How to Raise and Manage Baby Hedgehogs? A Detailed Guide to the Key Methods

Newborn baby hedgehogs have soft spines on their body surface but no fur. After about 20 hours, the soft spines stand up and they make “zhi……zhi……” squeaking sounds. A newborn hedgehog weighs 13-15 grams. Three days after birth, the baby hedgehog's soft spines harden and gradually increase in number. At 10 days of age, the eyes open. At 20 days of age, teeth grow in and they can walk. At around 30 days, they can forage on their own. The lactation period is 40-50 days. A 3-month-old young hedgehog weighs 320-350 grams, with an average monthly weight gain of about 100 grams. The lactation period and the 100 days after weaning are the fastest growth stages. If feeding and management are good during this period, early growth is fast and the individuals are large, and in the future the hedgehog skin will be large, the selling price will be high, and the economic benefits will be good.

During the lactation period of the baby hedgehogs, the mother hedgehog should be fed feed with high protein content and rich in vitamins and trace elements, and the amount should be sufficient. If the feed given that evening is eaten very cleanly by the mother hedgehog the next morning, it indicates that the feed was insufficient. When feeding again the next evening, the amount should be increased somewhat, until during the daily morning check the feed in the feed bowl is basically finished with only a slight remainder. The feed given to the mother hedgehog must be fresh. If there are moldy ingredients in the feed, the mother hedgehog will have diarrhea after eating it and will show a lack of milk. If the feed has a high nutritional level, is fresh, and is sufficient in amount, the mother hedgehog will have enough milk, and the baby hedgehogs will be healthy and grow quickly. The baby hedgehogs begin to forage 30 days after birth, so supplementary feeding should begin then. After 20-25 days following birth, the mother hedgehog's lactation reaches its peak, and afterward the milk output declines. However, as the baby hedgehogs grow older, they need more and more nutrients, and relying on milk alone cannot meet their internal nutritional needs. Therefore, supplementary feed must be given to the baby hedgehogs to meet their nutritional needs and support their growth and development. The method of supplementary feeding is: while feeding the mother hedgehog, also prepare a shallow wide-mouth container for the baby hedgehogs, with some liquid feed inside. The liquid feed is made into a paste from milk (or milk powder) and starch, and then some salt, vitamins, and trace elements are added, or more is added to the mother hedgehog's feed, so that when the mother hedgehog cannot finish it, the baby hedgehogs can eat some. Practice has shown that supplementary-fed baby hedgehogs grow and develop much faster than those without supplementary feeding.

Baby hedgehogs at 45-50 days of age should be weaned. After weaning, the young hedgehogs are called juvenile hedgehogs. Juvenile hedgehogs grow and develop the fastest, and at this time they need a large amount of nutrients to ensure the needs of growth and development. Therefore, the feed at this time should be nutritionally rich, highly palatable, and easy to digest. In terms of feeding, feed frequently, with a small amount each time, achieving small amounts and multiple feedings. This feeding method suits the digestive characteristics of juvenile hedgehogs. The digestive tract wall of juvenile hedgehogs is thin, and their digestive function is still relatively poor, but at this time, due to the nutritional needs within their bodies, they are rather greedy. Often, when there is highly palatable feed, they eat a lot at one time, cannot digest it, and develop indigestion, with severe cases developing gastrointestinal diseases. Therefore, each feeding should be regular and quantitative, letting them eat only 80 or 90 percent full each time, and feeding 3 times a day. When the baby hedgehogs are weaned, take the mother hedgehog out and place her in another nest box. Leave the baby hedgehogs in the original nest without moving them, and do not separate the baby hedgehogs; let them still live together. Since they are very familiar with each other and it is the original nest box, there will be no stress response, which is beneficial to growth and development.