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Hedgehogs
Animal lovers looking for an unusual pet will be fascinated by the things this manual reveals about hedgehogs. Books in Barron's Complete Pet Owner's Manuals series present basic information for new or soon-to-be owners. Advice and instruction covers feeding, housing, health care, training, grooming, and much more. Texts emphasize pet care basics and are easy for all readers to understand. All books in this series are filled with high quality full-color photos and instructive line drawings.
95 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 26, 2021
Hedgehogs.
As most of you guys know, I run a hedgehog rescue. My rescue used to be the only rescue within a 250 mile radius of where I lived. I've been doing this for around 9 years, and thankfully I've learned a decent amount of hedgehog care over that time. I've become knowledgeable enough to rescue well over 100 hedgehogs during this time and have even helped zoos improve their hedgehog enclosures and been interviewed by small news stations. What I mean to say is, I might not have a PhD in zoology the way the author of this book does, but my knowledge is also a bit more up to date than this book.
This book really shouldn't be in the library any more.
This book was originally published in 2000 or so and the copy that I read was the updated 2005 or so one. I came into the hedgehog scene more recently than that, and a lot of this information is now summarily wrong. That having been said, even for the time it was written, some of the information in the book was downright questionable. Multiple times, it lists an African Hedgehog's lifespan as averaging around 10 years (and sometimes longer) when back when it was written the average African Hedgehog would live around 1 - 3 years if you were lucky. Even nowadays, the oldest hedgehog on record lived 9 years. The oldest hedgehog I've ever cared for lived 8 1/2 years. I have no idea where 10+ came into play.
Beyond errors such as that, the book recommended some extremely dangerous practices. Chiefly among them was the advice regarding temperature. African Hedgehogs cannot hibernate the way that the European hedgehog species can. (Whether or not they aestivate appears to still be up for debate.) Hibernation, in an African Hedgehog, is actually hypothermia and tends to lead to brain damage if the hedgehog comes out of hibernation or just straight up death. This book talked about most places in the US being fine for an outdoor hedgehog enclosure (the safest low temperature for a hedgehog is 70 degrees. Mine are always kept around 76) and hibernation being fine and natural. Beyond that, the book also promoted a number of dangerous things like suggesting wire wheels (which can chop off hedgehog toes), climbing (which can lead to broken limbs), and a primarily soft food diet (which rots teeth.)
This is just scratching the surface of bad advice.
This book might have been a wealth of knowledge for when it was written, but nowadays we have much better information out there. This book could potentially lead to a host of dead hedgehogs. A lot of the advice appears to apply to European Hedgehogs rather than African Hedgehogs, which isn't that surprising given that European Hedgehogs have been worked with far more extensively and are a hardier species.
Just.
If you want hedgehog advice, feel free to shoot me a message here on GoodReads.
When I find a better book for hedgehog care, I'll be happy to link it here.
As most of you guys know, I run a hedgehog rescue. My rescue used to be the only rescue within a 250 mile radius of where I lived. I've been doing this for around 9 years, and thankfully I've learned a decent amount of hedgehog care over that time. I've become knowledgeable enough to rescue well over 100 hedgehogs during this time and have even helped zoos improve their hedgehog enclosures and been interviewed by small news stations. What I mean to say is, I might not have a PhD in zoology the way the author of this book does, but my knowledge is also a bit more up to date than this book.
This book really shouldn't be in the library any more.
This book was originally published in 2000 or so and the copy that I read was the updated 2005 or so one. I came into the hedgehog scene more recently than that, and a lot of this information is now summarily wrong. That having been said, even for the time it was written, some of the information in the book was downright questionable. Multiple times, it lists an African Hedgehog's lifespan as averaging around 10 years (and sometimes longer) when back when it was written the average African Hedgehog would live around 1 - 3 years if you were lucky. Even nowadays, the oldest hedgehog on record lived 9 years. The oldest hedgehog I've ever cared for lived 8 1/2 years. I have no idea where 10+ came into play.
Beyond errors such as that, the book recommended some extremely dangerous practices. Chiefly among them was the advice regarding temperature. African Hedgehogs cannot hibernate the way that the European hedgehog species can. (Whether or not they aestivate appears to still be up for debate.) Hibernation, in an African Hedgehog, is actually hypothermia and tends to lead to brain damage if the hedgehog comes out of hibernation or just straight up death. This book talked about most places in the US being fine for an outdoor hedgehog enclosure (the safest low temperature for a hedgehog is 70 degrees. Mine are always kept around 76) and hibernation being fine and natural. Beyond that, the book also promoted a number of dangerous things like suggesting wire wheels (which can chop off hedgehog toes), climbing (which can lead to broken limbs), and a primarily soft food diet (which rots teeth.)
This is just scratching the surface of bad advice.
This book might have been a wealth of knowledge for when it was written, but nowadays we have much better information out there. This book could potentially lead to a host of dead hedgehogs. A lot of the advice appears to apply to European Hedgehogs rather than African Hedgehogs, which isn't that surprising given that European Hedgehogs have been worked with far more extensively and are a hardier species.
Just.
If you want hedgehog advice, feel free to shoot me a message here on GoodReads.
When I find a better book for hedgehog care, I'll be happy to link it here.
December 3, 2008
I've learned that hedgehogs can make good pets and they will not only bite your finger, they will also bite your foot or ankle!!
May 24, 2008
We had a boy and a girl hedgehog named Pins and Needles. They even had 2 batches of baby hedgehogs. They were a lot of fun.
December 21, 2024
Outdated, but still a good read with some cool facts if you're new to hedgehogs
July 14, 2025
great information, amazing pictures and illustrations
January 29, 2019
Cute and knowledgeable book for hedgehog owners.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews