HEDGEHOG BIOLOGY

• Scientific name: African Pygmy Hedgehog Atelerix albiventris; European Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus
• Life span 3 - 5 years, up to 10 is recorded
• Adult body weight (g): African male 800 - 1200; African female 250 - 400; European male 500 - 600; European female 400 - 800)
• Dental formula 2(I 3/2 C 1/1 P 3/2 M 3/3) = 36; upper incisor slot into a gap between lower incisors, which project forward; deciduous erupt at 18 days, complete by 9 weeks; permanent teeth erupt at 7 to 9 weeks
• Sexual maturity > 2 months
• Breeding year-round
• Clutch 1 - 7 pups, average 3
• Gestation 34-37 days
• Weaning 4 - 6 weeks
• Age at sexual maturity: male 6 - 8 months; female 2 - 6 months
• Reproductive lifespan: male lifetime; female 2-3 years
• Infants are called hoglets
• Hedgehogs make an assortment of interesting sounds: snorting, huffing, hissing, grunting, screaming, twittering, whistling, clucking, snuffling
• “Anting”, self-anointing: when hedgehogs encounter something new, they may taste it, then salivate excessively, producing a large amount of foam, which they then spread over themselves