Hedgehogs: How to Take Care of Them and Understand Them (A Complete Pet Owner's Manual) [Paperback]

Matthew M. Vriends (Author), Kees Vriends (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 87 pages
• Publisher: Barrons Educational Series Inc (February 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812011414
• ISBN-13: 978-0812011418
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,538,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terribly outdated and dangerous., September 19, 2001

By 

Heather (CHARLESTON, SC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hedgehogs: How to Take Care of Them and Understand Them (A Complete Pet Owner's Manual) (Paperback)

I cannot fault the intent of Vriends since I do not know him personally, but this book has caused me as a hedgehog rescuer no end of difficulty. This book -- and others -- recommend things that are terrible for hedgehogs. Cedar shavings, as another reviewer noted, are recommended by this book. The aromatic oils from cedar shavings can cause respiratory failure in hedgehogs and other complications. It gets worse from there.

The novice hedgehog owner is not going to pick up on these inaccuracies or errors, and that means that because of this book, hedgehogs are going to receive poor care. If you want a better book, try Dawn Wrobel's The Hedgehog: Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet OR try doing some research on the Internet instead, where the information is frequently peer-reviewed and kept more up-to-date than in a static publication.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nicely presented but not all correct!, November 19, 1999

By 

Maya (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hedgehogs: How to Take Care of Them and Understand Them (A Complete Pet Owner's Manual) (Paperback)

The more I got into the book, the less it reminded me of the prickly critters I have grown to love. Much of his information is incorrect (the usage of cedar shavings, the 'nausea' sections, etc) and the rest seems to be based off of his observation of African Pygmies in the WILD. Appearantly our domesticated pets behave a little differently. An alright book in general, but you need to discern the good from the bad and that may not be too obvious for the new hedgehog afficionado.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book almost killed my hedgehog! Don't buy this book!, July 25, 2000

By 

Keith Warren (Waco, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hedgehogs: How to Take Care of Them and Understand Them (A Complete Pet Owner's Manual) (Paperback)

This is a good book for anyone who is planning on reading other books on hedgehogs besides this one. It provides basic information that is neccesary to know. However it stops there. There is nothing extraordinary about this book. Plus some of the information is wrong. By following the directions in this book, I almost killed my hedgehog.