Hedgehogs are cute, kind and lovely animals. In addition, they are useful, because living in the wild, they tirelessly fight against malicious pests of gardens and fields, thereby helping people. Hedgehogs are so harmless and funny that many people are happy to keep them at home. Everyone knows how these creatures look. One of the most striking and characteristic features of their appearance is the presence of sharp spines in adults, which cover almost their entire body, excluding only the pretty muzzle and stomach. The thickness of the needles is small, but the length is quite decent and averages 20 mm or more. And what does a newborn hedgehog look like? Does it look like its parents? Our story will be about this, as well as many other things concerning these wonderful creatures.
Jerzy: who are they?
These creatures belong to the order of insectivores. Their body length is on average 25 cm. The weight is also insignificant, usually not more than 800 g. The hedgehogs have a wedge-shaped head, an elongated muzzle and a sharp nose, moist to the touch. The forelimbs of these creatures are shorter than the hind limbs. On each of the four paws there are five fingers endowed with sharp claws. The length of the ears of such mammals depends on the species. Usually they are small, slightly more than 3 cm in size, but in Cyprus urchins this part of the body is somewhat larger. There is a short tail at the back. Parts of the body uncovered with needles usually differ in a wide range of colors from dark brown to light yellow.
Such animals are very common in Europe. They settle in small forest glades and in river valleys, in sandy areas and grassy plains. Hedgehogs often live in areas in close proximity to human habitation, are found in gardens and parks, and hide in grass and bushes.
How do they breed
Naturally, for the birth of a newborn hedgehog, it is necessary for his parents to perform all the mating rituals. Such animals begin to think about the continuation of the genus immediately after the long-awaited awakening from hibernation with spring warmth. It is hard to imagine, but in such periods, males of such harmless creatures behave incontinently and aggressively: pushing with needles, biting rivals in the face and legs. And during the quarrelsome showdowns they snort loudly and sniff.
After mating, the hedgehogs are soon puzzled by the search for suitable shelter for the alleged offspring. The burrow most often becomes a hole, abandoned by someone from rodents or dug by the animal itself. Last year's dry leaves and grass are used to restore comfort in this abode. In this hole cubs are born. As a rule, a hedgehog is capable of only one brood per year, sometimes it produces two.
Birth
Hedgehog carries its cubs for 49 days. Finally, the day is coming when the offspring should make happy the caring mother their appearance.
How many hedgehogs are born at a time? The offspring is usually from three to eight cubs, whose size is approximately 7 cm. They appear to the world naked and helpless, and also blind. Their eye lids are closed, but not only they are closed, but also their ears. The weight of the crumbs is only about 12 g.
A newborn hedgehog does not at all look like an adult representative of his tribe. The kid impresses with nothing unprotected bright pink skin. But, despite the lack of full organs of vision and hearing, the cub is already able to squeak and crawl. These two skills are simply necessary for him. The first is to have his own mother find him by the sound of the voice. And the second - for independent travel to the parental mammary gland. An interesting feature of this creature is the presence of a subcutaneous bladder filled with fluid.
Talk about needles
The thorns of adult hedgehogs, capable of growing when they are lost like hair, are filled with air from the inside, and the outside is smooth. The color shade consists of an alternation of light and brownish areas. And between the needles are rare, thin, but long hairs. As you know, sharp thorns serve these animals to protect themselves from enemies, because, sensing danger, hedgehogs rush to curl up into a ball, turning into a ball closed from all sides.
But are hedgehogs with needles born or not? If even inside the mother’s womb they had such protection, then it would be difficult for the females to produce them. But, fortunately, the cubs of these animals come to this world without thorns. However, only an hour after giving birth, white outgrowths, still soft, are already visible on the back of the babies. At the age of one and a half days, spines, growing up, become dark at the base and white at the ends. And only on the fifteenth day of life protection from needles in the offspring grows real, like in adults. Around this time, the eyes of the hedgehog's children open and hearing appears. These signs indicate that the kids have already grown up and are preparing for an independent life.
First days of life
At home, newborn hedgehogs can be fed goat's milk or artificial substitutes from the age of three days. But this activity is painstaking, requiring great attention and caution. Feeding is done with a pipette. A person who voluntarily takes on the role of the guardian of such creatures needs to constantly monitor so that the babies do not accidentally get into the lungs and nose of the babies. This sometimes becomes deadly. Eating sessions are best arranged for newborn hedgehogs every three hours, but strictly in the daytime. Intervals can be longer, but in any case no more than six-hour breaks are permissible.
Caring at home
If for some reason the kids were left completely without maternal warmth and affection, then the caring owner has to take on all the functions and duties of the hedgehog. It should be remembered that for such crumbs the massage produced before each feeding and after is very useful. It is better to carry out this procedure using a cream for newborns. A hedgehog, just born, this replaces the licking of the mother, necessary for his healthy development and calm, but most importantly - the stimulation of the intestines. For massage, small cotton balls are required. They are wetted with oil. And then you should make careful stimulating movements, tickling and soft, in the abdomen and at the base of the tail.
It is better to carry out daily control weighings of babies, keep accounts. It should not be forgotten that in nature the hedgehog does not leave the first days of life of cubs even for a minute, feeds it with nutritious and tasty milk, warms it with maternal heat.
In a few days
The first day of their existence, babies continue to be blind and deaf. But they grow rapidly and very soon become completely different from what they are born. Hedgehogs at a weekly age rapidly gain weight and weigh about 40 g. They start fussing, playing with brothers and sisters, fighting as a joke and seriously. Such an exercise strengthens their muscles, contributes to the healthy development of muscles and coordination of movements.
From sounds, babies make clicking noises and squeaks. These signals, the spectrum of which is very diverse, in vivo serve as signs for the mother, which helps her understand the condition of the children. Having reached 11 days of age, little hedgehogs learn to curl up. During this period, they should receive 3 milliliters of milk per feed. In their nest, it is necessary to monitor cleanliness and regularly change the litter. And the temperature in the abode of babies should not fall below 35 ° C. It is impossible to overfeed such pets. Hedgehogs do not know a sense of proportion and are able to overeat to death. And this is not an exaggeration at all.
When the kids grow up
At two weeks of age, the amount of milk at one time for babies increases when feeding up to 5 milliliters. During this period, their skin darkens, grayish fluff appears on the muzzle. In 1 month, the hedgehog is covered with brown fur, spines are fully formed and teeth grow.
The grown up children should be relocated to a spacious box suitable for them, so that they can move around freely in their new house. A saucer with milk should be placed in this abode so that these cute creatures begin to feed on their own. Soon they can already be given boiled eggs and special canned food, not forgetting about drinking water. Next, you should gradually accustom the kids to adult food.
