Hepworth Hogs- HOGS

09/09/2024

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉

Angela Chandler, Kent Granroth, Jolene Mitchell, Mac Tilford, Joann Elkins

09/09/2024

Mavis’s babies are 2 weeks old today and you know what that means…time to handle them!
This little guy is the lightest in the litter but oh so cute, and he will be looking for a home very soon!

09/08/2024

One of our local friends and customers saw the news about Tizzy and was so kind to reach out and reassure me and thank us for her hedgehog Mirielle. She asked if she could bring a cute little mama and baby hedgehog toy over for my daughter and named the mama Tizzy because she knew my daughter was pretty upset about her. Of course we had to share the babies with her, and she fell in love with them immediately, but I mean, who WOULDN’T. She was like a kid in a candy store and we loved it. I love the community that we have built with our hedgehogs and breeding and all of the friends we have made along the way.
Thank you so much Dani Mcneill-Martin for your kind words and the gift for my daughter ♥️

09/08/2024

I know our last update was a sad one, I thought I’d share a happy one.
The 2 babies are thriving and doing so great! One has opened its eyes and the other has not. They are very active and getting beyond spoiled between myself and my daughter. They are syringe feeding about every 4-5 hours and doing great with it. They are a bit heartier than hedgehog babies.
Continue to send positive vibes to these 2 so they remain thriving and healthy ♥️

09/07/2024

I didn’t post yesterday because I needed some time to process it all.

I know “it’s part of the business” and that “it happens” and that I have to move on, but it doesn’t make us any less sad about it. Yesterday afternoon I walked in to go check on the babies and everyone and unfortunately found Tizzy passed away, standing up, in the front corner of the enclosure. I couldn’t believe it, so I called my fiancé in to see for himself. She couldn’t have been gone very long, but was definitely gone. Toot was on the other end of the enclosure taking a snooze, appearing totally fine.
Then I went searching for babies. I found the 2 smallest ones right away. They were snuggled up to each other in the nest, but the only 2 I could find at first. I searched and searched, I lifted Toot up to look for them there, I looked on the floor by the enclosure in case they managed to crawl out, nothing. Myself and another breeder have theorized that Tizzy likely could tell that she wasn’t doing well and wasn’t going to be able to care for her babies so she decided to “take care of” them herself, permanently, but she got too tired and weak to handle the last 2.
My daughter and I had gotten pretty attached to the first baby and were planning on keeping it, but that was one of the babies we couldn’t find 😢
My heart hurts, I love all of my animals and don’t want anything to happen to them. I spent a good amount of time just thinking about all of the what ifs, the signs from Tizzy and beating myself up about not noticing sooner, and grieving the whole situation. I had to tell my daughter who was more upset than I expected, about Tizzy’s passing and talk her through it as well. Then we picked ourselves up and got back to business. We have 2 babies that she left us so that we can still have a piece of her. These babies are reliant on us for the next week of their lives in order to survive. My daughter said to me “are we their mommies now?” and yes, yes we are and we have to be strong for them. We are now hand rearing the 2 surviving babies and they are doing so great, they’re active and eating well and eyes are starting to open. I have been checking on them non-stop, and they have come with me if I’ve left the house just so I can keep an eye on them. They really are the cutest little things.

While we are still so very sad about losing Tizzy and 2 of her babies, we know that over time, we will start to heal, and she lived a good life. She gave us these amazing babies that we have fallen in love with and get to experience their growth and development up close and personal.

RIP Tizzy girl, you will be so missed, but I hope you get fed all the wormies and bugs your heart desires ♥️♥️

09/06/2024

My daughter decided to draw a picture of the baby tenrecs and asked to hang it on the wall where they can see it and “think of me.” Getting to share the joy and excitement of the baby tenrecs and hedgehogs with her has been one of my favorite parts of breeding.
I think she did a pretty good job, don’t you?

09/05/2024

There's been great interest in hedgehog days (that is so fun to say) on September 17/18, so we've decided to open up that hour 10-11 to anyone.
Cost is $10.00 per family.
🦔🦔🦔🦔

PRESCHOOL FAMILIES! If you are already registered for FH preschool, you can come early to HOG DAY!

NO REGISTRATION NECESSARY. JUST COMMENT BELOW WHICH DAY YOU WILL BE ATTENDING (and please stick to that day) SO WE HAVE AN IDEA OF CROWD SIZE.

***WEDNESDAY will be significantly less crowded!

09/05/2024

Mavis’s babies. 2 boys and 2 girls.

09/05/2024

09/05/2024

09/04/2024

I know with all the Tenrec excitement, I haven’t posted much about the hedgehogs and all the happenings.

I have officially decided on my 3 pairings for Christmas babies!
They will be: Noona X Pascal, Mya X Marshall Mathers and Friendly X Vader.
They have all been paired or being paired this week to give extra time in case someone doesn’t take or we need to switch things up.

I have Christmas wait list spots still open, secure your baby of your choice by getting on the wait list!

09/03/2024

After 72 hours of labor, Tizzy had a grand total of 5 babies. Holy cow, is she one strong woman!
Unfortunately, we lost the 5th one. I was able to intervene and help baby #4 because it wasn’t cleaned off all the way and couldn’t open its mouth. I cleaned it off and gave it a little bit of kitten milk and it perked right up and so far has been eating from mama. This has been such an incredible, yet anxiety-filled, experience and has been so worth the 2 year wait!
I will continue to post updates of the little babes as they grow and thrive and will be looking for homes for them too!

09/02/2024

Just a mama snugglin’ with her baby. I walked in on this adorable moment and just had to snag a picture.

After 48+ hours, she finally has a 2nd baby. She might be done or she might have more, we don’t really know.

08/31/2024

EXCITING NEWS! Tizzy is in active labor (what an ironic weekend for it lol), and so far has one adorable little baby! Tenrecs can labor over a few days and have babies born quite a bit apart, unlike hedgehogs. I will be keeping a close eye on her throughout!

08/31/2024

We are so excited for this! I love seeing the excitement in the kids’ faces to hold and see the hedgehogs!

08/30/2024

Mavis snuck away for a quick drink break and let me get a sneak peek at her 4 little love bugs. I did not touch them at all, only lifted the igloo to take pictures. The 3 darker babies were all suckling on the quills of the lighter baby laying down bed has their eyes aren’t opened yet so they just assumed it was mom. How adorable! I can’t wait to watch them grow 😍

08/29/2024

Our sweet little Puddle is getting so big! Isn’t he just the cutest boy?

08/28/2024

While we are not currently on baby watch for any of our hedgies, we ARE on baby watch for Tizzy our tenrec. Tenrecs and knowing when they are due is literally just a mystery. They mated constantly (I would hear it often) and their gestation period is a bit longer than hedgehogs. So knowing the exact day she got pregnant, is really impossible to pin down. I actually gave up on thinking she was pregnant, but quickly realized I gave up too easily. Idk about you all, but I can see plain as day how HUGE she is. In the 2nd picture you can see Toot snuggled up to her, and he looks incredibly small compared to her. She has gained weight, been eating and drinking like crazy, and is starting to get cranky. Toot has started to leave her alone as well, so I’m really thinking any day now we will have babies!
I cannot tell you how EXCITED I am to have my first litter of tenrec babies! I am especially excited to share them with you all!

08/26/2024

We are so excited about Mavis’s babies. She’s a first time mama so we will be giving her space and rest as she adjusts.

08/24/2024

Updated pictures of the boys. This age is my absolute favorite 😍

08/20/2024

And just like that, all of Clem’s boys have been reserved! I’m not surprised because they are gorgeous. We have been on baby watch for Noona and Mya but I don’t think they took, so we will be trying them again.

Fez has been looking for his forever home for a while and finally found it this afternoon! I know he is going to be so spoiled and loved.

Positive things are happening here at Hepworth Hogs!

08/18/2024

I know it’s freshly August but it’s time to start thinking about Christmas babies. I am the last person that will rush Christmas and the cold weather, but some things just require more planning.
I didn’t do any Christmas babies last year because things didn’t line up right. I do have the opportunity to do several litters for Christmas this year if there is some interest. If there is enough interest, I can get some feedback on who everyone would like to see paired as well. ✨✨

I would like to get an idea of how many people would be interested in Christmas babies or if there’s really no preference on when they are born.

Like this post if you don’t have a preference on when they are born, LOVE the post if you are interested in Christmas babies.

08/11/2024

Clementine really is the best mama, I love snagging pictures of the babies nursing, it’s such a sweet moment ♥️