Whenever you come across cute hedgehog videos online, you’re likely going to think about getting one of your own. These adorable little animals can be fun pets to own, but you might not be sure if they’re right for your situation.
If you don’t know a lot about hedgehogs, you might be wondering if they make good pets. Are hedgehogs affectionate pets that you can interact with a lot?
Keep reading to learn about what to expect when you buy a pet hedgehog. You’ll learn whether they’re considered to be good pets while also getting answers to common questions that people have about them.
You can have a good experience with pet hedgehogs if you approach things with the right mindset. After you’ve read the information below, it’ll be easier to decide whether you want to buy one of these pets or not.
Hedgehogs Can Be Good Pets
So many people love keeping hedgehogs as pets. There’s a reason why these little animals have become popular pets over the course of time.
They’re not ubiquitous pets like cats or dogs. Even so, the people who love caring for hedgehogs swear by them.
A pet hedgehog will be a relatively low-maintenance pet. You’ll spend around thirty minutes each week cleaning and maintaining the cage.
The cage needs to be wiped down with cleaning wipes. You can also do some daily spot cleaning so that the cage won’t get stinky.
You’ll feed hedgehogs each day, but doing so is simple. They only eat between 70 and 100 calories each day, and the most common food that you’ll give to them is kibble.
Their diets will be supplemented with veggies, insects such as mealworms, and occasional fruit snacks. Don’t give the pet starch-based veggies or dried fruits since those are bad for them.
Handling the pet each day is important because you want to bond with it. These pets are nocturnal, so you’ll spend time with them in the evening before you go to bed.
Are Hedgehogs Good Pets for Kids?
Hedgehogs can make good pets for kids, but they aren’t great pets for kids who are too young. So if your kids are younger than ten, they might not be suited to care for pet hedgehogs.
Generally, it’s best to get pet hedgehogs for kids who are ten years old or older. Also, you should expect to help with the care of this pet even if the pet will primarily be cared for by the child.
It’s up to you to teach your child how to care for a hedgehog the right way. You need to teach your kid how to handle the hedgehog and how to play with it safely.
Kids that are ten or older should be responsible enough to learn and understand how to care for these pets. They might not be able to handle everything on their own, though.
To be safe, you should help with maintaining the cage, portioning out the food for the pet, and monitoring the temperature of the enclosure. If you approach things with the right mindset, hedgehogs can be good pets for older kids and teens.
It’ll help to teach them about responsibility. So many people do love buying hedgehogs for kids, but they’re a bit too complicated for young kids.
Hedgehogs Can Be Fun to Play With
Another reason why you might like owning a hedgehog has to do with bonding. You can bond with a hedgehog by playing with it and interacting with it.
Many hedgehog owners come to enjoy their time handling the little pets so much that they can’t imagine it not being a part of their nightly routine. You get used to caring for hedgehogs, and you have fun hanging out with them.
It’s true that handling hedgehogs can be sort of tricky to get used to. They have sharp spines, and you need to approach them calmly to get them underneath your hands.
Once your hedgehog trusts you, handling it will be very easy as long as you don’t try to hold it in an unusual way. The hedgehog will love playing and hanging out with you.
These are adorable and rewarding pets to own. Play with your hedgehog a little bit each day so that it can get good exercise.
Make sure that you buy your hedgie lots of toys. This will help with the bonding process, and it’ll make it easier to keep your pet in good shape.
They Aren’t Overly Expensive
You’ll love the fact that you can buy hedgehogs without breaking the bank. Now, this doesn’t mean that hedgehogs can be purchased at incredibly low prices, but they aren’t as expensive as many types of dogs.
Typically, you can buy hedgehogs from breeders for between $100 and $300. Depending on the type of hedgehog and the going rate in the area, you can get a pretty good deal.
You’ll need to spend a few hundred more dollars to get a cage and the necessary equipment and accessories. Even so, most people will find buying a pet hedgehog to be affordable enough.
If you can afford to spend around $500, it’ll be easy to get everything that you need. You might be able to spend hundreds less than this, but it’s always wise to estimate slightly high so that you can have more than enough cash.
They Don’t Take Up Much Space
It’s easy enough to buy a hedgehog and keep it in your home. Some people live in small homes or apartments where there isn’t a lot of space to move around.
Your living environment might not be ideal for a dog. It’d be easy enough to fit a small cage for a hedgehog in your home, though.
Hedgehog cages need to be large enough so they can exercise and move around. However, they’re not so huge that they’re impractical.
It’s not difficult to find a good spot in your house for a hedgehog enclosure. You’ll love having a new pet, and you won’t need to worry about not having enough space.
These Pets Are Nocturnal
You should know that hedgehogs are nocturnal animals. They sleep a lot, too.
It’s normal for hedgehogs to sleep for fourteen hours a day. They’ll sleep the entire day and then wake up sometime after the sun sets.
So you’ll need to feed these animals in the evening after you eat dinner. If you keep a normal 9–5 work schedule, it should be relatively easy to feed your hedgehog at a normal time.
You can also carve out time in the evening to play with your little pet. Remember that handling the hedgehog daily is a good idea so that you can bond with it.
If you work the third shift, it might be a little tougher to interact with the hedgehog often enough. So these might not be the most practical pets for some people depending on the hours that they work.
Can Hedgehogs Live Together?
Are you thinking about buying two hedgehogs? It’s fine to own two hedgies, but you might want to keep them in separate cages.
Hedgehogs are used to living alone. They might squabble if you try to get them to live together in a cage.
Even when keeping hedgehogs in large cages, you’ll encounter some problems. They just seem to like to live alone better than they do living in pairs.
You can breed hedgehogs if you want to. Males and females can get along well, but they still like to return to their own cages after they spend up to a week together mating.
Final Thoughts
So now you can see that hedgehogs are considered to be excellent pets by many. Whether they will be a good pet for you comes down to your personal preferences.
You might love a pet hedgehog, or you might find it to be a difficult pet to get used to. Some people are well-suited to caring for hedgehogs, while others are not.
It’s undeniable that these animals are cute and fun to interact with once you get used to them. If you’re interested in having a pet hedgehog, it’s certainly worth looking into.
Just make sure to look up whether it’s legal to own them in your area. Some states in America have banned them, but they’re legal to own in most of the United States.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and over 10 years of experience working in IT. I have a wife and two children and love taking them to the zoo to see all the animals. I grew up with dogs and fish and now have two dogs and two cats. I’ve also played guitar for almost 20 years and love writing music, although it’s hard to find the time these days.