We are becoming acutely aware that the general public, and many carers, vets and RSPCA officers cannot tell the difference between wild hedgehogs and hogs bred for the pet market.
This is causing a number of issues. Firstly, rescues are getting calls asking for disabled hedgehogs that can "live indoors". Second, there have been reports of babies being taken from the wild and sold on Preloved as pet hedgehogs. And finally, pygmy hogs are being dumped in the wild when the owner gets fed up with them.
I'll start with a few facts:
Pygmy hogs and our wild hogs are completely different species. They cannot interbreed.
Pygmy hogs need to be kept very warm at all times - around 22 degrees c.
Pygmy hogs cannot be kept with wild hogs, they are not resistant to native hog diseases.
Pygmy hogs released into the wild in the UK will die, not if, not maybe, they will die.
Both hedgehogs are nocturnal, have spines that can hurt, poo for England and can be extremely smelly if not cleaned out daily.
So for those that care about these little animals, how can you tell the difference? Until you have had up close and personal contact with both species it can be difficult but you need to work it out for the sake of the animal. Luckily there are some fairly reliable clues and here I have to apologise, I tried to upload example photos but Facebook in its wisdom is refusing to allow me to use more than one:
Colour
Most pygmy hogs have white belly fur but be careful. You may have your hands on an albino wild hog. Conversely breeders of pygmies are coming up with new colours all the time. You will see them with black markings, usually on the face, but this may change as different colourways emerge.
You cannot use spine colour to tell them apart. Wild hedgehogs are normally a mottled brown and white but there are jet blacks and pure whites and many colours in between. Due to selective breeding of pygmy hogs they are turning up with new colourways every day.
Size
Pygmy hogs are much smaller than wild hogs however this isn't a reliable comparison especially if you have baby or juvenile hogs.
Ears
Pygmy hogs usually have much larger ears than wild hogs. Egyptians and Tenrecs are now being seen in the UK and they have enormous ears. Again this is not 100% reliable. A wild hog with fur loss from ringworm will have prominent ears.
So the most reliable way?
Feet
Luckily the feet on both of these animals are completely different. Wild hogs have large feet, long toes and claws as they need to be able to dig in the ground to get at their food. Pygmy hogs on the other hand have been bred from the African species where they scavenge. If they do need to dig it's in sand so they have tiny little feet and toes. They are pretty much unmistakeable.
So now, here's a test for you. Can you tell which is which?
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Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:31 pm
