I just saw on the news that you can get pet African pygmy hedghogs. Are they in Australia or everywhere else but?
Some rabbit and guinea pig breeders in the UK have started breeding African Pygmy Hedgehogs in the last few years. I was extremely tempted to buy one I also cared for one when I was doing an animal care qualification, a really friendly little guy who was more diurnal than normal.
Lucky. I found out that there aren't any in australia. Oh well. Jimmy do you really have guinea pig breeders over there. In Australia you get them for two bucks from some kid who accidentley got a boy and a girl after they started with two girls.
PAT, guinea pigs in the UK are sold in many places such as pet shops, breeders, farms etc. Occaisonally, rabbit breeders will also breed guinea pigs as well (well at least the breeder who I got my rabbits from did)
They can be found in US pet stores...but they arent commonly found. When I was in college, one of my professors found one in their backyard.
Guinea pig breeders breed for G. pig shows and stuff, not just for the pet trade. Breeding them certainly isn't particularly hard.
We run an exotic rescue in Alberta, Canada and have had, as far as I can remember off hand, 8 African Pygmy Hedgehogs come through our doors. They are commonly available in pet stores here and now it's not very rare to find them in rescues. They are very easily neglected, people don't realize that they need high quality cat food, not your average grocery store brand...they get fatty liver disease and other problems very easily. They also tend to suffer from dry skin and people keep them in cages that are far to small for them. They can be amazing little pets though, one of our adopters is a hedgie fanatic and her hedgies are the friendliest, cuddliest, most interactive hedgehogs I've ever met. However, they can also be the hissiest, prickliest, most antisocial little pets as well! And anyone interested in getting one has to be prepared to love their grumpy hedgie just the same and take care of it just as they would if it was friendly. They all have their own personalities, of course, although handling and proper socializing does a lot! Here are a couple of pictures of four of the hedgies we've had here. [photo=7011;508;skgi_1823795_30849.jpg]African Pygmy Hedgehog[/photo] [photo=7010;508;IMG_1206.JPG]African Pygmy Hedgehog[/photo] [photo=7009;508;IMG_11561.JPG]African Pygmy Hedgehog[/photo] [photo=7008;508;IMG_3586.JPG]African Pygmy Hedgehog[/photo]
