Just some questions

[EBB]

Are there quality issues when breeding hedgehogs? I had a woman who is jut a backyard breeder offer to sell me some baby hedgehogs for 50.00ea and I was thinking they would be interetsing pets for my classroom. I've done minimal research on care and breeding but wondered if maybe I should be aiming for specific standards when purchasing a hedghog.

Thanks

[PrettyHate]

Personally I wouldnt dream of supporting a "backyard breeder" of any sort. Often these hogs are simple purchased from petstores and bred- therefore there is little to no knowledge of theis backgrounds.

Most will agree that hedgehogs dont make good classroom pets- especially for younger children.

-Hedgehogs are active during the night, and while some will tolerate being handled during the day, for the most part theyd rather be left to sleep.

-Depending on the age of the children- a hedgehog may not be suitable at all. Many will take a while to warm up to people- and having alot of young children around who are excited to see it etc wont help it. Some hedgies are very social and dont mind people at all, others are very shy and wouldnt tolerate having alot of people around them.

-It would be hard to control the temperatures inside the classroom. Hedgies need an ambient air temperature of at least 73*F- out of dafts, direct sunlight etc.

-Having to clean a dirty wheel at school, as well as haul clean and dirty liners back and forth could be a bit of a hassle.

-Alot could go wrong after everyone leaves for the evening. It is usually during this time of the day (early to late evening) that people let their hog out for "play time". Some hogs wont be very active until the lights are dimmed. This free time is important for exercise, as well as interaction.

Etc.

You also said that they would make interesting pets- plural. Female hedgies that are siblings can sometimes live together, males can never live together, and males and females should never be housed together.

Just a few things to keep in mind.

[EBB]

Thankyou

[hemi_mygirl]

It takes a special type of hedgehog to be a classroom pet, I think. Very few hedgies are amiable in the daytime and even fewer will tolerate being poked and prodded by young children during that time.

A guinea pig or hamster would probably be a better choice. Or something not nocturnal..