Hedgehogs carry Salmonella asymptomatically and shed bacteria in their feces intermittently, and their behavior can lead to widespread environmental contamination. Owners, especially new owners, may not understand the risk of indirect exposure posed by contaminated areas where hedgehogs live and roam.
Additionally, there is more risk that wild hedgehogs carry diseases that can harm humans than domesticated hedgehogs. Most pet hedgehogs don't have exposure to a wide range of contagious pathogens because they live in the controlled environment of a loving home.
Common conditions of pet hedgehogs include internal and external parasites, ringworm, cancer, pneumonia, gastrointestinal disease, and obesity. Signs of illness or disease are often vague and non-specific, such as lack of appetite and lethargy.
In common with most wild mammals, hedgehogs carry a range of parasites and are susceptible to a number of dieseases of significance to human and livestock health. Perhaps the most significant diseases known in hedgehogs are tuberculosis, foot-and-mouth disease and rabies.
Salmonellosis is the main zoonotic disease associated with hedgehogs, as well as several other exotic pet species (4).
As ticks can be found on a lot of animals you would probably have seen one before and not known it was a tick. Hedgehogs also carry worms, lungworm, and ringworm. But so long as you wash your hands after handling a hedgehog you should be fine.
Hedgehogs are not recommended for households with children under 5 years of age or adults over 65. They can carry Salmonella bacteria in their droppings. Even if they seem healthy, the bacteria can infect their bodies, habitat, toys, and anything they come in contact with.
Hedgehogs carry Salmonella asymptomatically and shed bacteria in their feces intermittently, and their behavior can lead to widespread environmental contamination.
Whilst medicines are available to treat salmonellosis in captive mammals, effective and targeted dosing of free-living hedgehogs is not possible. Suitable commercial products, such as disinfectants, should be used to clean and disinfect equipment and contaminated surfaces following the manufacturer's recommendations.
In addition to the contact urticaria that has been reported in some hedgehog handlers (7) hedgehogs pose a risk for a number of potential zoonotic diseases (2). Major microbial infections associated with hedgehogs include bacteria such as Salmonella and Mycobacteria, as well as some fungal and viral diseases (2).
One of the lungworm species that infects hedgehogs (and also infects wild carnivores) in Great Britain, Capillaria aerophila, is known to be capable of occasionally infecting people. This is thought to occur through the ingestion of the parasite worm eggs which may be picked up, for example, from contaminated surfaces.
Hedgehogs can carry and spread salmonella to human family members, so they are not the right pet for children too young to understand the basics of hygiene, Keller said. "Many hedgehogs can be carriers of salmonella without ever showing any clinical signs, and they spread the bacteria through their feces," she said.
The hedgehog is probably fine if it seems healthy and active and the weather isn't particularly cold. Offer them a little food and water and then leave them alone but monitor them from a distance.
Salmonella infections are diarrheal infections caused by the bacteria salmonella. Symptoms of a salmonella infection may include diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection chills, headache, nausea, or vomiting.
Hedgehogs often have fleas. Studies say the average hog will have around 100 fleas living on him with no ill effects.
Sometimes, raw fruits and vegetables contain harmful germs that can make you and your family sick, such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. The safest produce to eat is cooked; the next safest is washed. Wash fruits and vegetables under running water—even if you do not plan to eat the peel.
Turtles, frogs, iguanas, snakes, geckos, horned toads, salamanders and chameleons are colorful, quiet and often kept as pets. These animals frequently carry bacteria called Salmonella that can cause serious illness in people.
Hedgehogs are notoriously resistant to poison. They can eat toad skin and withstand snake bites. So It has been argued that chewing on poisonous substances triggers the self anointing, which then produces toxic saliva, which is smeared over the spines to act as a further deterrent to predators.
Hedgehogs often carry mange, fleas and ringworm which could spread to dogs.
Four-toed hedgehogs (African Pygmy hedgehogs) may legally be kept as pets. Australia: All hedgehogs are classified as exotic pets that are illegal to import.
We recommend handling your hedgehog for at least half an hour a day. The easiest way to accomplish this task is 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. Some hedgehog owners suggest that you wait for a few days to handle your new hedgehog, so that it has a chance to get accustomed to its cage.
“Don't kiss or snuggle hedgehogs because this can spread salmonella germs to your face and mouth and make you sick,” the agency warned. No deaths have been reported and one person has been hospitalized, the C.D.C. said.