Breeding to Improve
Here
at bramblewood we breed not only to preserve and to enhance
the characteristics that make hedgehogs unique we also breed to improve health and longevity. Here is
some past breedings stories that may be helpful to some breeders.
As most breeders will tell you it is no sure way to tell if a hedgehog is in fact pregnant, despite even observing mating. I have had hedgehogs show all the usual tell tale signs of being pregnant. Weight gain, bottom heavy, nipples growth , increase in appetite, drinking more and some even nesting. Then after 40 days or so no sign of any babies what so ever. Dewberry was one of those hedgehogs that showed all the above signs on her first attempt of breeding only to get past day 50 without any signs of trying to labour or babies.
So when it came to her second attempt, I did not have high expectations. This was reinforced as the days went by. Her appetite never got bigger, she never felt bottom heavy, her nipples did not grow that much and she never made any attempts of making a nesting area. Any hopes I had about her being pregnant was dashed when she reached 30 days and only weighed 40 grams more.
Even though Dewberry being pregnant was looking very unlikely I still did all the things a hog breeder does at day 30. Give cage one last big clean out, offer fresh bedding and top up food and water etc. On day 37 she was still not looking much bigger and when I weighed her this was reinforced as her weight was exactly the same.
I wasn’t really feeling that disappointed as I had a sneaky feeling that maybe she was not cut out to be a mum hog. I picked her out of the weighing bowl and smoothed her. Offered a few kind words of understanding and placed her back into her nesting box. Well I say nesting box, it still had no signs of her even trying to make a nest it still had the pile of tissue I added in the hope she would do something with them.
To my complete surprise I was awoken the next morning to the sound of squealing. The babies did sound louder than normal. Even though I was tempted to look I thought it would be for the best to give mum some privacy and quietly sneaked out of the bedroom.
Later on that same day I went back upstairs and left a bowl of meal worms outside the entrance of the nesting box. Dewberry soon ran out and tucked into her little midday feast. I slowly opened up the nesting box.
The first thing I saw was blood. It did seem to be a lot of blood, all over the box. I put this down to as Dewberry never made a nest as such it had nothing to absorbed the mess. The next thing I saw was a half eaten baby. This was an upsetting site, but sadly as a hog breeder not that unusual. As I quickly scanned the nesting area I saw 4 plump babies all huddled in the corner. I quietly closed the lid and left the room.
Later on that day I popped back up to leave more mealworms for Dewberry to eat and yet again she soon rushed out and tucked straight in. I quietly opened up the nesting box again for another sneaky look. This time I was really surprised to see 6 babies. 4 plump ones and 2 much smaller ones. One was about half the size of the fellow hog babies and the other was about the third of the size.
My First Attempt At Breeding
I first started breeding
African Pygmy Hedgehogs back in 2003. My first attempt was not a
pleasant experience to say the least.
I spent a lot of time previous to the mating reading up the topic on the net and emailing fellow hog breeders. When Blackberry was over 6 months (7 months to be exact) I put her on a date with Bramble. Poor Bramble never knew what hit him. Blackberry was more in the mood for loving than he was. Eventually Bramble got the idea and sung his little heart out and mounted Blackberry.
I spent the next 30 odd days offering Blackberry extra food as well as her regular supplements of vitamins, minerals and calcium. Blackberry had a good pregnancy, she seemed to enjoy the extra attention and I know she was loving the extra food. I took her wheel out at day 30 and gave her cage one last good clean out and offered her some more shredded tissue for her nesting box.
Blackberry gave birth 38 days after the date with Bramble and I was awoken to the sound of squeaking. It was a very exciting time. Sadly this was short lived as when I went for a closer listen, I found one baby just by the nests entrance dead. Even though that was a heartbreaking sight , the noise of other little hoglets squeaking did help take my mind off the little one who did not make it.
I had read a lot on the net about how first time mum hogs are often bad mums. I was hoping Blackberry would be different, but sadly she was no exception. Three days after the babies were born I found the remaining two pushed outside the nest dead.
The trauma of the birth must have been too much for Blackberry as when I went to remove the dead babies she ran out the nest and bit me, that was the first and last time she ever bit me.
Four months later, after a lot more research I decided to try one more time. The only thing I did differently this time was make my own nesting box. It looked like a mini wardrobe. I must admit it was nothing spectacular and Barbie would be ashamed to hang her clothes in there. Luckily Blackberry seemed less fussy and liked it.
Again she gave birth on day 38, but this time I awoke to find two babies dead outside the nesting box. I couldn't hear anymore squeaking, I was devastated (well I was the child who used to cry at Lassie every Saturday morning and don't even mention when E.T died).
My first thought was to check Blackberry so I slowly opened the nesting box and to my complete amazement I saw Blackberry lying down on her side feeding one very small pink baby. It was like the time E.T awoke in his metal coffin all over again.
I started offering Blackberry extra meal worms after a few days and when she was eating I would take a sneaky look at the baby. It was a wonderful experience watching that little hoglet get fatter, grow fur and get thicker spikes. When the little plump hog reached two weeks of age I gave Blackberry quite a few meal worms and slowly lifted the little plump baby hog from the nesting box.
The little plump hog felt so soft and warm and didn't even
try to ball up, I had a quick look to see what the sex the baby
was and carefully placed her back into the nesting box and shut the
lid. Blackberry finished eating her meal worms and then quickly
scurried back inside the nesting box. As the days passed I slowly
increased holding the baby and when she got to 5 weeks I started
leaving a bowl of moistened dried cat food for her to eat. Which
mostly she first used for self anointing but soon
she did get used to the taste and started to tuck in. This food was soon followed by the love of meal worms. Meal worms took a bit longer for her to enjoy, but after she saw Mum eating them a few times she soon got the hang on catching her live prey.
I named her Thornberry and she soon grew up to become a lovely good tempered hog like her Mum with her Dads appetite for
food and wheeling.
I spent a lot of time previous to the mating reading up the topic on the net and emailing fellow hog breeders. When Blackberry was over 6 months (7 months to be exact) I put her on a date with Bramble. Poor Bramble never knew what hit him. Blackberry was more in the mood for loving than he was. Eventually Bramble got the idea and sung his little heart out and mounted Blackberry.
I spent the next 30 odd days offering Blackberry extra food as well as her regular supplements of vitamins, minerals and calcium. Blackberry had a good pregnancy, she seemed to enjoy the extra attention and I know she was loving the extra food. I took her wheel out at day 30 and gave her cage one last good clean out and offered her some more shredded tissue for her nesting box.
Blackberry gave birth 38 days after the date with Bramble and I was awoken to the sound of squeaking. It was a very exciting time. Sadly this was short lived as when I went for a closer listen, I found one baby just by the nests entrance dead. Even though that was a heartbreaking sight , the noise of other little hoglets squeaking did help take my mind off the little one who did not make it.
I had read a lot on the net about how first time mum hogs are often bad mums. I was hoping Blackberry would be different, but sadly she was no exception. Three days after the babies were born I found the remaining two pushed outside the nest dead.
The trauma of the birth must have been too much for Blackberry as when I went to remove the dead babies she ran out the nest and bit me, that was the first and last time she ever bit me.
Four months later, after a lot more research I decided to try one more time. The only thing I did differently this time was make my own nesting box. It looked like a mini wardrobe. I must admit it was nothing spectacular and Barbie would be ashamed to hang her clothes in there. Luckily Blackberry seemed less fussy and liked it.
Again she gave birth on day 38, but this time I awoke to find two babies dead outside the nesting box. I couldn't hear anymore squeaking, I was devastated (well I was the child who used to cry at Lassie every Saturday morning and don't even mention when E.T died).
My first thought was to check Blackberry so I slowly opened the nesting box and to my complete amazement I saw Blackberry lying down on her side feeding one very small pink baby. It was like the time E.T awoke in his metal coffin all over again.
I started offering Blackberry extra meal worms after a few days and when she was eating I would take a sneaky look at the baby. It was a wonderful experience watching that little hoglet get fatter, grow fur and get thicker spikes. When the little plump hog reached two weeks of age I gave Blackberry quite a few meal worms and slowly lifted the little plump baby hog from the nesting box.
she did get used to the taste and started to tuck in. This food was soon followed by the love of meal worms. Meal worms took a bit longer for her to enjoy, but after she saw Mum eating them a few times she soon got the hang on catching her live prey.
I named her Thornberry and she soon grew up to become a lovely good tempered hog like her Mum with her Dads appetite for
food and wheeling.
Is Dewberry Due?
As most breeders will tell you it is no sure way to tell if a hedgehog is in fact pregnant, despite even observing mating. I have had hedgehogs show all the usual tell tale signs of being pregnant. Weight gain, bottom heavy, nipples growth , increase in appetite, drinking more and some even nesting. Then after 40 days or so no sign of any babies what so ever. Dewberry was one of those hedgehogs that showed all the above signs on her first attempt of breeding only to get past day 50 without any signs of trying to labour or babies.
So when it came to her second attempt, I did not have high expectations. This was reinforced as the days went by. Her appetite never got bigger, she never felt bottom heavy, her nipples did not grow that much and she never made any attempts of making a nesting area. Any hopes I had about her being pregnant was dashed when she reached 30 days and only weighed 40 grams more.
Even though Dewberry being pregnant was looking very unlikely I still did all the things a hog breeder does at day 30. Give cage one last big clean out, offer fresh bedding and top up food and water etc. On day 37 she was still not looking much bigger and when I weighed her this was reinforced as her weight was exactly the same.
I wasn’t really feeling that disappointed as I had a sneaky feeling that maybe she was not cut out to be a mum hog. I picked her out of the weighing bowl and smoothed her. Offered a few kind words of understanding and placed her back into her nesting box. Well I say nesting box, it still had no signs of her even trying to make a nest it still had the pile of tissue I added in the hope she would do something with them.
To my complete surprise I was awoken the next morning to the sound of squealing. The babies did sound louder than normal. Even though I was tempted to look I thought it would be for the best to give mum some privacy and quietly sneaked out of the bedroom.
Later on that same day I went back upstairs and left a bowl of meal worms outside the entrance of the nesting box. Dewberry soon ran out and tucked into her little midday feast. I slowly opened up the nesting box.
The first thing I saw was blood. It did seem to be a lot of blood, all over the box. I put this down to as Dewberry never made a nest as such it had nothing to absorbed the mess. The next thing I saw was a half eaten baby. This was an upsetting site, but sadly as a hog breeder not that unusual. As I quickly scanned the nesting area I saw 4 plump babies all huddled in the corner. I quietly closed the lid and left the room.
Later on that day I popped back up to leave more mealworms for Dewberry to eat and yet again she soon rushed out and tucked straight in. I quietly opened up the nesting box again for another sneaky look. This time I was really surprised to see 6 babies. 4 plump ones and 2 much smaller ones. One was about half the size of the fellow hog babies and the other was about the third of the size.
I found it hard to believe
a hedgehog of Dewberry’s size would have one baby never mind seven.
After talking with Brenda a friend and a fellow hog breeder . We decided the best way to make sure the two little guys get to the milk bar is by every two hours gently moving the four plumper babies away and placing the two smaller ones next to the teats.
Every two hours I did this, through night and day. One soon started to build its strength up the other seemed to fade quite quickly. Sadly on day 4 the littlest one died, leaving mum with 5 babies.
About a week later I awoke to find the biggest baby hog of the litter outside the nest and looking cold. My heart sunk when I first saw him laying there in a ball, as I had feared the worst. I quickly lifted him up and held him in my hands to warm him, thankfully he was still alive.
The last time I found a young baby outside the nest was one of Thornberrys. When I carefully put her baby back she killed it almost straight away. I think that was because I put the hog back cold and Thornberry may have thought it was already dead.
So this time I held the youngster in my hand and gently blew on him to make him nice and warm. I wasn’t sure why the hog was out the nest. Mum may have pushed it out or maybe the young hog had been suckling too well and got dragged out by Mum when she went for food or water. After about a minute of holding and blowing on I lifted the lid and placed the young hog back into the nesting box. I picked up some nearby bedding and sprinkled it over him. Just to hide any smell I may have left on him. Thankfully Dewberry thought nothing of it and let him suckle.
Two weeks later the smallest hog was still doing well. Even though he was still much smaller than his brothers and sister. He is a very active little hog and is no longer last to reach the milk bar, but he is often the last to leave. He never really caught up to the size of his fellow siblings until week 4.
Dewberry never made any attempt at making a nest and most of the time the babies are laying on bare floor. But hey, she is a mum not a builder and a jolly good mum at that.
After talking with Brenda a friend and a fellow hog breeder . We decided the best way to make sure the two little guys get to the milk bar is by every two hours gently moving the four plumper babies away and placing the two smaller ones next to the teats.
Every two hours I did this, through night and day. One soon started to build its strength up the other seemed to fade quite quickly. Sadly on day 4 the littlest one died, leaving mum with 5 babies.
About a week later I awoke to find the biggest baby hog of the litter outside the nest and looking cold. My heart sunk when I first saw him laying there in a ball, as I had feared the worst. I quickly lifted him up and held him in my hands to warm him, thankfully he was still alive.
The last time I found a young baby outside the nest was one of Thornberrys. When I carefully put her baby back she killed it almost straight away. I think that was because I put the hog back cold and Thornberry may have thought it was already dead.
So this time I held the youngster in my hand and gently blew on him to make him nice and warm. I wasn’t sure why the hog was out the nest. Mum may have pushed it out or maybe the young hog had been suckling too well and got dragged out by Mum when she went for food or water. After about a minute of holding and blowing on I lifted the lid and placed the young hog back into the nesting box. I picked up some nearby bedding and sprinkled it over him. Just to hide any smell I may have left on him. Thankfully Dewberry thought nothing of it and let him suckle.
Two weeks later the smallest hog was still doing well. Even though he was still much smaller than his brothers and sister. He is a very active little hog and is no longer last to reach the milk bar, but he is often the last to leave. He never really caught up to the size of his fellow siblings until week 4.
Dewberry never made any attempt at making a nest and most of the time the babies are laying on bare floor. But hey, she is a mum not a builder and a jolly good mum at that.