This page contains information about pygmy hedgehogs, and in particular the African pygmy hedgehog, which is the most common domesticated hedgehog available. You can also find general information on keeping domesticated hedgehogs on the pet hedgehogs page.
These hedgehogs have been specifically bred for captivity - they are a hybrid of the four-toed hedgehog and the Algerian hedgehog - and so they can be handled and are relatively used to human contact - although of course humans should be careful because human-hedgehog contact can be quite prickly!
African pygmy hedgehogs, as you may be able to guess from the name, are much smaller than most hedgehogs in the wild, usually around a quarter of the size of wild hedgehogs found in places such as the UK.
African pygmy hedgehogs are carefully bred so that they don't carry fleas or infectious disease. The breeding of domesticated hedgehogs is a relatively recent development, and the first pygmy hedgehogs were bred in America around the turn of the millennium.
The typical lifespan of a pygmy hedgehog is around five to seven years, although they have been known to live up to 10 years! They are nocturnal and usually prefer to live on their own.