Anxious new hedgie grandparents often ask "How big should the babies be?" and get confused when I tell them, "Well, it varies." The most important thing to look for is the level of development- are eyes opening at the right time, quilling is taking place, and so on. Usually people are more worried about babies that are small and underdeveloped (see our runts page for more on that), but the dark baby in the picture here inspired me to say a little more about babies on the other end of the size spectrum.
I must say, this is the BIGGEST little baby I've ever seen! There were two babies in this litter, and I got to see them shortly after birth. They were normal sized, nothing out of the ordinary. Imagine my surprise when I checked them at 15 days (we generally give the moms about 2 weeks without disturbance)and I saw two monster sized babies! About the size I'd generally expect from 6 week olds! In fact, in the picture below, baby is compared to a 6 week old.
I checked my birth date book and sure enough, the babies were just 15 days old. I inspected and eyes were not yet open, no teeth... all the developmentl signs of a 15 day old. I'd seen babies who were in litters of 1 or 2 who were larger than normal, but not like this! The family line is on the large side (mom is Celzi, but I don't know yet if these babies are just growing rapidly because mom makes quality milk, or if they will be little pogzillas!
back to Breeding and Development page.