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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hedgehogs. Good 'pet' or not?

44 replies

kreecherlivesupstairs · 23/11/2010 09:29

DD is an eccentric little girl to say the least. When I asked her what she wanted for christmas she said a hedgehog. I assumed she meant a toy one, but no, she wants the real thing. We live in a house with a fully enclosed walled garden and a ridiculously healthy slug and snail population.
I have tentatively agreed that we'll wait until spring to try to find an animal shelter that will allow us to adopt one.
She has already started making plans, it has a name (Fandango) and she is planning to buy some straw so it can make a bed.
Would I be unreasonable to try to get one, or should I let this idea die a natural death?
She is 9.6 if that has any bearing on it.

OP posts:
daimbardiva · 23/11/2010 09:33

Explain to her that hedgehogs are wild animals and therefore would not be happy kept as pets. I doubt very much that any animal shelter would allow you to adopt one for that reason.

Unrulysun · 23/11/2010 09:35

Agree with daimbardiva and plus aren't they notoriously full of fleas?

ApocalypseCheese · 23/11/2010 09:37

Don't think you can legally keep them as 'pets' sorry, there is a pet hedgehog type thing dd spotted in a petshop once, can't remember its name tho Hmm

Original poster
kreecherlivesupstairs · 23/11/2010 09:38

I thought that too, she is aware that she won't be able to stroke Fandango. I hadn't considered the flea angle.
I will quietly let the matter drop. Thanks.

OP posts:
LetThereBeRock · 23/11/2010 09:40

Some hedgehogs rescues do look for homes for elderly or disabled hedgehogs with walled gardens,where they can live out the rest of their lives.

There's some information here.

Vallhala · 23/11/2010 09:40

You'd be entirely unreasonable.

This, from Hedghogz, sums it up nicely:

"Hedgehogs... cover distances of several miles each night looking for food, and owners may provide a pen of just a few meters length to 'exercise' their pets. From my perspective I cannot see why a hedgehog would make a good pet. Firstly they are nocturnal, and secondly they are terrified of humans. So trying to integrate one into a family would totally disrupt it's body clock and then stress it so much that it will live an unpleasant and shortened life. All I ask is that before you go and buy a hedgehog that you think twice about what you are doing to the poor creature. If there is no demand for them as pets, they will not be bred and sold."

Besides, this, kids tire easily of pets, be that an ant or a zebra. The novelty will soon wear off.

AvengingGerbil · 23/11/2010 09:42

I suggest you look at www.thehedgehog.co.uk/captive.htmthis before you go any further.

LetThereBeRock · 23/11/2010 09:42

I presumed that the OP had intended that it'd live outside,and not be a pet as such. She did say her dd is aware that she can't touch it,and some rescues do need this type of home for their hedgehogs.

ApocalypseCheese · 23/11/2010 09:43

I found a baby hedgehog when I was a girl (curled up at side of busy road) he was lovely, very tame. I called him 'harold'

Anyways, when the weather got warmer we released him in the Abbey, no way would I have been able to keep him as a pet

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 23/11/2010 09:44

Hedgehogs can do well in walled gardens with lots of slugs. Obviously Fandango wouldn't be a pet, but you could give a home to an amputee hedgehog, for example.

I went to a talk recently by a hedgehog rescuer and apparently there's a waiting list for them. Worth getting in touch with them - I think it might have been the Hedgehog Preservation Trust.

I've not seen a hedgehog for years. Too many bastard badgers round our way. They eat them :(

QuintessentialShadows · 23/11/2010 09:44

Plus, they may carry rabies. (I googled after ds2 "befriended" a hedgehog on holiday, and tried to pet it.... spikes up)

Asteria · 23/11/2010 09:44

They are riddled with fleas, difficult to cuddle and rather antisocial. We used to rescue them when we were little and would itch for weeks afterward.

Hopefully she will have given up by the time they come out of hibernation - otherwise you may have to take her to an animal shelter and bass the buck on to a member of staff who can explain to her why she cannot keep one as a pet.

AvengingGerbil · 23/11/2010 09:44

sorry, this

madonnawhore · 23/11/2010 09:45

Not very cuddly are they? Plus they are riddled with all sorts of parasites.

Better to just let it squat in your garden.

ApocalypseCheese · 23/11/2010 09:45

In fact could do with a hedgehog friend to tackle my slug issue Grin

LetThereBeRock · 23/11/2010 09:45

No rabies here QS.The only cases have been from imported animals, or animals that have crossed the channel e.g bats.

saorachd · 23/11/2010 09:46

Could she 'adopt' one from St Tiggywinkles?
There are bound to be hedgehog rescue places that send pictures and newsletters plus let you visit your hedgehog.

QuintessentialShadows · 23/11/2010 09:46

well, we were holidaying in Sweden..... Grin
So, scrap that, no rabies in the uk!

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 23/11/2010 09:47

wrt captive hedgehogs - that would obviously be a Bad Idea, but I don't imagine the OP's dd expects to keep one in a pen. A walled garden can be a nice safe haven for the right hedgehog, though.

BuntyPenfold · 23/11/2010 09:48

We had a tame one as children, in quite a large walled garden.
It lived happily,( as far as we could tell), for several years, and was not terrified of humans.

It must have eaten the local snails/ beetles etc but we also gave it bread and milk, which was thought to be correct at the time. I know it is dog food we should have fed it, but we didn't know then.
It would arrive at the kitchen doorstep and bang its saucer around until we went out with the food each evening.
We loved it and were eager for it to stop hibernating in its leaf box and visit again.

Asteria · 23/11/2010 09:48

ooooh - I had no idea that there was a preservation trust with a waiting list. If it is free range in your garden and you can get a rescued amputee one then it's a win win situation! You have no slugs and Fandango has somewhere safe to roam.

TotorosOcarina · 23/11/2010 09:50

Tortoise?

Original poster
kreecherlivesupstairs · 23/11/2010 09:50

Having read a few pages on the sites someone kindly posted, I have to agree the answer will be no.
A further complication is our living in Belgium, I can always use that as an excuse.
I do think it would be cruel to keep one on its own, it would have no way of getting out to meet any other spiney chums. She is very sociable so I can use that as an excuse.
Thanks.

OP posts:
midori1999 · 23/11/2010 09:51

Lots of people keep African Pygmy Hedgehogs as pets. They are bred in captivity and if the breeder is a good one, will be fairly tame when you get them, although they do need regular and careful handling to ensure they stay tame and don't get nervous of you.

They are indoor pets and may need a heat source, depending on how warm your house is. They are pretty expensive to buy, around £200, plus caging/accessories. They need a large cage and a wheel for exercise. They can live on a diet of primarily good quality dry cat food, supplemented with wet cat food and insects. (you can buy these)

If you do get one, please go to a good breeder who registers their hedgehogs. There is a list here:

www.freewebs.com/ukhedgehogs/recommendedbreederslis.htm

LetThereBeRock · 23/11/2010 09:54

Perhaps she could sponsor one instead then,as someone suggested.

I do love her choice of name though.Grin