These cute critters depend on their spines for defense, both while they sleep and when they face enemies. By curling into a tight ball and tucking in their heads, tail and legs, they protect vulnerable parts of their body. The body of adult hedgehogs ranges from 14 to 30 centimetres long, and their tail can add one to six centimetres. When they are born there can be up to seven in a litter their spines are soft and short. But soon after birth, their spines harden, becoming stiffer, sharper and longer.
By that time, their eyes are open, their spines are effective and they can safely follow their mother outside the nest as she looks for food. Mostly nocturnal creatures , they head out at night in search of food — but they are sometimes active during the day, too, particularly after it rains.
Scientists believe this may help hedgehogs hide their scent from predators, or give them a nasty shock shock should they attack! There are 15 different species of hedgehog , found across Europe, Asia and Africa. Whilst these cool creatures mainly stay on the ground, they are quite good swimmers and can climb trees, too! While you wait for it to be checked and approved why not to add a pre-selected message and a cool badge.
Britain has hedgehogs too. They should not be kept in captivity, but regarded as welcome visitors. Fleas are a normal occurrence in wild animals and hedgehogs are no exception. The good news is hedgehog fleas are host-specific and, although they might jump on to your cat or dog, they cannot live on them for long.
If you find that a hedgehog has a very heavy flea infestation it may indicate that there is an underlying problem.
Blood-sucking ticks are also often found on hedgehogs and after taking their fill of blood, will drop off the host in order to complete their life cycle. It is common to find several ticks on a single animal, but if you find a hedgehog with large numbers of ticks, this may indicate that the animal needs help. Removing ticks properly requires experience and, to avoid harming the hedgehog, you should seek expert help. Hedgehogs may give birth to their hoglets late in the year. Such youngsters will not have enough time to build up sufficient fat reserves to enable them to survive hibernation.
The absolute minimum weight to see them through the winter is gms 1lb and any hedgehog below this weight will have problems. However hedgehog carers prefer to get autumn juveniles in care to an optimum weight of gms 1lb 6oz or more. Autumn juveniles, i. Call the BHPS for further advice on and make contact with an experienced local rescue centre to check the hedgehog over as soon as possible.
They may be happy for you to overwinter the hedgehog or it may need more specialist treatment at the rescue. For First Aid the hedgehog should be given extra warmth, either a warm hot water bottle wrapped in towelling or blanket or placed on a heated pad with room to get away from the heat should it get too warm again call BHPS for extra advice.
It should be placed in a box lined with plenty of clean fresh straw, torn newspaper or clean old towelling for bedding. A suitable diet can consist of meaty hedgehog food, meaty cat or dog food or cat biscuits. However this is a specialised job and it is better to pass the hoglet s onto an experienced carer. Call BHPS on for details of your nearest carer. The desert-dwelling types live in areas that receive little rainfall.
Others live throughout Asia. European hedgehogs are widespread in Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. In Africa, hedgehogs live in savannas, forests, and even city streets, where they waddle along, foraging for insects.
Hedgehogs live on the ground, never in trees. They like to live alone and may be territorial. Some hedgehogs dig burrows in the soil up to 20 inches 50 centimeters deep. Others prefer to make nests with dead leaves, grasses, and branches. Desert hedgehogs hide between boulders or burrow into the sand to escape the desert heat. In Asia, long-eared hedgehogs often move into burrows left by turtles, foxes, gerbils, and otters.
Hedgehogs are insectivores. But they can also eat other ground-dwelling creatures such as slugs and snails. Some hedgies, like those in Africa's deserts, even eat dead wildlife, small rodents and snakes, and scorpions. The menu of a South African hedgehog includes all the above as well as fungi, frogs, lizards, termites, grasshoppers, and moths.
Some hedgies include fruit, roots, grass, leaves, and seeds along with their creepy-crawly main course. Hedgehogs at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park eat a well-balanced diet of vegetables, cat kibble, pellets made for insectivores, crickets, and mealworms.
Hedgehogs are active at night. They dig, chew, and forage through the darkest hours. In fact, it is illegal to have a hedgehog as a pet in many places. Hedgehogs have teeth—up to 44 of them, and, like any wildlife with teeth, they can bite! They can also carry parasites on their quills. Once they are in a ball, they must stay still.
It is a myth that they can roll while curled into a ball. Most hedgehogs can fit in an adult's hand. They range in size from 4 to 12 inches 10 to 30 centimeters , according to the San Diego Zoo.
They typically weigh from 5 to 56 ounces to 1, grams , depending on the species. They can live in a wide range of habitats, including savannas, forests, deserts, scrublands and suburban gardens. Hedgehog homes are usually burrows and nests they build themselves. Hedgehog burrows can be up to 20 inches 50 cm deep, according to the San Diego Zoo, and nests are made from leaves, branches and other vegetation.
Sometimes, hedgehogs take over burrows that other animals have left behind or nestle between rocks. Hedgehogs are solitary creatures that are big sleepers and can sleep up to 18 hours per day, according to Animal Planet.
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