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Business news

Judith Duinkerken
November 9, 2023

New volunteers!

You may have noticed in recent posts, that some of the articles are written by people who haven’t posted on The Hedgehog Program before and that’s right! We have...

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Judith Duinkerken
October 28, 2023

Night of the night event

A few weeks ago we were asked to participate in an event of the IVN organisation in our hometown, to speak about hedgehogs. It didn’t take much consideration to...

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Judith Duinkerken
October 9, 2023

The Hedgehog Program has been a company for four years!

Who can remember that we once started as a simple Dutch forum called “Witbuikegel Wiki”? There are probably not many people who can remember that. Back to 2011 when...

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Judith Duinkerken
July 14, 2023

We have moved!

After some battles with out previous hosting provider, we decided to move hosting services and now we have officially moved! Maybe you have noticed a bit of radio silence...

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Science

Judith Duinkerken
December 27, 2023

Five new soft-furred hedgehogs discovered after taxonomic revision

The hylomys genus has been revised through molecular and morphological data from museum specimens across its distribution, resulting in the description of two new species and the elevation of...

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Judith Duinkerken
September 25, 2023

Zoonomia Project includes several hedgehogs and tenrecs

The Zoonomia Project is the latest buzz in the science world, and a very fascinating and important research project as well. Not only for animals but for humans as...

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Lizl
May 31, 2023

Sonic Hedgehog Gene

These days you will find that every second hedgehog is called Sonic. Mostly people naming their hedgehogs Sonic, in reference to the movie Sonic the Hedgehog. But where does...

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brown and black hedgehog
Judith Duinkerken
March 31, 2023

Hedgehog, viper and rabbit are the victims of decreasing quality of nature

Despite efforts to increase the quality of nature in The Netherlands, the WNF (World Nature Foundation, the Dutch branch of the WWF) has published a report claiming that the...

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Hedgehogs

brown and black hedgehog standing on brown dry leaved
Judith Duinkerken
November 3, 2023

A long winters nap

Suddenly it’s November and the seasons are changing in Europe. Winter is coming.. And hedgehogs are desperately searching for food to gain weight for hibernation. But why do hedgehogs...

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Sarah Bessie
October 5, 2023

Prickly Patient Found in A&E

A&E nurses at South Tyneside District Hospital were surprised to see a particularly tiny patient come and visit them during their evening shift! A little European hedgehog – affectionately...

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close up shot of a hedgehog
Judith Duinkerken
October 3, 2023

Animal husbandry in hedgehogs

Last week we published a few polls on one of the biggest hedgehog groups on Facebook (Hedgehog Snoots, currently 30.144 members). Just for fun, but it turned out to...

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brown and black hedgehog
Judith Duinkerken
September 25, 2023

Hedgehog countings in The Netherlands was a great success in 2023

You may have already heard about it in the media, but 2023 was a special year for the European hedgehog in the Netherlands. Never before have so many people...

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Tenrecs

chelseyvermillion
November 5, 2023

Tenrecs and their cloaca

Cloaca What are cloaca? The cloaca is the rear orifice in an organism that serves as the only opening for digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts. The cloaca is most...

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Sarah Bessie
June 28, 2023

Hedgehogs vs Tenrecs – What’s the Difference?

Hedgehogs and tenrecs may look like siblings as they share the characteristics of sharp quills, soft underbellies and pointed snouts, but they’re not even related! Hedgehogs and tenrecs are...

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Judith Duinkerken
June 3, 2023

Methods for sexing tenrecs

Tenrec owners and especially first time owners often wonder how they can sex their tenrec as they do not have regular genitals to detemine their sexes. In this article...

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Lizl
March 6, 2023

The sound of quills!

Weird, wonderfull and true! The Lowland-Streaked Tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus) is the only mammal with sounding quills. They are one of Madagascar’s fascinating animals that inhabits the islands tropical lowland...

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Community news

Judith Duinkerken
October 27, 2023

Fund a hedgehog rescue center!

Casteford Hedgehog Rescue has over 30.000 folowers on Facebook and has received suggestions to become a sanctuary and build a rescue center. After considerarion, this is exactly what they...

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Sarah Bessie
October 15, 2023

Great Hedgie Health, For Infinity

Best known for her educational infographics and funny hedgehog reels on Instagram @hedge_chef, Sarah Bessie has created a brand new resource to make African pygmy hedgehog care accessible, easy...

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Judith Duinkerken
June 3, 2023

African Pygmy Hedgehog Club UK gets new owner

The former owner of the African Pygmy Hedgehog Club UK has resigned and a new owner is assigned. This news was made known last week after Emma Martha Crossan...

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Biology 101

brown and black giraffe on brown grass field
Judith Duinkerken
August 22, 2023

Biology 101: Introduction to population ecology

It’s been a while since we’ve posted a Biology 101 post, but we’re back with a very interesting topic! The introduction to population ecology, with the basics and a...

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Judith Duinkerken
April 30, 2023

Biology 101: Coprophagia and geophagia

When you work with animals, you know that a varying diet can be hard to maintain. A lot of animals eat plants, fungi, other animals and also insects. In...

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Judith Duinkerken
March 13, 2023

Biology 101: Anthropomorphism

If you’ve worked with animals for a while, you probably have heard of the term and might know the meaning of it. But if you haven’t worked with animals...

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Judith Duinkerken
March 1, 2023

Biology 101: What is convergent evolution?

And how is convergent evolution relevant to hedgehogs and tenrecs? These are two regularly asked questions whenever i explain that i research both and educate about both groups of...

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