About Us

The Hedgehog Program is officially registered on October 14th, 2019. However, five years before that happened, The Hedgehog Program was already started by Judith. First as a hedgehog wiki website with a bit of information about hedgehog care, later on as a forum, then a multilingual website and nowadays it’s a globally known platform for research and education specializing in hedgehogs and tenrecs. Working together with various rescue centers, animal clinic and nature foundations around the world, The Hedgehog Program really is a one of a kind business!

In loving memory of…

In 2014 when Judith just started as a hobbyistic breeders of African Pygmy Hedgehogs, she occasionally visited her borther Harrie to show him the hedgehogs. Unfortunately Harrie passed away on October 14th, 2014. Not too long before that happened, Juduth promised him she would keep working with animals and so, she decided to create her new business in his memory.

On October 14th, 2019, five years after Harrie’s passing, she officially registered The Hedgehog Program at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. To honor her promise to Harrie, Judith made her first breeding hedgehog Archie the logo of her new business. Archie was the first hedgehog Harrie had met en fell in love with. For a long period of time, the old logo of The Hedgehog Program was a silhouette of Archie.

In 2024 Judith wanted to rebrand her business with a new logo, but she still has a painting of Archie (photo on the left) in her office. And has tattooed it on her leg as a permanent reminder.

The Hedgehog Program to me is a way to educate people about nature and the consequences of very small changes in our own habits to improve the quality of biodiversity. It’s much more then hedgehogs and tenrecs alone. It a way of living.