Being a hedgehog breeder

My love for hedgehogs began in 2014 shortly after I had my daughter, Abby. My son begged for a hedgehog as a pet, and as much as I did not want another pet to take care of, he agreed to do most of the work. When we brought his hedgehog home, I realized how truly awesome and fascinating these pokey animals really were! We slowly expanded and became USDA licensed.
I naively thought that breeding hedgehogs would be as easy and rewarding as our first litter. Kate the Great was an excellent mother and gave birth to 5 perfectly healthy little spike balls but this was just beginners luck.  No matter how hard I try to be the best owner and breeder I can be, I can not control every situation. We have had babies born dead, eaten, abandoned...and after breeding for several years we have learned A LOT! We have attempted to hand feed several babies that have been rejected by their mother and unfortunately have not been successful with it. Hoglets usually die from bloat when being bottle fed, and no matter how hard I try they never seem to make it. Sure, realistically I knew that we would have babies that die, but to have a helpless, weak little hoglet die in your hands is heartbreaking. It is hard to put into words how devastating it really is to pour hours of time into feeding and nurturing a rejected baby and then have it pass away. There have been several sleepless nights, tears, and times I have wanted to quit because of the emotional toll it has taken on me. But it always seems that at the moments I want to quit that I receive a picture of a baby in its new home, or a sweet text, or a card. These small little gestures of kindness never go unnoticed and it's why I continue breeding these amazing animals!
Here are a few pictures of Bubblegum's babies. She killed 2 of her babies and was trying to kill the remaining 4. I quickly took them out and tried bottle feeding them but unfortunately they did not make it.
(Please note that we do NOT handle babies until they are 2 weeks old unless it is for the health of the babies or the mother).