# APH 'the must-have pet' in the Daily Mirror



## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

It’s no yolk..these pygmy pets are the latest craze

Meet the latest must-have prickly pet – a cute African Pygmy Hedgehog.

And Ashleigh Hunt, 20, is so keen on the little beasts she has 24 of the spiny blighters. 

The tiny creatures are given the run of Ashleigh’s house and keep popping up in unlikely places such as tea pots and egg cups.

Ashleigh was given her first three hogs 18 months ago by a friend. She has since been given another seven and overseen the birth of a further 14 at her home in Flore, Northants.

Ashleigh said: “I look after mine really well but they do have a habit of escaping and running round the house. They get everywhere.

“I have found them in cupboards, snuggled up in my bed. They even line up and watch the TV with me at night. They will happily fall asleep in the palm of your hand once they trust you.”

Pygmy hedgehogs are native to Egypt and are sold in specialist pet shops across the UK. They became popular as pets in the US in the 90s.

*Prickly subject*

Originally from Egypt, African pygmy hedgehogs weigh between 12 and 18oz and live on insects and slugs.












Daily Mirror


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## animal addict (Jun 1, 2008)

absolutely disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!! how on earth can you say 'oh yes they just pop up here and there' as in however they feel like it!!! How may overbred and interbred hedgies now are there?? I do thoroughly hope that there is an over exaggeration here and she really truely isnt stupid or ignorant enought to let 24 hedgies randomly run around her house doing what they want and potentially being at risk !!!


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

lol that made me laugh 

yeah ok she aint talkin shite or owt lol


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

oh also be thankful its hogs an not skunks ray :2thumb:


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## animal addict (Jun 1, 2008)

just as bad though really isnt it? both have small gene pools with behavoural issues if not handled properly etc etc ? I do hate these articles :-(


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

animal addict said:


> just as bad though really isnt it? both have small gene pools with behavoural issues if not handled properly etc etc ? *I do hate these articles* :-(


Me too, there was one about Sugar Gliders a while ago, then a couple of TV slots, luckily the TV slots were by Glidergirl on here who did a much better job of giving out the right information than the newspaper article. We also noticed a spike in the numbers of people joining sugar-glider.co.uk and inquiring about gliders, and also a large spike in visitors to the glider section at Welcome to Shropshire Exotics. The one-stop shop for all your Exotic pets needs. which fortunately is written by Glidergirl so has all the right info too. 

Articles like this only increase the number of 'drive-by' owners. :bash:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

My favorite part: “I look after mine really well but they do have a habit of escaping and running round the house. They get everywhere."

How the hell can you look after them really well if they just randomly escape and pop up where ever they please in your house?!?


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## lau26lizards (Mar 8, 2009)

* live on insects and slugs* - Where is the part abut good quality dried cat food. 
I just hope people dont rush out and buy a APH cause this woman is talking a pile of :censor:!!!!!!!


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Now they are on the BBC


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## angeldog (Mar 12, 2006)

breeders have been inundated with emails yesterday, personally ive sent out a standard reply to them all putting a hold on all sales and adviced anyone serious to contact me after xmas and to join the pygmyhogsuk forum
i dont think it would be an ethical breeder to sell to random people


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## LauraandLee (Nov 11, 2008)

:censor: stupid!!!!!! 

Read all kept together at night so INBREEDING by sounds then left to run around in day!!! 

Seems like she has renamed them as they are egyption Pygmy hogs :lol2:


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

:bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash:

All I have to say.


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## aliconda (Sep 6, 2009)

angeldog said:


> breeders have been inundated with emails yesterday, personally ive sent out a standard reply to them all putting a hold on all sales and adviced anyone serious to contact me after xmas and to join the pygmyhogsuk forum
> i dont think it would be an ethical breeder to sell to random people


angeldog, i salute you :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: it can't be an easy decision to make when you weigh up the financial side and then the moral side. :no1:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Ths is also in the free newspaper brought out by the bus company and left in the buses for people to take as my son brought me a copy in:bash:

They also make out that adult hogs fit in an eggcup. The whole thing was utter rubbish:bash:


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## BARDNEYLOCK (Aug 31, 2006)

as i help in a reptile shop I have been asked by the local newspaper for my advice which i gave and basically told them not to buy unless do reasearch first learn about them and then decide as cost is a major benifactor, all to try and put off the xmas pet trade.
I have my own hog so could answer truely and no mine dont live in egg cups or escape:bash:


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## angeldog (Mar 12, 2006)

aliconda said:


> angeldog, i salute you :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: it can't be an easy decision to make when you weigh up the financial side and then the moral side. :no1:


Thank you, for me the moral side for outweighs the financial side, ive never made any profit from them anyway with every penny going back into them in some way or another. i just find this particularly bad advertising, it wouldnt be so bad if the facts were actually correct and it gave a better indication of the needs. unfortunately there are alot of people who just want one and they want one now, in a few weeks theyll have had enough and will be rehoming them:devil:


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I had 9 emails today alone, I didn't know about this article until the first person who came to visit mentioned it. Funnily, the second person who came to view my babies was horrified at their size, and was under the impression adults were the size of an egg. I had absolutely no idea where she got that impression... but now having seen this article I fully understand why she thought that!! I have sent off caresheets and I don't think many of them are genuinely interested it's just a craze because they think they're tiny and cute.


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

The exact same thing happened in the glider world after those ridiculous articles about sugar glider last year.


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## DazedLewis (Aug 21, 2008)

our phone has been going non stop today... 20+ people ringing about hedgehogs, wanting all the care requirements explained etc. We dont even have any babies at the moment...


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## jenny09 (Feb 7, 2009)

*what a load of s**t*

hi, i dont understand y ppl give out the infomation they do, there is so much more to looking after the hoggs than they think. as breeders give the right info, becouse its in the paper it reaches millions of ppl and becouse the paper says so thats it everybody knows how to keep them.:devil: my chap gets cheesed off when ppl call pythons boas and boas pythons.


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## Lucy_ (Jul 9, 2008)

Athravan said:


> I had 9 emails today alone, I didn't know about this article until the first person who came to visit mentioned it. Funnily, the second person who came to view my babies was horrified at their size, and was under the impression adults were the size of an egg. I had absolutely no idea where she got that impression... but now having seen this article I fully understand why she thought that!! I have sent off caresheets and I don't think many of them are genuinely interested it's just a craze because they think they're tiny and cute.


Same here! I had about 8 phone calls asking about hogs, and I was shocked about all the sudden interest. Then Jon asked me after closing how many phone calls had we had about hogs and I said about 8-9, which he replied with 'its down to that ridiculous newspaper article'... I didnt know there was one until then! Which now explains it all... Ive just read it all and it shocks me!!! The picture of a very obviously young hog in a egg cup, which is giving out the impression that that IS what an APH fully grown is. :bash:
I have a standard procedure for all potential buyers with the majority of our exotics wherby they need to do their research and then I WILL question them face to face, and if I am still not happy then Ill send them away... until I am fully satisfied that they are suitable for a hog and vice versa, and know all they need to know before they can buy one, and if they arent suited or I dont beleive they are suited then I will refuse to sell them one.

At the same time, you can automatically pick the people out who are just in it for the ''awwwww I saw it on TV I want it now'' type of people.
Hopefully breeders will stick to their guns and not just sell more down to the recent adverts etc: victory:


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Lucy_ said:


> At the same time, you can automatically pick the people out who are just in it for the *''awwwww I saw it on TV I want it now'' type of people.*
> Hopefully breeders will stick to their guns and not just sell more down to the recent adverts etc: victory:


Forums can be just as guilty of this as TV, there are/have been forum members on here who acquire animals then proceed to try and swap them for other animals or sell them in a very short space of time.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Fixx said:


> Forums can be just as guilty of this as TV, there are/have been forum members on here who acquire animals then proceed to try and swap them for other animals or sell them in a very short space of time.


 
that is so true i never in a million years would have thought i would be a skunk owner without finding this site 

so many people dont know you can own most the animals that are owned until they read about it in papers or see it on a forum like this


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## Choggie (Apr 27, 2009)

Emmaj said:


> that is so true i never in a million years would have thought i would be a skunk owner without finding this site
> 
> so many people dont know you can own most the animals that are owned until they read about it in papers or see it on a forum like this


I have been inundated with emails and phone calls enquring about my choglets - I too have a standard reply and attach my care sheet and a questionnaire for prospective owners to fill in. If it is a genuine enquiry they will send the required information back to me.

I feel that it is important to make any prosective owner aware that they are a long term commitment and that they need to be handled on a daily basis - not just left in their cage. I emphasise that the more they put into their choggie, the more they will get out of them. I think that you can tell a lot from the people who come to visit the choggies and you can tell whether somebody has a true genuine interest over somebody who just wants one as they have seen them in a newspaper or on TV.

Newspapers are really good at editing out the important bits just to get a cute story across and unfortunately this can be done without the actually person giving the interview being aware of this.

I personally have been asked by the Alan Titchmarsh show to go along to their studios tomorrow and do a live slot on the show - good idea or bad idea? I have already rang the UKAPH as I value their help and support immensely and I am hoping that I can help to put across the point that these are a long term commitment and not a whim. I will be pointing out the importance of looking after them correctly and I have been asked to take one of my set ups down with me which will show how I set them up - my care sheet has been sent over to them and I have a full arsenal of registration papers and all owner details that I shall be taking with me. I shall also be mentioning what an important role the UKAPH play and how important it is to purchase UKAPH registered babies.

Hopefully I will get the balance right - I am been given the opportunity of a rehearsal so that we can get this right.

Will this bring in more emails and phone calls - undoubtably it will but first and foremost will be the welfare of my choglets and if I have any doubts whatsoever, they will remain with me in a loving and caring home

My current litters have all been reserved with good homes prior to doing this interview.

If anybody has any pointers please let me know - if I can go and do this properly it is better than somebody else doing it badly.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

Anyone who is being asked to do any promotional work for newspapers or any media should definitely do it if they can give the correct information.

There is nothing wrong with increasing awareness of hedgehogs as pets - they are not massively hard to care for, they do make excellent pets in my opinion and it certainly wouldn't hurt for them to be more mainstream assuming that breeders are responsible and sellers aware of their needs, like any animal.

The problem is with articles like this that are extremely misleading, suggesting that they are small and cute, that they can free roam the house and breed very easily. The video suggests that you can just stick two hedgehogs together and get 12 babies which you can sell for £150 each - this of course is going to make quite a few people see money signs and think wow it's really easy to breed and make a fortune off these!

If you do it, you must be sure of course you trust the newspaper or media to put the full story across and this can be difficult, but if you talk to the person doing the interview first and make sure they realise that you want to include a bit of information then that should help, and at the end of the day no one forced this woman to say that her hedgehogs popped up in cupboards and in egg cups and tea cups and no one forced her to let them take a picture of what must be a 10-14 day old hedgehog without anyone actually mentioning in the article it's age.

We definitely need some responsible breeders in the media.

And think about it... if they're looking for someone to do a piece on hedgehogs and you say no... perhaps they'll go to someone else who will give the wrong information.

Personally I'm letting anyone who enquires come and visit if they really want to after reading a caresheet, because it's a lot easier to tell people and show them the hedgehogs in person and gauge if they are genuinely interested or not. Like anything if they don't get one from me, they will get one elsewhere if they are determined - I'd rather it be from me after a grilling and after they've seen the youngsters and the adults and gone over all the care information, and will have me for support indefinitely, rather than someone just offloading them quick because of the interest. Now christmas will be the true time to worry if the media continues.


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## Choggie (Apr 27, 2009)

Thanks - and I totally agree with you - with any prospective customer I always show them the mum with the choglets and also the dad - I have two girls on reserve from my eldest litter and she is more than happy to home them in individual set ups. You can tell a lot from people when they come to visit and by talking to them you can sense if they have a genuine interest or not especially when the chogs poop on them! Supply of tissue and hand cleaner always at hand but the reactions say a lot of prospective new owners! 

As for the breeding aspect I always try to point out that yes it is rewarding but there are times when it is soul breaking - Herby my female culled the runt of her litter and Honey a first time mum culled one on birth and it was gut wrenching to watch and not to be able to do anything about it - even tried to hand rear the other but not to be - there are highs and lows and this is across the board on breeding any animal.

Alan Titchmarsh is a keen animal lover and I hope that this interview will show that they are wonderful pets kept in the correct manner and given the care and attention they need.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Choggie said:


> Thanks - and I totally agree with you - with any prospective customer I always show them the mum with the choglets and also the dad - I have two girls on reserve from my eldest litter and she is more than happy to home them in individual set ups. You can tell a lot from people when they come to visit and by talking to them you can sense if they have a genuine interest or not especially when the chogs poop on them! Supply of tissue and hand cleaner always at hand but the reactions say a lot of prospective new owners!
> 
> As for the breeding aspect I always try to point out that yes it is rewarding but there are times when it is soul breaking - Herby my female culled the runt of her litter and Honey a first time mum culled one on birth and it was gut wrenching to watch and not to be able to do anything about it - even tried to hand rear the other but not to be - there are highs and lows and this is across the board on breeding any animal.
> 
> Alan Titchmarsh is a keen animal lover and I hope that this interview will show that they are wonderful pets kept in the correct manner and given the care and attention they need.


 
when is it going to be aired and which channel? would be good to watch someone telling the truth about the prickley little critters


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## kiriak (Feb 10, 2006)

Could someone explain to me why all the reputable breeders are saying their Hedgehogs are UKAPH registered and yet Google searches cannot find such a society? Am I missing something? :blush:

Many thanks


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

kiriak said:


> Could someone explain to me why all the reputable breeders are saying their Hedgehogs are UKAPH registered and yet Google searches cannot find such a society? Am I missing something? :blush:
> 
> Many thanks


Instead of googling the initials googe the full title and it brings up this


HedgeBottom Hedgehogs - Home


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## kiriak (Feb 10, 2006)

Ahh thank you : victory:


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## Choggie (Apr 27, 2009)

As far as I am aware it will be going out tomorrow at 3.00pm on ITV 1 - if not I will post when it will be going out.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Choggie said:


> As far as I am aware it will be going out tomorrow at 3.00pm on ITV 1 - if not I will post when it will be going out.


thank you will make sure i switch to itv1 at 3pm:2thumb:


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Emmaj said:


> that is so true i never in a million years would have thought i would be a skunk owner without finding this site
> 
> so many people dont know you can own most the animals that are owned until they read about it in papers or see it on a forum like this


Don't you think you are being a bit hypocritical posting in this thread? Remind us all again how long you had the APH's from Neil before you were trying to swap/sell them.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Fixx said:


> Don't you think you are being a bit hypocritical posting in this thread? Remind us all again how long you had the APH's from Neil before you were trying to swap/sell them.


i had my reason for having to let them go all my hedgehogs 

and im not about to explain myself to you or anyone the people i wanted to know and needed to know all know why and thats all im bothered about 

people have changes in circustances which force things that they dont want to have to do


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## Philldan (Aug 16, 2007)

Good luck Helen!!

I'm sick of the whole news thing... I was contacted by several news/media companies a few weeks ago and declined their interviews stating that they were not whimsical pets and needed proper care and attention... it seems however that they managed to find someone else to do their bloody story! :bash:

I too have closed my list, the litter I have due already have decent homes lined up, but I won't be going ahead with any further matings until this all dies down again, I'm sick of the enquiries the past week stating they want a cute hoggie for their kids... one bloke wants one for his 2 year old!!!


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

Had an email yesterday just saying "want one male and female have cash please when can i collect", no other questions 

I'm sure some people have cottoned on to the fact that the video is saying you can make £1500 a year off two hedgehogs easy and that's just not accurate at all!!


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## Fraggle (Feb 24, 2008)

haha!!! maybe the newspaper article should have gone out with a 'scratch and sniff' hoggie poo page- that would be enough to put off most people. 

i remember when i first decided i wanted a hog- i did a lot of reading up for a few months but wasn't really sure- they're gorgeous creatures but because i had only seen them online and not in real life i didn't want to go and put my name down for one and then realise in real life it wasn't what i expected. 

i visited a keeper from the forums and went to ask lots of questions- i got to handle various hogs all with different temperaments- some friendly, some quite shy babies, and a very huffy male so i knew what to expect if i didn't socialise my hog. 

i think this was very useful- i got to know what to expect and didn't get one home and realise too late that they really hurt if they huff when you are holding them, or that they like to poop all down your jumper when they don't know you, as i had already discovered this before i decided to go ahead and buy one. 

i now have a gorgeous female "eponine"- i have no plans to breed from her as i would never breed something until i have had enough experience with the species to understand any problems i may come across, but she is a lovely pet and makes me giggle everytime she comes out to play 

thanks to all the hoggie forum folk who i pestered with nonstop questions  i'm so glad i didn't just jump on the bandwagon after a dodgy newspaper article- exotic pets are never quite what you expect!!!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Ive just watched Alan Titchmarsh and they gave the Hoggy lady about 2 minutes and never gave her chance to say her thing:bash:


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## Philldan (Aug 16, 2007)

Shell195 said:


> Ive just watched Alan Titchmarsh and they gave the Hoggy lady about 2 minutes and never gave her chance to say her thing:bash:


They never do... or else they twist it to look how they want - it's why I refused to do the interviews, they're only interested in a cute story, they don't give a toss about what it means to the animals!! :bash:


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## EVIEMAY (Mar 6, 2008)

Yes it was a shame Helen didn't get very long but it as lovely to see them all in person.


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## Choggie (Apr 27, 2009)

I agree that I didn't get the time that I thought I would but I did have a wonderful four hours before the show introducing the choggies to the crew and also to various other people from the BBC who were all interested in learning about them and I came away feeling that I had at least tried to put the record straight about having them as pets even if it didn't come across on the show. It was a shame that they didn't show me talking to the audience during and after the show and showing them my choggies and explaining about their care requirments and also how important it is to remember that they are a long term commitment and not a "must have" pet.

At least the choggies had their own dressing room and were the stars of the show all be it off stage - at least I tried.

As for future litters that I have, all prospective owners will be vetted and invited to come to my home to meet my choggies and choglets.


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## dexnos (Mar 10, 2008)

has anyone ever had a hedgie live for 8 to 10 years. I thought the average was about 4, 5 .

Fingers crosed for 8 to 10


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## Choggie (Apr 27, 2009)

Depends on where you get your information from - books/care sheets/internet research all have varying ages listed on them. The point is that people should be prepared to look after them long term and if they are serious about owning a hedgehog then they should have carried out some research of their own as well and most people will pick this up from the internet.

I was hoping to get the point across that they were not something that you could plonk in an egg cup - they were animals that needed proper care and attention and were a long term commitment.


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## dexnos (Mar 10, 2008)

Hopefully people will be more put of by the average age of a hedgie being 4 ish and the retirement age for breeding being 3 yrs, they may be more inclined to rethink there decision into owning one of these guys with this info rather than thinking about the potential £ signs with longer living mammals.

Ive spoken to lots of different people who have owned and bred hedgies for over 5, 6 years in this country, they all agree on the average age.

Its diffficult to get that across though in a tv studio in 2 mins two mins.


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