help my mom hedgehog ate her babies!!!!!!

[ryohei12]

when i checked out the cage of my hedgehogs i saw the girl hedgehog giving birth to her hoglets there where three hoglets then we leave the and came back then i go to checked out the cage i saw the mom hedgehog and the father hedgehog eating the hoglets but the other hoglets got bitings on their back but the other day the hoglets are all dead

 

[Nancy]

Moms will eat their babies if they are stressed or feel threatened in any way. Dad should never have been left with mom past breeding and dad in the cage with her means death for babies.

 

[TaraLee]

How horrifying for you. Gosh I'm sorry!
I had no idea that they would do that.
What makes the father leave them in the wild.
I saw sooo many when I was in Germany but they were always alone.

 

[Magic_FROST]

In the wild, mom has her babies in a den thats hidden from predators. She is the only one that comes and goes from it, save for the babies when theyre old enough. Hedgies dont mate for life, and dad has no contribution to raising the hoglets. So, in a captive situation almost 100% of the time if a male is present the offspring will get cannibalized.

Mom will eat the babies for a number of reasons, stress being number one. Poor nutrition, unclean conditions, too much noise, too much light....the list goes on and on.

Its so important that if someone is serious in breeding, they have a mentor who can help.