- African Pygmy Hedgehog Colours -
Pygmy hedgehogs, having been domesticated for several decades now, come in a whole range of different colours and patterns, some more common than others, and ranging all the way to the pink eyed, pure white albino to the dark Algerian black and everything in between. I've made this simple guide to help with identification.
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- Colours -Colours refers to the colouration on the mask, eyes, skin and banding on the hogs quills.
As African Pygmy Hogs were originally a cross breed between the White bellied and Algerian hedgehogs, they can still demonstrate this in facial markings. White bellied are generally paler and less distinctive in facial markings, and display less mottling on the belly, while Algerian demonstrate darker masks with distinctive cheek patches. This is clearly shown below in two chocolate hedgehogs, with the upper being Algerian and the lower, white bellied. |
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- Albino -Albino is the absence of all pigment in the hog. The eyes will be red, the skin and nose pink and the quills pure white or cream with no banding. There is no mask.
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- Champagne -Pale gold / cream banded quills with pink skin. The mask may be very pale cream or absent and the nose is pink. Eyes are a dark, almost wine, red.
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- Apricot -Light orange banded quills with pink skin. The mask can be a light gold and may have orange cheek patches. Nose is pink or pale liver, skin is pink. Eyes are a dark wine red.
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- Ruby Eyed Cinnacot -Orange banded quills and a light orange mask. Algerian hogs will have orange cheek patches. Eyes are wine red and the skin is pink.
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- Dark Eyed Cinnacot -Quills are orange banded and mask is a pale orange with cheek patches in Algerian colours. Eyes may be either black or such a dark shade of red that they appear dark brown.
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- Brown -Spines are banded with ash brown and the skin is light brown. Paws and ears are pale brown and the mask and nose are also brown. Eyes are black.
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- Chocolate -Quills are banded with brown and cream. The skin is brown and may be mottled a little on the belly. Legs and ears are brown. And the mask is chocolate brown, but may be lighter on white bellied coloured hogs. The nose is black or dark and eyes are black.
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- Grey -Quills are banded with dark brown and skin is dark and mottled. The mask and ears are dark brown or grey and the nose is black or dark liver. Eyes are black.
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- Dark Grey -Spines are banded black and cream. The mask and ears are very dark brown and legs are dark. The belly will show mottling and skin is black. Nose and eyes are black.
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- Black -Quills are banded black and rust with dark cream, no white. The ears, skin, nose and legs are black. As is the mask which can be expansive, There will be a large amount of mottling on the tail and belly.
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- Patterns -
Hog patterns are in addition to their colour and any pattern can go along with any pattern (except albino of course). I have outlined some of the more general ones below.
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- Pinto -Patches of pure white quills mixed in with patches of coloured ones. These can range from a few small patches to extensive areas. The skin under the white spines will be pink and under coloured will be the darker.
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- Reverse Pinto -When the hog displays patches of colour on their body but the mask is absent. Eyes are usually black but can sometimes be red, ears can be pink or in tune with quill colour.
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- Split Face -When pinto markings are present in the face and almost in the middle divide it into masked and unmasked. So the face is split through the middle.
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- Blaze -A splash of white running from nose and up between the eyes in the middle of the hog mask.
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- Odd Ears -As the title. One ear is pink and the other coloured.
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- Badger Stripes -Two stripes running up from the mask and up into the spines of the frow. Sometimes they can be thicker and join as one stripe, or only have partial stripes or a single stripe.
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- Quad Mask -Usually, but not always, in darker colours. where the mask spreads up into the quill line both over the nose and eyebrows leaving little white eyebrows behind.
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- Full Mask -The mask spreads up over the forehead to the ears, covering the front of the face completely.
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- Snowflake -White quills dotted intermittently amongst coloured ones like a dusting of snow. Unlike pinto the skin will not be pink under them but remain the native colour.
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- Dark Eyed White -A snowflake that has less than ten coloured quills remaining. the skin remains dark but the spines are white with no banding.
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- Leucistic -A pure white hog with no markings or banding on the quills and pink skin, but with black eyes.
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