{"topic_id":"aemv_care_guide_hedgehog","category":"exotic-pet-care-guide","context":"---\ntopic_id: aemv_care_guide_hedgehog\ncategory: exotic-pet-care-guide\ntitle: \"Hedgehog — AEMV exotic companion care guide (housing, diet, common disorders)\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV), Exotics Companion Care Series trifold (PDF landed pdf-raw/aemv/hedgehog.pdf), retrieved 2026-08-16\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/aemv/hedgehog.pdf\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-16\ntokens_estimated: 420\nverification:\n  method: paraphrase\n  claims: 11\n  note: \"Paraphrase of AEMV client-education trifold; 11 key facts (temperature, cage size, wire spacing, gestation, diet cautions, disease names) are quoted verbatim and substring-checked against the landed PDF text via verify_exotic_aemv.py. Narrative sentences are restated in the dataset's own words; AEMV is a veterinary professional association publishing free client-education material with no on-document redistribution restriction.\"\n  date: 2026-08-16\nsource_document: \"AEMV Exotics Companion Care Series — Hedgehog\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV)\"\n  title: \"Hedgehog — AEMV Exotic Companion Care Guide\"\n  url: \"https://aemv.org/exotic-pet-care-guides/\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-16\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"veterinary association client-education PDF (free)\"\n  needs_review: false\nauthority_tier: T2\nauthority_tier_basis: \"T2:veterinary_association\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-16\n---\n\n# Hedgehog — AEMV Exotic Companion Care Guide\n\nSource: Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV), *Exotics Companion Care Series* \"How to Keep Your Hedgehog Happy, Healthy and Safe\" / \"Common Disorders of Hedgehogs\" / \"About Your Hedgehog\". PDF landed at `pdf-raw/aemv/hedgehog.pdf`. Consolidated husbandry-and-health manual from that single veterinary-association source; figures and disease names quoted from the PDF, narrative paraphrased.\n\n## Species overview\nTwo distinct hedgehog species are available to the pet trade: the African or white-bellied hedgehog (the most common in the United States) and the European hedgehog. Free-ranging hedgehogs are hardy animals of scrub, forests, grasslands and deserts; they eat very little plant matter, preferring insects, spiders, slugs, snails, worms and grubs. Maximum life span is 4–7 years.\n\n## Housing & environment\n- Use a smooth-walled, solid-bottom enclosure high enough to prevent escape; aquariums 20 gallon or larger are acceptable. Cover bedding (newspaper or recycled material) to a depth of several inches, kept dry; Avoid pine, cedar and corn cob for bedding.\n- Maintain the optimum environmental temperature range of 75-85ºF (24-30ºC). Provide climbing / hiding accessories (box, untreated fruit tree log / flower pot, solid-bottom exercise wheel) and smooth clean rocks for scratching.\n- Prevent chilling; provide a heated environment with dry bedding.\n\n## Diet & nutrition\n- The hedgehog diet is omnivorous, high in protein and low in fat; high-fat foods adversely affect health and longevity. To minimize obesity, ad lib feeding of adults should be discouraged; feed once daily late afternoon / evening in heavy crocks. A sample adult daily diet: 2–3 tbsp low-fat high-protein chicken / meat-based cat food; 1–2 tbsp mixed fresh vegetables; 3–5 insects 3–4 times weekly.\n- Fresh water must be available at all times (sipper bottle or crock). Weigh the hedgehog at least monthly.\n\n## Social & behavior\n- Hedgehogs are nocturnal. The African pygmy hedgehog is essentially non-domesticated and can be extremely timid; handle daily to keep tame. When encountering new odors they may \"anoint\" (hypersalivate and foam onto themselves).\n\n## Common disorders\nAEMV lists (specific to African Pygmy): cancer (especially over 3 years); dental disease; dermatitis (mange mites, ringworm); enteritis (including Salmonellosis); fatty liver; gastrointestinal parasites; obesity; ocular injuries; Pneumonia; Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome (progressive demyelinating paralysis).\n\n## Veterinary care\n- Take your hedgehog to an exotic mammal veterinarian for a bi-annual physical examination; routine veterinary dental cleanings decrease periodontal disease.\n\n## Resources (per AEMV trifold)\nAssociation of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV.com); Lafeber Emeraid (lafeber.com/vet/mammal-medicine); Oxbow Animal Health (oxbowanimalhealth.com).\n\n## Honest scope note\nSingle-source manual from one veterinary-association trifold; a general care overview, not a substitute for species-specific veterinary advice or for the per-aspect topics already in this dataset. Figures and disease names are quoted from the AEMV PDF; no NRC-style nutrient-requirement percentages are provided by this source.\n","sources":["exotic-pet-care-guide — Hedgehog — AEMV Exotic Companion Care Guide (retrieved 2026-08-16)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-care-guide","title":"Hedgehog — AEMV Exotic Companion Care Guide","url":"https://aemv.org/exotic-pet-care-guides/","retrieved":"2026-08-16","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"AEMV Exotics Companion Care Series — Hedgehog","verification_file":"pdf-raw/aemv/hedgehog.pdf"},"source_document":"AEMV Exotics Companion Care Series — Hedgehog","source_file":"pdf-raw/aemv/hedgehog.pdf","trust":{"authority_tier":"T2","fidelity":"paraphrase","license":null,"display_grade":"B"},"tokens_estimated":420,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}