Different Breeds

[m0usey]

I just recently (about 5 minutes ago :winkgrin: ) found out that there are two different breeds of hedgehog, Algerian and African Pygmy. I have a few questions...is there really a difference between them?
And how do you tell the difference?
Perhaps a picture of each to compare would be helpful...
Thanks much :p
Always on the lookout for new hedgie information :hyper: :high5:

[hemi_mygirl]

Algerians have dark cheek patches (think the black smears under a football player's eyes) and the White-bellied (or the one you termed as an African Pygmy) have very faint or non-existant patches. Truthfully, both are African hedgehogs.

[HedgeMom]

There are actually six African species (not breeds)

Ganked from Hedgies.com:

White-bellied or four-toed hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris), also occasionally found in parts of southern Europe, crossed with the Algerian hedgehog to produce the domesticated African hedgehog
Algerian hedgehog (Atelerix algirus), crossed with the White-bellied hedgehog to produce the domesticated African hedgehog
Somali hedgehog (Atelerix sclateri)
South African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis, sometimes referred to as Pruner's hedgehog or A. pruneri)
Ethiopian hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus)
Egyptian, long-eared or desert hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus),

[LunaMidnight]

Egyptian, long-eared or desert hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus)


The really cute ones with the big ears! :hearts:

[m0usey]

Wow 6??
That's a lot!
So there really isn't much of a difference except for looks?

[freznow]

Well, looks, size, colors, what you expect from different species. Though the pet hedgehog that we all know and love is a mix between algerians and a.pygmies, and I think that caused a color mutation? Like when the cinnicots mixed they created apricot? Or something like that... Most of the individual charachteristics of those two species mixed and now the only thing representing that our hogs were once 2 different species (I think some people believe there a third in there, though it's not as prominant) is the coloring... (eyepatches...)

[m0usey]

Okay. Thanks :winkgrin: