Retrospective Study of Disease Occurrence in Captive African Pygmy Hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris)

Gardhouse, S. 32 INTRODUCTION The African Pygmy hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris) is a member of the family Erinaceidae, order Insectivora (1). African hedgehogs are native to the savannah and steppe regions of central and eastern Africa (1). In the wild, African hedgehogs are nocturnal and spend the daytime in burrows (1). They are insectivores and their diet consists mainly of invertebrate predators such as earthworms, slugs, and snails (1, 2). Wild African hedgehogs reach sexual maturity at 1 year of age; however, there are reports of hedgehogs reproductively active prior to this age, particularly in captivity (3). Hedgehogs are popular as pets and are also common in zoological collections (1, 4). Due to the popularity of this captive species, several retrospective studies have been previously reported in hedgehogs but focused mainly on neoplasia. Other diseases have only been briefly or anecdotally described in the literature (1, 4-7). The goal of this review is to present disease occurrence in captive African Pygmy hedgehogs presented to the veterinary teaching hospital at the Kansas State University.