# Hedgehog noses?



## Katten

Kind of random, but... has anyone ever noticed that hedgies have a huge variety in nose length?

I mean, look at Tinkerball's short little nose:


















Compared to Barry from begoodnatured.com:


















:lol: Why is there such a variety? Are certain nose lengths associated with certain colours or lines?


----------



## Megan_Gunthert

My hedgehog zoe has a cute chubby nose that is kinda long when my other hedgehog lovey has a skinny longer nose. I think all of their little noses are ADORABLE!! And no i mean their nose might resemble their parents but color or lines really doesnt affect their little noses. Its kinda like how some kids have their parents nose, and some kids dont.


----------



## MomLady

That's a big difference. Another variable, I'm sure that's probably genetically determined. 

Last night Nara's nose had a cricket leg on it! I brushed it off and told her it looked kind of weird.
Her nose is medium, not long or short.


----------



## Draenog

This is a common variety and most people believe it comes from their different ancestors; the four-toed (white bellied) hedgehog and the Algerian (North African) hedgehog. 
Our APH are more similar to the four-toed hedgehog but there are still differences between APH like size, quill/mask colour and body/face shape.

The fact that they look more like the four-toed has led me to believe this species had a way bigger impact in creating our pets; either because they made up the majority of imported hedgehogs back in the days, or their traits are simply more dominant.
Ever since I got my pure Algerian (North African) hedgehog I've wondered how much of the hybrid-story is actually true, since I still haven't found anyone who has experience with the real Algerian species (you'd think there would be people who've had them as pets if they were used to breed the APH) and looking at pictures of the wild versions it looks like the four-toed hedgehog is almost exactly the same as the APH while you can hardly see traits of the Algerian hedgehog in our pets.
Even the colour guide doesn't seem to be very accurate in naming the colours 'Algerian' and 'white bellied' since most of the pictures I've found of the wild species show that the four-toed hedgehog is actually quite dark, while the majority of the Algerian hedgehogs seems to be way lighter - exactly the opposite of what the colour guide suggests.

Four-toed hedgehog - Atelerix albiventris










Another four-toed hedgehog; this one seems to be having a longer snout (so if this trait in our APH is coming from the Algerian hedgehog isn't 100% sure either, since some four-toed hedgehogs seem to have longer noses as well)










Wild four-toed hedgehog that was being kept as a pet in Niger (pic from Kimberley Goertzen)










Wild hoglet four-toed rescued in Central Africa










As you can see the wild four-toed hedgehog often has a dark, muddy quill colour with a mask that extends under the eyes as well.
They also have the smaller paws we know from our pet APH, with, of course, the four toes on the back feet.

The wild North African hedgehog is bigger, has larger paws (with five toes instead of four) and a longer nose. The legs are longer as well and often darker in colour than the fur (which is thicker and longer than that of the four-toed). The mask often extends under the eyes and can be very dark and big, although it isn't necessary. Most of them are a light grey colour with light fur although their whole body can be very dark as well. The majority of them seems to be on the lighter side of the spectrum. I haven't seen many as dark as my own. If you want to see more pictures of them I suggest you look for 'erizo moruno' since they also live in certain parts of Spain (this is their Spanish name, you will find more pics when you search for Spanish websites. Other search options often just show you pics of APH).
They are really fast runners and climbers due to their big paws.

North African hedgehog - Atelerix algirus



















A darker masked Algerian with visible darker feet/legs










So if you go with the hybrid theory, by breeding the APH we have been mixing these two species more and more. This is why a lot of people don't distinguish between Algerian/white bellied anymore when it comes to determining a hedgehog's colour. Masks, quill colour and bodyshape have become so mixed it can be hard to tell the difference.

Hope this was useful. And last but not least my own North African who seems to be exceptionally dark. Haven't found many like this, I personally like it a lot.


----------



## MomLady

Wow. This was a great post Draenog.

We need to bookmark this because every so often someone asks the difference between the Algerian and the White-bellied. 

Your North African is totally beautiful! Love the dark coloring.


----------



## Draenog

Thanks! I tried to find more example pictures but it's so hard to find pics of four-toed hegehogs, 99% you find on Google images is APH :roll:


----------



## TikkiLink

One of the reasons I chose my girl was for her short little nose! I love them stubby sniffers! I also love the way some hedgies also appear to have a slight widow's peak in their forehead quill line, while others' quills run straight across.


----------



## MoominMama

Wow, Draenog, your hedgehog is so unusual and beautiful! I have never seen such a dark one, he/she almost looks like a wild British hog!


----------



## Draenog

I think you mean European hedgehog (they live in almost all of mainland Europe as well). They do look a bit similar, esp since she is so dark  And thank you!


----------



## MoominMama

Ah I didn't know they were in all of Europe!


----------



## Draenog

A lot of people seem to think they just live in the UK, but they are called European hedgehog and the name pretty much says it all.  They also live in New Zealand where they were imported by European colonists.


----------

