Licensed Breeder of African Pygmy Hedgehogs in Rhode Island
Contact me for information on adoption and care!
Here, Hedgehogs are family
The Alternative Hedgehog Difference
It is my firm belief that owning the pet of your dreams should not be extremely expensive. Great people, just like you, should be able to add a quality bred, ethically raised hedgehog to their family at a reasonable price.
I provide a no Hassle adoption process. Honestly, I feel a breeder should work with you and your situation instead of judge you by your answers on a lengthy adoption application. Once you get a hedgehog from me, You become family. That family feel shouldn't only apply to those who look good on paper. Getting a hedgehog is fun and exciting and shouldn't be ruined due to an instant denial. Let's work together on your journey to becoming a HogParent.
Every hedgehog here is a member of my family. They Receive daily love and attention.
As a small scale breeder I'm able to pay plenty of attention to my animals every single day. Being able to have the time to examine and interact with each herd member daily is crucial to raising well balanced animals.
Vet care is super important here. I proudly provide above regulation vet care to my animals. When breeding animals, medical care is a great investment.
Public safety is a priority. Amid the salmonella outbreaks that were happening in hedgehogs in other parts of the country, I began testing my herd for salmonella outbreaks. I started doing this to better keep the public safe and to ensure my animal's health and well-being.
I do not practice inbreeding. Inbreeding is unnecessary and creates animals that have a greater risk of health problems. I owe it to these beautiful creatures to only breed the healthiest animals I'm able to obtain and to keep their lines free of any further inbreeding.
Genetics are a passion over here. Having a better understanding of color genetics not only has helped us breed some Beautiful hedgehogs, it's helped us better understand inherited illness as well. With this better understanding of inherit illness we can avoid breeding animals with indicators of such illnesses. With many colors being an indicator of a higher risk of many illnesses including cancer, we can reduce risk by avoiding combining certain color genes in a breeding program. Granted this does not eliminate the possibility of illness, but it does reduce it, which is a great payoff in itself!
I practice biology based care. This means that I provide my animals with better nutrition and enrichment. We do not just feed cat kibble here. My animals enjoy a buffet of healthy foods such as lamb, insects, chicken, freeze Dried raw diet, whole prey items, and of course a little kibble to nutritional completeness. Animals who are fed better have less medical issues and produce happier healthier babies.
Enrichment is very important to me. My hedgehogs have their cage items switched up at least weekly. They Receive a mix of wheels ( 2 types saucer and bucket), interactive feeders, various toys, piles of fleece and dig boxes. I have found that when hedgehogs are offered toys and interactive items that are switched up occasionally, they have less boredom and less incidence of boredom related behaviors such as pacing, manic circling and self mutilation.
I'm a small breeder. Breeding hedgehogs is my passion and hobby, it's not my employment and isn't used to pay my rent or bills. The money my hedgehogs earn goes directly back to them.
Approaching breeding as an enjoyable hobby instead of an income source that demands a certain amount of sales per month has allowed me to treat my animals differently. There's no pressure to make sales so investing the extra time and care into my herd is plausible.
It has been my pleasure being able to offer the public an alternative to the local basement breeders. It is a great honor to still be able to serve you as your source of your next beloved family member.Being a licensed breeder has been an amazing journey. My methods are different. They take some getting used to ;) but they're certainly worth it. If I can help you in any way, please reach out. I'm happy to be your breeder.
The image a above is of my hedgehog breeding room.I firmly believe that animals bred to be pets should be raised in a home like environment, not industrial rows of cages.
I'm a small scale breeder so am able to provide my prickly pals with a very different environment one pictures when they hear the words "breeding facility".
All animals here are provided with rotating enrichment and enjoy time exploring in "adventure play pens", where they get a bunch of extra space to run around, sniff new things, try new toys or even just splat out and relax for a while.
When treated like any other family member, and provided with a room that is as close to a "real life home" as possible, animals raised within my care become accustomed to some typical sounds and activities of a home. This better prepares their for their journey of adoption.
My hoggos enjoy watching the Golden Girls, Supernatural and listening to both KLove and CAT country :)- They're open to other entertainment tastes though.
Feel free to check out the "meet the breeder" page on this website and my blog (in the pages tab) to learn more about me and my thoughts regarding breeding animals.