questions

[pets rule]

hi, i do not have a hedghog but i am thinking of getting one. First i have a few questions: what do they eat? when you pick one up could it spike you and make you bleed? and how long do they live?

[Kalandra]

1. Some hedgehog foods and high quality cat foods are acceptible as a diet. Basically you want a food with good ingredients that has a lot percentage of fat (I aim for under 10%). They also eat mealworms, crickets, beetles, cooked unseasoned turkey, chicken, salmon, fruits & veggies.

2. Most likely not. I have bled from a quill being poked under my nail, and get red spots from really bad quillings by young or very heavy hogs. But most the time I just end up with tiny holes that go away.

3. Average 3-5 years. Some books will tell you 8-10. But realistically, a closer average would be 3-5. Although I have personally had one live to be 8, and known several that have lived to be between 7-9.

Does that help?

[pets rule]

thanks

[HamsterHedgie]

I think my skin is allergic to almost all mammals so I don't handle my spikey friend too much, he makes me itch.

As for food, a varied diet with anything that Kalandra said is great. The only number I have heard for age is 6. Although, I believe the oldest living hog is something like 11 years old.