it is
      being done, it is best to have the mother hedgehog spayed immediately.

  Of course this is not a complete list of all the possible complications that may arise,
  however this is a good basic list for anyone considering to breed these delicate animals
  to take into consideration.

  The laws of Breeding-

  If you have considered breeding hedgehogs, have you thought about the laws that govern
  you? Here is a list of the things that need to be taken into consideration prior to breeding.
  The laws effect us all nationwide, we have state laws and federal laws to take consider.

  1. USDA licensing- Are you USDA licensed? If not, do you require a USDA license? Chances
      are you will need the license depending on what your operation of breeding is. If you only
      own one or two females, and you sell directly to the new hedgehog owner, you do not
      need a license. However- if you have three or more breeding females (that means females
      that are of breeding age, USDA does not care if you intend to breed them or not, if they
      are of breeding age and can be bred, and reside with you) then you need the license. You
      also need a USDA license if you breed and then sell to pet stores and/or wholesalers. You
      also need a USDA license if you earn more than $500 a year selling the hedgehogs. The
      USDA does not and will not take into consideration what it costs you in raising or caring
      for your hedgehogs for them to reproduce.

  2. State Game & Fish Commission- Do you know if they require you to have a state license
      or permit for you to breed within your state? Certain states like Pennsylvania have banned
      ownership of hedgehogs, which means it is illegal to own and breed hedgehogs within
      that state.

  3. County and Township laws- Have you checked to make sure that you are within your
      legal rights to own and breed the species you want to raise? There are some areas, whether
      it is county, city, or township that states you are not allowed to own more than three
      animals, or you are not allowed to own any animal not considered a domestic pet? These
      are important things to check into. If you reside in a county, city, or township that does
      not permit the ownership or breeding of hedgehogs, you could face some serious legal
      issues.

  4. DBA's and Tax ID #'s- Depending on where you live, you may be required to have a DBA,
     "Doing Business As", which is registering a business name. Also a tax ID # may be required
      if you are a business, and you will be required to collect state sales tax on the animals you
      sell, and then file a return with the state at the end of each year, or even quarterly
     depending on the amount of your income. In Michigan, we are required to have both a
     DBA and a Tax ID #.

  We strongly encourage you to contact the proper agencies and know what your legal
  obligations are before you start breeding. Failure to do so can result in more problems for
  you in the long run. It is best to be safe rather than sorry. 
     

 How do you evaluate a breeder?
  By Michelle
  Owner/Breeder of Prickly Creek Exotics
  * Published in the IHA Newsletter

  Any reputable breeder has a responsibility for the hedgehogs they breed, any offspring they
  produce, and every person they sell to. Reputable breeders spend a lot of their time helping
  to educate others about the hedgehogs, helping other breeders, and helping in the research
  of illness and diseases.

  These are the differences between the reputable breeder and the big business breeder. In
  almost all cases, reputable breeders carefully screen all potential buyers, offer after sale
  support, health guarantees, educate their customers about proper care, and making sure
  that it isn’t an impulse buy. Where the big business breeder is consumed with producing
  and selling as many as they can, usually sell to pet stores or brokers only, and usually offer
  no information about their hedgehogs, and have no idea where the hedgehogs end up in the
  long run.

  Typically a person will have a longer wait when buying from a reputable breeder than they
  would at a pet store or a broker, but they are usually always happier. They are fully informed
  of what they should expect from their hedgehogs, they are also dealing with knowledgeable
  people rather than a pet store who doesn’t even know the true age of the hedgehog, let alone
  the sex. They also feel a little more secure knowing that they can continue to get the advice
  and support of their breeders too. Reputable breeders have lineage, and pet stores do not.
  Pet stores won’t even share with you information about where the hedgehog comes from.
  Buying from a breeder you will always know more about the hedgehog in general than you 
  would from a hedgehog that came out of a pet store.

  Here is a small check list that can help determine if a breeder is reputable:

  1. The breeder asks you for information about you and your family, how you plan to take care
  of the hedgehog, how you plan to house it and care for it.

  2. Offers health guarantees

  3. Has a contract for the sale of your hedgehog

  4. If the contract requires you to return the hedgehog if the need ever were to arise

  5. Keeping accurate records of each individual baby from birth until sold

  6. Willing to help educate people about proper care for the hedgehogs

  I'm going to be a breeder-

  If you have decided that you want to be a breeder after everything you have read and all the
  research you have done, here is a few things you should do to get you started:

  1. Find a reputable breeder to work with. Start communicating with them as soon as you can.
      Be up front and honest about your intentions and goals for breeding! They will be your
      best source for information and can help lead you into the direction to make your breeding
      efforts successful. Make sure that you buy only hedgehogs with known lineage. Once you
      buy the animals you plan to breed, spend time daily with them to get to know their
      temperaments and the habits. If your new to breeding, it might be a good idea to have
      your hedgehogs examined just prior to breeding them to ensure they are healthy enough
      to endure breeding.

  2. Find a qualified vet- your going to need one! You should have two vets at all times. One for
      all of your regular healthy visits or minor illness needs, and another vet for emergency
      situations that can see your hedgehog 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

  3. Keep accurate records about each animal, their lineage, the dates you breed, the expected
      due dates, the dates of birth, the losses, etc. 

  4. Get a plan set for what you will need to do in a situation that your mother abandons her
      young, or she dies before they have been weaned. Personally I feel it is unfair to ask
      another breeder to take your babies in to foster them to another mom. Having another
      mother hedgehog foster babies can deplete the mother enough that she may not be able to
      give her own young the nutrients they need, and can also pose a huge health risk to the
      foster mom and her young. What do I mean? What if your mother hedgehog dies from a
      viral or bacterial illness but you have no way of knowing that is what caused her death, her
      babies can pass that on to the foster mom and her young, and now you have just exposed
      more innocent lives can pose a serious threat to their survival. Every breeder needs to
      know how to foster their own babies to one of their own mother's, or hand feed.

  5. How do you plan to sell the babies? Placing ads in papers is the old fashioned method,
      however, are you willing to sell to just anyone? Being a good breeder also means making
      sure that no matter who you sell to, your babies are going to a good home that can properly
      care for them. It is also wise to make sure that the people you sell to has some basic
      knowledge of hedgehogs and their needs prior to letting them go. If they are only buying
      one because of a TV show or a commercial, or some game, chances are they may not be
      serious about having a pet and learning how to properly care for it.

  6. If you plan to be a breeder, plan your breedings appropriately and make sure to have
      buyer's lined up on a waiting list prior to breeding them. Breeding them without
      knowing you have homes for them is irresponsible. Do breed more than you can handle,
      if you only have 7 buyer's lined up, then chances are breeding two females is right. If you
      breed 3 or 4 females at a time, you may end up with too many babies that you can not
      place.

  7. Pet stores and wholesalers- if you are breeding because you truly love these animals,
      then don't plan on breeding them to turn around and sell babies to pet stores or
      wholesalers. Although not all pet stores and wholesalers are bad- the problem is that
      they are only interested in buying these animals to make money on them. They will
      keep young opposite sexed babies together, which can lead them to reproduce at too
      young of an age. And the other serious problem is that impulse buyer's are the ones
      who buy pets from pet stores. Chances are, someone who buys a hedgehog on impulse
      will not want the pet in 4 to 6 months because it isn't exactly what they thought it
      would be. Then you as a breeder are producing unwanted animals that may end up in
      shelters or rescues.

  8. Your adults will need to retire from breeding, you will need to determine how to best
      suit their needs. Sometimes keeping them is the only possible thing, and sometimes
      finding them a loving home is an option too. But it is best to be prepared to keep all the
      hedgehogs you will use for breeding. It is a good way to keep track of everything that
      they go through in their life.

  9. Buyer's contracts, it is important to offer a health guarantee on your babies. You will
      need to determine what you are comfortable with. It is also a good idea to have something
      in your contract that states what is expected of the buyer's if at anytime they are unable
      to keep their hedgehog. If you want the animal returned to you, that should be stated.

  10. Be prepared for everything! Although you can prescreen potential new owners, you
        need to be careful that they know exactly what is expected of them prior to them
        leaving your home with their new baby. If they don't know what to do, and they don't
        call you in a time of need, that could result in a tragic accident.

  11. Necropsy any and all hedgehogs that die, unless you clearly know what the cause of
        death was from. If you do not necropsy, you will never know if there was an underlying
        condition that may effect any offspring that hedgehog produced.

  12. One of the most important things for your hedgehog's in breeding and their babies is to
        make sure they have their own room. Of course there are some people who share their
        bedroom with their hedgehogs, however, most new mom's may kill or eat their entire first
        litter if they are not left alone. The slightest disturbance can cause death faster than
        you would ever knew it happened. It really is best to have them in their own room, and
        the room should be adequately heated at all times, or cooled in the hot summer months.
        Proper diet is also extremely important, commercial grade hedgehogs food are not
        appropriate for hedgehogs. You also need to make sure that what ever you do choose to
        feed is an all natural diet that isn't too high in fat. Commercial grade cat foods like
        those found in your local Walmart's or pet stores are not sufficient. The ingredients in
        those foods can cause cancer in hedgehogs.

  13. Continue educating yourself, and realize you will never be an expert breeder, none of us
        are. We learn new things all the time. Stay in touch with your buyers as best you can.
        Always do what is right for these animals.

  14. If you have a mentor, or need a mentor, be as honest with them about everything. They
        are going to be your best support with all you do and all you go through.
    

  Why is there no more information on breeding?

  This is simple- if we provide all the information on our site on breeding, anyone without experience
   knowledge can and will try to breed. It is very important to follow the advice on this page. Failure
   to breed without good hedgehog ownership, experience, research, mentoring, etc can lead to
   fatal consequences. We choose to support those that are making educated decisions, and not
   those who think breeding hedgehogs is a quick way to make a buck.