Basic Hedgehog Facts

Classification	CLASS: Mammalia - ORDER: Insectivora
Number of Genus	4
Number of Species	14
Domesticated Species	African White-Bellied Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris)
Average Life Span	3.5 years
Maximum Life Span	9 years
Common Life Span	4-6 years
Heat Cycle	Ovulation induced by male
Estrous	2 – 5 days
Diestrous	2 – 5 days
Gestation period	35 days
Litter Size	average 4, up to 9
Eyes open	14-16 days
Weaning age	5-7 weeks
Time to remove from mother	6-7 weeks
Complete Physical Maturity	10 – 11 months
Average Adult Weight	9 – 19 ounces
Recommended maximum number of litters per year per female hedgehog	2
First Sexual Capability Male	7-9 weeks
First Sexual Capability Female	8-12 weeks
First breeding best	6-7 months
Female fertility ends	Approximately 3 years
First quilling	4 weeks
Second quilling	6 weeks
Third quilling	9 weeks
Adult quilling	12 weeks
Adult color quilling	9 weeks
Best Room Temperatures	20 – 27 degrees Celsius
Hibernation	Hibernation can be lethal for pet hedgehogs
Sexes	Males and females should be housed separately
Quills	Quills are modified hairs, they are not very sharp and do not have barbs.
	The average hedgehog has 5,000 -7,000 quills
	Quills are hard on the outside, filled with soft air pockets on the inside.
	There are 2 large muscles on either side of a hedgehog’s back to raise and lower its quills and curl into a ball. This is a hedgehog’s only defense.

Source : Hedgehog Central