Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec — Fact Sheet

Echinops telfairi · Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Indoor secure enclosure with solid floor, ventilation, and room for night activity
• Adult minimum should allow exercise, hiding, feeding, and toileting areas
• Substrate: dust-free bedding or washable liners kept dry and clean
• Avoid wire floors, unsafe wheels, damp bedding, and cold rooms

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Sleeping hide, solid exercise wheel where appropriate, tunnels, feeding area, and water dish/bottle
• Soft nesting material and enrichment that cannot trap feet
• Easy-clean layout for frequent hygiene

💡 Lighting

• No UVB required for normal keeping
• Stable room day-night rhythm with darkness at night
• Avoid bright night lighting
• Photoperiod: normal household cycle

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 26-28 °C

• Warm zone: 22-26 °C

• Cool zone: 20-23 °C

• Night: 20-24 °C

• Clear gradient required; the animal must be able to move between warm, cool, and hidden zones

• Measure basking surfaces with an infrared thermometer and ambient zones with digital probes

• Avoid heat rocks and unguarded heat sources

💧 Humidity & water

• Normal dry indoor humidity is suitable for most pet hedgehogs
• Fresh water always available
• Keep bedding dry and remove waste frequently
• Avoid damp, cold, or poorly ventilated housing

🪳 Diet

Feed regularly:

• Balanced high-protein staple diet and suitable feeder insects

In moderation:

• Treat insects and small controlled extras

Avoid:

• Sugary foods, fatty overfeeding, dairy, seasoned food

Supplements:

• Use supplements only under a clear diet plan or veterinary advice

💤 Seasonal torpor

• Seasonal torpor is natural but should be managed only for a healthy, established adult
• Do not cool juveniles, thin or sick animals, new arrivals, or pregnant or nursing females
• Confirm weight, hydration, health, and a written temperature/light/feeding plan before cooling
• Keep water available; rapid weight loss, abnormal breathing, or failure to wake requires an exotic-mammal veterinarian

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Wheezing or nasal discharge → respiratory disease
• Weight gain or loss → diet, exercise, dental, or illness issue
• Persistent scratching → mites, skin disease, or bedding irritation
• Lethargy or torpor-like behavior → temperature too low or illness
• Diarrhea → diet change, infection, or stress

Consult a reptile- or exotic-animal veterinarian for severe weakness, injury, breathing signs, swelling, or prolonged refusal to eat.