Do hedgehogs need their fleas?
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On the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘The Unbelievable Truth’ recently, the claim was made that “hedgehogs will die without their fleas“. This, if true, is remarkable. How could a mammal depend directly on fleas, and what would happen to the dear little hogs if deprived of their fleas?
Is there any truth in it, or was the BBC a bit wide of the mark? Of course, it’s nonsense. Hedgehogs do not die without their fleas – how could they? in fact, not all hedgehogs have fleas at all as the British Hedgehog Preservation Society confirms. It’s possible that having fleas could benefit the race of hedgehogs – although not necessarily the individual hedgehogs – by boosting their immune responses, as fleas are passed on from the mother hedgehog, and conceivably her fleas could help keep her children immune to diseases. However that’s pure speculation. More interesting is the hedgehog flea itself, Archaeopsylla erinacei. Long legged, the flea is able to run about between the widely-spaced spines – unlike human, cat and dog fleas which tend to cling onto the much shorter and more closely-spaced hair and fur. The website CRASH (Care Rehabilitation and Aid for Sick Hedgehogs) says this:
Hedgehog fleas only live on hedgehogs. They like the cool open environment of the coarse and widely spaced spines where it can run fast. If it finds itself in the dense, warm coat of a dog or cat, it immediately knows it’s in the wrong place and drops off to wait for another hedgehog. The same goes for hedgehog fleas that get onto humans, they do not stay long before leaving to find a proper host.
One of the most often-repeated statements about fleas on hedgehog welfare sites is that hedgehog fleas are specific to hedgehogs, so our pets – and ourselves – are safe from them. Unfortunately, whilst generally the case it is certainly not always true. For a start hedgehogs often carry fleas from other animals, but even their own specific flea turns out to be a bit more catholic in its taste than is generally suspected. A quick look at the Natural History Museum’s Distribution of British fleas catalogue (go on, bookmark it, you know you want to) shows a sample of the hosts that A. erinacei has been found on. Erinaceus europaeus is the hedgehog – so that’s OK – but we also get foxes, rabbits, moles, polecats, dogs, cats, dormice (both native and edible), red squirrels, hares and even a human. And just to add insult to injury, there’s definitely at least one recorded case of a hedgehog flea attacking a human… it’s not recorded whether or not this was a very spiny individual.
Do hedgehogs have a symbiotic relationship with their fleas? There are obvious problems arising with hedgehogs cleaning their selves or even mutual cleaning. Is it possible that the fleas operate a cleaning service removing dead skin cells from between the spines, for the price of a few drops of blood? I’m just speculating, but I believe that the swift bird has parasitic flies which are passed on from hen to chick and stay with them for life. Is it possible that these little creatures are more than pure parasites? Perhaps there is more to the old rhyme: “Fleas have fleas upon their backs to bite ’em, little fleas have smaller fleas and so on, ad infinitum.”
Itching here too
my hedgehog is fine it doesnt have fleas :T
I think my hedgehogs has fleas , how can I get rid of them ??*
Cats can get hedgehog fleas, definitely.
My cats both have fleas, despite us spraying them and the entire house with flea spray- and it all started when a hedgehog appeared in out garden. We get a new case every time the cats go outside around dusk- usually the time our hedgehog appears.
I wonder if Miss Tiggywinkle had similair problems.
You know don’t you…that we humans have turned cats into animals that don’t need to go out whether they want to or not. There are perfectly good litter systems one can get to make an outdoor kitty into an indoor kitty. I ‘VE had as many as 8 kitties all indoor after being with me for rehab.
Any more ??? and I’ll be right here….NO MORE FLEAS…
Thank you so much for clearing this up for me.
Please help, I’ve put 1 drop of dog flea drops on the hedgehog that I tried to rescue 🙁 did not realise this could be deadly, please help
The Ranger responds: take your hog to a vet, as soon as you can.
Is it true that hedgehogs carried to New Zealand lost there fleas because of the heat and humidity on the boats? If so, do they now have none?
I can confirm that hedgehog fleas WILL bite humans – as I write this, I am nursing at least 2 dozen very painful bites on my ankles & legs. For days I was puzzled where the bites were coming from, as I couldn’t see any insects around. Then I wore light coloured slippers while walking near the shelter we built for hedgehogs – BINGO! Now I need to find out how to stop them biting me…?
They sound very much like cat (or dog) fleas. Which will try any animal before eventually dropping off unsuitable hosts. It takes a lot to clear a bad flea infestation-one ‘de-fleaing’ per house is not enough. The fleas’ eggs which remain embedded in carpets, rugs, bedding, upholstery etc for up to four months must be vacuumed up and strict anti-flea hygeine maintained for as long as it takes. A one-off dusting or spray is rarely adequate. Also the infested animals need to be flea-controlled along with their environment.
It’s worth it in the end though!
The claim made on ‘The Unbelievable Truth’ was NOT “hedgehogs will die without their fleas”. You were not listening carefully enough to the programme. The claim that was made is that “if you remove the fleas the hedgehog will die”. This is slightly different: it is the use of the flea-removal products that can seriously harm the hedgehogs. There is no suggestion that the presence of the fleas themselves is actually beneficial or necessary.
An interesting read – although I’m itching now LOL