Q. How much should we feed our new hedgehog?

-A. We recommend that you feed your hedgehog 10 pieces of food when you get home so you can make sure that your hedgehog is eating. After this initial test we recommend feeding your little one as much as they can eat until they are full grown to encourage them to be as healthy as possible.

Q. How often do you bathe your hedgehogs, and what do you use?

-A. We bathe our hedgehogs whenever they get poopy feet, appear dirty, or at least once a month. We bathe our hedgies with our Heartfelt Suds product, and once a month we follow up with our Heartfelt Cream product.

Q. What do you use to treat mites?

-A. Revolution, can be purchased at www.petshed.com without a prescription for about $17 for a 2 mL tube (120mg/mL).  This product works well for us especially since we can buy the big pack and dose down for our dogs, cat, and hedgehogs. Since we have multiple hedgehogs we prefer to use this product as a preventative every 3 months. We use a dose of 1 drop (120mg/mL).

Q. We have done research and there is much controversy regarding water bottle or water bowl. What are your recommendations as a breeder?

-A. We use/have used both at times. We currently use nipple drinkers that have a water valve, with much success. We use bowls for newly weaned hedgehogs. Bowls tend to be easily flipped or played in, and we like that with water bottles the water supply is kept clean and available at all times.

This is a personal decision and owners should evaluate the option that suits them the best.

Q. We have done research and there is much controversy regarding bedding types. What are your recommendations as a breeder?

-A. We have used almost every option available over the years, each with pros and cons.  When you break down the options there are disposable beddings and non-disposable beddings.

We currently use Pets Pick Kiln Dried Pine from Wal-Mart. This product is very low dust, and is a chip type consistency. This product keeps allows us to change the bedding daily, easily providing a clean living area for our little ones.  We do use Kay-Tee Aspen bedding as a softer nesting material for expecting mothers. Carefresh also works very well as a disposable bedding. Changing disposable bedding doesn’t need to be done daily, just when the bedding starts to get dirty.

Fleece Liners would be a non-disposable bedding option. Liners are great options for litter trained hedgies, but should be changed daily. We used liners for a while but didn’t like the residue hedgie poo left in our washer.

This is a personal decision and owners should evaluate the option that suits them the best.