[monilarac]

My family has always been interested in hedgehogs, but we have not done enough research on them to actually venture into ownership. I'm hoping to learn what I need to know and maybe next year add a hedgie to our family if we feel ready.

I'm also here because my 7 year old daughter has to do a report on hedgehogs for her second grade class. I am looking for pictures with print quality resolution that we can attach to her report. (It's actually a two page report, one page for facts, the other for photos.) If anyone would be willing to email me a couple of photos (we only need two or three) that I can print for her I'd be so grateful.

I'm also wondering if there are any facts about hedgehogs that you feel more people should know about that she can use, on top of the normal facts you can find about their appearance, habitat, etc. As a sugar glider owner ourselves, we are aware that a lot of information on the internet as well as in care books are outdated or compeletly wrong. I would like to make sure my daughter's report reflects accurate information, which will also be a help to us as we journey into the world of hedgehogs.

I'm very excited about learning here, and making sure we are fully prepared to get a hedgehog in the future. I do not believe in impulse buys, and wanted sugar gliders for over 7 years before finally making the leap! Thank you for reading!

 

[Lilysmommy]

I think the biggest thing that people understand that is often underplayed by bad breeders and pet stores is heating. Some hedgehogs do fine at lower temperatures, but for the majority, it is essential to have a heating system in place that will keep the cage temperature steady and around 75 degrees, and possibly higher if the hedgehog requires it.

 

[monilarac]

When you say heating system, are you talking about a pad, lamp, or rock? Or something different?
Thank you for reply!

 

[Lilysmommy]

Either a CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter - like a heat lamp, but emits only heat, no light) or a space heater. The air needs to be warm, not just the floor, so heating pads aren't recommended for use other than as supplemental heat for sick or elderly hedgehogs. And heating rocks/etc. can cause burns for all animals, hedgehogs, reptiles, etc.

 

[moxieberry]

Is your daughter's report supposed to be about wild hedgehogs or domestic/pet hedgehogs? Because there are definitely some differences there, such as hibernation. Domestic hedgehogs have lost the ability to hibernate; they'll make attempts if it's too cold, but their bodies can't function properly in that dormant state, so if they stay in hibernation long enough, they'll die.

Your best bet for photos would be to just do a google image search and go through that for ones you like. Some of what comes up will be too small to come out very well when printed, so try looking through ones that are medium/large (which you can specify on the left side of the google image search). You can also look on flickr.com, but those aren't easy to copy/paste. If you're just printing and then gluing them onto something by hand, you can print a page from flickr and print it out. Flickr has that block in place because you're supposed to get the person's permission before using any photos you find on there, but that's meant to protect copyright/ownership of the images. A school project isn't exactly going to get you sued, haha.

Back to the question of what the report is supposed to be on, make sure whatever images you use are correct for that too. Domestic hedgehogs (called 'african pygmy hedgehog', though that's not actually a hedgehog species) are a hyrbid of two wild species and have a distinct 'look' that's different from wild hedgehogs, but different hedgehog species also vary in appearance.

 

[LarryT]

Welcome to the forum! One of our brightest members wrote a book about the right way to do things it's a free download
http://www.hedgehogbook.webs.com/
You can use anything you want from my website http://www.carolinastormhedgehogs.com we have a few pictures

 

[monilarac]

Her directions did not specify wild or domestic but did mention Europe. Would that indicate the wild ones? If so, any advice on reputable info is welcome and I will continue to visit the forum here to teach the kids about the pet hedgehogs anyway!

Thank you for the replies!

 

[moxieberry]

Yeah, that sounds like wild hedgehogs then. There are a handful of species, but the 'common hedgehog' (the one generally being referred to when no specific species is specified) is the European hedgehog. Pretty much all of the wild species are similar, and the wiki page gives plenty of info about those shared traits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog I assume wikipedia is an acceptable source for a 7-year-old's school project. (I know it's very Not Okay for college, haha.)

As far as photos go, the obvious different between domestic and wild hedgehogs is the coloring. Domestic hedgehogs come in an assortment of colors, but a lot of them tend to have cream/white on the underside and face, with dark quills and a dark mask. The lighter color varieties will have little or no mask visible, but none of those lighter colors are seen in wild hedgehogs. Most wild hedgehogs, including the common hedgehog/European hedgehog, won't have as much contrast between the colors; typically the underside/belly/face color will be very similar to the quill color, such as in this photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Igel01.jpg (Desert-living species will be lighter shades, however.)

 

[monilarac]

Thank you so much!!!