[LexiLuther]

Hi,

I'm curious if anyone here knows about Janda's exotics?

I wanted to know if you guys thought this was a good place to order a hedgehog from... She has so many animals that she breeds, flying squirrels, oppossums, etc. Do you think that the hedgies would be very socialized? Or should I try and find another hedgehog breeder? Does anyone have any hedgehog breeders who ship, that are good? I've heard that the breeder list on this site is a little out of date....?

If it matters I live in Calgary, Alberta.

Thanks~~

 

[LizardGirl]

I may be wrong, but I think Janda's is in the US? You may have trouble getting one over the border.

 

[LarryT]

I've heard that the breeder list on this site is a little out of date....?

You heard right :lol: the breeder list is full of dead links and breeders that no longer breed :shock:

 

[LexiLuther]

I have already contacted some different breeders in the U.S. and some will ship over the border. I contacted some different breeders and some have said it is okay, however I am still waiting for a reply from Janda's Exotics~

 

[Nancy]

Personally, I would avoid buying from a breeder that breeds many different types of animals. Those are usually the ones who are in it just for the money.

 

[Hedgiepets]

The phone # is San Antonio, TX

 

[LexiLuther]

I'm still sort of new at this hedgehig business... But it is legal for hedgehogs to be shipped to canada from the states right? >,<

 

[Hedgiepets]

Not sure about shipping them, but you do have to have a health certificate from the vet and make an appointment with a border vet to cross with them.

 

[SnufflePuff]

I'm not totally sure on this one, but I have a feeling there's quite an ordeal you'd have to go through at customs.

I would be more concerned about the "shipping" part. How do these breeders ship their hedgehogs? Is it safe? Would you actually meet the hedgehog? Or just have a random baby shipped to you? Are you 100% committed to owning this hedgehog? These are all questions you want to consider before putting a hedgehog through the stress of shipping. I am sure there are some breeders who ship hedgehogs in a safe way, but to me the whole process of shipping an animal seems kind of cruel.

I live in Calgary AB too, so trust me I know how impossible it is to find a breeder - in fact I still have been unsuccesful in finding one. All my hedgehogs are rescues in one way or another so I don't know anything about their pedigrees, but I love them none the less.

If you want a hedgehog from a breeder and are dedicated, I suggest getting in contact with a respectable breeder in the states and making the drive yourself to meet the baby hedgehog and drive him/her home yourself. That way you can make sure the hedgehog is well nourished, hydrated, warm enough and safe during the transport procedure. There would still be customs issues to deal with I'm sure, but at least you would know the hedgehog is safe.

If not, there is a pet store in Cochrane (20 mins outside Calgary) called Critters Pets. They are in no way comparable to a breeder but they are individually owned, very kind people and take excellent care of all their animals. Their hedgehogs are properly cared for and even treated with revolution for mites before going to their new homes. The lady who owns it also makes sure people are well researched and committed to owning a hedgehog before adopting it out. She says she sometimes gets her hedgehogs from a respectable breeder but he isn't breeding as much anymore. Other times she takes in "surprise litters" that people have had.

Obviously still not the same as a breeder, but by far better than a chain pet store that gets their hedgehogs from breeding mills.

Hope that helps

 

[andi725]

Hi Lexi,

I actually just got my baby from Janda Exotics a couple weeks ago! I live in San Antonio so I was able to drive over to San Marcos (where she's located) to meet my hedgie before taking her home. The hedgehogs there are VERY well socialized. I've never seen my Audrey ball up! My hedgie took to me right away with no trouble at all. However, when I went to visit there weren't many to select from. She also had a runny nose and possible mites that I discovered after taking her to her first vet visit. This could be a downside of Janda Exotics breeding many different animals, though I'm not sure whether these problems were due to the transition to a new home, new bedding I had for her, etc. But I wouldn't trade my hedgie for the world! She's so sweet and loves to play. If you go with Janda Exotics I wouldn't worry about the socialization.

 

[Nancy]

When considering having one shipped, make sure where you get the hedgie from has a direct flight from them to the airport you would pick up at. Having to switch flights is where problems occur. Also, crossing the border adds time as hedgie will be in customs so you have to be there to make sure everything goes smoothly.

You would be further ahead both in safety for the hedgie and financially, to just drive further to a breeder in Canada.

 

[kurai18]

I got my Pineapple from Janda exotics too.
Weird how Andi says her hedgie has a cold and mites. Pineapple had similar problems too.
When I got her she had a sniffly nose so I took her right to the vet and she was fine after a week of medicine.
I haven't found mites on her and she doesn't itch but she has dry flakes coming off her skin and the vet ruled out mites and ringworms but is doing a fungal culture which will take a couple of weeks to get results.
Pineapple is fine though. And Andi is right, Pineapple is just the most sociable hedgie I've ever seen. She NEVER balls up and is just happy and calm all the time. When I took her to the vet, every one of the staff members said that they had never seen a hedgie so friendly.
I personally went to Janda Exotics to pick Pineapple up, and the place had lots of hedgies, LOTS of dogs, and some naked possum thingies?? but they said they pretty much stopped breeding the other pets they used to offer like genets or kinkajous. The owner was a young women, about late 20s ? and was very friendly and sweet. Her house is in the middle of the woods so it's really hard to contact her. I couldn't get a signal on my phone there, and she said she almost never gets her calls when she's at home.
So.. I would've totally recommended Janda Exotics except now that I've heard of Andi's hedgie having the same health issues I'm a little bit concerned. And the issue of having a hard time contacting them. But I am 100% satisfied with my little Pineapple

 

[mel2626]

Hi Lexi,

Out of curiosity I checked out flights from San Antonio to Alberta. I didn't find any direct flights (pretty much all had 1 layover) but it listed quite a few airports for your area, so you'd know better than I would as to what airport would be best. Overall though, it looks like the flight would be about 4-5 hours long (closer to 5 hours). I was just wondering if maybe you could find a breeder a bit closer than Texas (maybe something up north by the border) that would cut down on the distance. I see a few listed for Montana and Washington. Or even better yet, a breeder in Canada as Nancy mentioned. SnufflePuff has some great advice and is obviously familiar with your location, so that's a great resource right there!!

On another note, I'd personally be leery of purchasing a hedgehog from any breeder where more than one person has mentioned that their hedgies were in less than perfect health upon purchase. I mean, isn't one of the main reasons to purchase from a breeder the fact that they are able to give a health guarantee (even if it's for a specified amount of time)? Not to make this horrible comparison... but I will...You would never buy a brand new car from a dealer where the new cars were known to have some sort of leak. If you bought one used, it may be expected. At the very least, you would usually have some sort of warranty that would cover your out-of-pocket costs. Back to hedgies: There's just really no reason to pay the extra money to buy one from a breeder if they're going to be on antibiotics (and possibly need more) as soon as you get one. Everyone/everything gets sick at one time or another but no one should be sold a sick animal~especially if led to believe otherwise. If there was a sort of sickness going around, I would think that a reputable dealer would be sure that all of their animals were in excellent health and that the sickness was under control before letting any leave their care. Sorry, just my 2 cents.

 

[SnufflePuff]

There used to be a breeder in Golden BC, only a 3-4 hour drive away I was going to buy from at one point in time but then she stopped breeding. Her site does say she might be thinking about breeding again (not sure how updated it is) but you could try email her just to find out... here's a link to her page that has her email on it: http://prickleyhedgies.piczo.com/?g=21499669&cr=1

I know there's another breeder in Northern AB, but her site also says she's not really breeding at this time. Once again, it wouldn't hurt to send her an email to see if she plans on breeding in the future. http://www.quillsnthings.webs.com/

I personally don't see anything wrong with adopting older hedgehogs or rescues though. I got Chloe as a baby and she turned super cranky after quilling, whereas I got Puff and Oakley as older hedgies and theyre both super friendly. You can call the Calgary Humane Society and give them your name and phone number and they can call you if they ever get any hedgies in. Or you can always check out Kijiji for rehomes - of course you can't be guarenteed what you're getting yourself into. A lot of people who have accidental litters post them on Kijiji too, so you'd still be getting a baby, just no guarentee of health or anything like that.

I personally think as long as you're not buying from someone who's going to get more hedgehogs in after you buy one (ie. a pet store who gets their hedgies from a mill), there's nothing wrong with giving a little hedgie a second chance. As long as your prepared for the health issues and possible behavioural problems of course, but witha little patience and time I've found it works out fine

 

[Hedgieonboard]

Im glad I got to hear the reviews on this one because it was a place I was considering looking into further if I was to get another hedgie in the future, it was probably a 5 to 6 hour drive one way for me. With two ppl having very similar issues Im gonna take them off my list of possiblities. Thank you for the heads up

 

[nikki]

Hi, I am the breeder from the Quills 'n Things Hedgehogs in northern Alberta. I AM still breeding at this time I just don't have any litter due right now because I am in Oregon, picking up new breeding stock. I will have babies available later on.

 

[kurai18]

Hi Lexi,

I actually just got my baby from Janda Exotics a couple weeks ago! I live in San Antonio so I was able to drive over to San Marcos (where she's located) to meet my hedgie before taking her home. The hedgehogs there are VERY well socialized. I've never seen my Audrey ball up! My hedgie took to me right away with no trouble at all. However, when I went to visit there weren't many to select from. She also had a runny nose and possible mites that I discovered after taking her to her first vet visit. This could be a downside of Janda Exotics breeding many different animals, though I'm not sure whether these problems were due to the transition to a new home, new bedding I had for her, etc. But I wouldn't trade my hedgie for the world! She's so sweet and loves to play. If you go with Janda Exotics I wouldn't worry about the socialization.

BTW Andi, just giving you a heads up. Pineapple's fungal culture came back and she's been diagnosed with ringworms. You might want to get your baby double checked for ringworms as well. If she does, we might wanna think of contacting Janda Exotics and ask them to pay for the vet costs or at least let the breeder know that she has an epidemic of ringworms going on with her hedgies so that they can get the proper treatment.

 

[SnufflePuff]

Yikes, that's scary! :?

Ringworms are very contagious, I sincerely hope that it has not spread throughout all of Janda's exotics. Even if andi725's hedgie doesn't have it, I would still contact Janda's exotics and warn them kurai18. Hopefully they will give you some kind of compensation if it is present in their herd, or even if it's not, because if you don't have it currently, I can't imagine where else pineapple would have got it from?

I would watch yourself carefully too for signs of ringworm. 9 out of 10 times when someone brings a cat with ringworm into the clinic I work at, they have it too. Also if you have any other pets at home, make sure you wash your hands between them and try not to let them near your hedgehog at all.

I wish Pineapple a speedy recovery and hope that you don't get it!

 

[Levi Stout]

I just bought a baby hedgehog from her a few weeks ago and i have yet to get it.

but, she's had something going on so it's pretty understandable, but she's not easy to get in contact with.

 

[sunnyflower]

Im glad I got to hear the reviews on this one because it was a place I was considering looking into further if I was to get another hedgie in the future, it was probably a 5 to 6 hour drive one way for me. With two ppl having very similar issues Im gonna take them off my list of possiblities. Thank you for the heads up

I WAS interested in buying an animal from Janda Exotics but was having major issues with getting any sort of answers from the owner, concerning the animal in question. I left several messages on two different telephone numbers, waited for her to call me back when she finally did answer her telephone (which was supposed to be 20 minutes later and never happened) and never received the follow up email she had promised.I just found this breeder very unreliable with simple things let alone trusting her with an animal I wanted as a family pet. I ended up going with a different breeder and I am very happy with their commitment to their animals and business. Also, one side note, after trying to deal with this breeder I did find two complaints made to the Better Business Bureau about Janda Exotics. Please be careful .........