# Long eared Hedgies



## Hedgehogluvr386 (Jun 16, 2012)

I was looking at Long eared hedgies today...
I Live in western NY, are they legal there? I know they are rare, but are they legal to own?
If they are, is there any breeders near me? They seem super hard to find! (unless you live in the UK) and I think it would be awesome to own one!

Are they different than your normal white bellied hedgies (especially with their temperament)? I heard they are likely to bite more...but I can't find much info on them.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I believe there's only one breeding pair in the US, or possibly none at all. If a breeder were to have them, it would be a large exotics breeder/importer, and you could expect to be charged well over $1000 because they're so rare here. They can't be imported from their native countries, because of a ban on importing hedgehogs and tenrecs from anywhere that has foot and mouth disease. The only way to get one would be to get it from a breeder in the UK or one of the other European countries that isn't subject to that ban. From what I understand, long eared hedgehogs are not very "tame" - they're very temperamental and difficult to handle compared to APHs or other hedgehog species that have more recently been taken from the wild. Desert hedgehogs look very similar, with the long ears, but are supposed to be more mild-mannered. As far as price and availability in the US, it's pretty much the same. I know of one UK breeder who recently acquired a breeding pair of desert hedgehogs - not sure what she charges, but the importation process and expense to bring one from the UK would be quite high. The expense would include a license for animal importation, the importation fees, the vet costs, and the shipping, not counting the hedgehog itself.


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## Hedgehogluvr386 (Jun 16, 2012)

Yikes....

guess I will stick with my hedgie I have, and possibly add another white bellied. Thanks for the info!


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## RondackHiker (Jan 21, 2013)

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with the term white bellied hedgehog. Is that another name for the African hedgies? Is there a good spot I can find the types of hedgehogs?


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## momIImany (Oct 14, 2012)

The hedgies that we have are African. Some call them pygmy but they really aren't. They were a mix breed between the white belly and the four toed. They first came over here around 1994. I think they imported around 200 (if I am remembering well) and then stopped the importation of them. So all of our stock is from the original 200. Most responsible breeders try to breed out the WHS and bad temperments. The breeders know more about this than I do. I just read about it.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

If I remember right, the white-bellied and four-toed are the same thing, just different names? They're a mix between white-bellied/four-toed and algerian hedgehogs, along with possibly some other breeds. That's why there's two color patterns, white-bellied and algerian. Their color patterns are slightly different, and some hedgehogs have four back toes while others have five (all have five front toes), and the color pattern doesn't have to match the body type - so four-toed can have algerian color, five-toed can have white-bellied color. This is all just from some brief reading I did once too, so I might be off on some of what I'm remembering!

I wish I could get a long-eared or desert hedgehog too, even with the temperament. They're just so darn cute!


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Lilysmommy covered it, except that there's no separation between color "types" anymore. That's where the color terms "Algerian" and "White Bellied" are from, though they're not really applicable now, and not used as much.


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