I live in Austin, TX and I also had a difficult time finding a local breeder. There just are not that many in TX in general. Unless you go with a pet store you should probably expect to do a little bit of driving. TX is a big state and you may have to go a few hours, but really, I'd think of it as an adventure for your new pet
An air flight would be VERY stressful and should be avoided at all costs. The first car ride home with my Lulu was stressful enough for was it was.
There is a brand new hedgehog related store - opened by hedgie breeders - that opened in the DFW area. This breeder and the one from McKinney (already mentioned) seem to be the biggest in TX, from what I can tell. Apparently they often work together when breeding, so some are surely related to one another. Here is Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's site:
http://www.freewebs.com/texashedgehogs/dfwresources.htm. I considered driving up and purchasing one from them, however, I thought their owner screening process and contract were a little too intrusive. (I understand it is for the animals best interest, but I won't go into my reasoning now and derail the thread
) That's all I really know for hedgie-only breeders. The other non-pet store breeders I found bred several kinds of exotics and may or may not know a lot about hedgies in particular. One is in San Marcos, but that will also be a bit of a drive for you.
If you were wondering where I got mine - and yes I expect to get frowns and finger wagged for this - I got her at a pet store in Austin called Herpeton. The first pet store (zooxotics I think it was) clearly did not know how to house a hedgie. There was no wheel and his little bed was only partially secluded. When I went to Herpeton they had a nice cage set up for Lulu, a wheel, and she was highly socialized. She did not mind being held at all. The woman who worked there seemed to have a particular liking for her and seemed to know a few things about hedgies, so that sold me.
In the end I wouldn't get too caught up on the whole pet store versus breeder debate. One can be just as ignorant and neglectful as the other, so I wouldn't assume a breeder is always better than a pet store purchase. A responsible pet store will always be well educated in all of the animals they care for. (I just think that is somewhat rare to find.) I've had several breeders tell me some shady biased information to harm their competition, so it works both ways. Just make sure your new hedgie has been cared for properly by an educated caretaker and that your hedgie is in good health. References are always great. I hope someone here can help guide you in that right direction
