Definition of IHR Terms and Rules

• 1. The word "hedgehog" or "African pygmy hedgehog" in this registry shall be understood as referring to any domestic hedgehog of the species atelerix albiventris or atelerix algirus, or a hybrid of the two species,  regardless of age, gender, or any other condition or feature. Other species may be registered, but this difference should be noted on the application so that we can track this trend. At present, no other species is known to be domesticated in significant numbers.
• 2. The word "animal" or "animals" shall be understood to refer to hedgehogs as defined above. Other species may be added at a later time should their presence be noted.
• 3. The "breeder" of a hedgehog is the registered owner or lessee of the dam at the time of conception.
• 4. The word "antecedent" is used to denote ancestors, such as parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on.
• 5. The term "First Generation" refers to any hedgehog with no registered antecedents.

• 1. The IHR will recognize for registration any variety of hedgehog that is domestically raised as a species.
• 2. Any animal may be registered with the IHR by completeing a registration form and submitting the required fee. One does not need to be a member of the IHR to register an animal; however, members will receive a discount on the fees.

• 1. Each animal must have a proper name. Alpha-numerical codes are not permitted.
• 2. If the IHA chooses to retire a name, no future animals may be registered as such.
• 3. Registered names may not exceed 20 characters, including spaces or other symbols, and not including suffix or preffix codes.
• 4. Names may be composed of any letters of the english alphabet, numbers 0 - 9, apostrophies ('), hyphens (-), amperstands (&), exclamation or question marks (! or ?), and spaces. No other characters may be used.
• 5. Names must be in good taste.
• 6. The person that owned/leased the mother of the hedgehog that was bred at the time of its conception becomes the breeder prefix to the animal's name. The breeder that owns the hedgehog is the suffix to the animal's name. Unless there is more than one hedgehog with the same prefix and name, the suffix is optional. Official names with prefixes and suffixes are mainly for purposes of record keeping and identification of breeder and owner associated with a hedgehog in a show. (Example: Tig runs Hedgehog Valley and owns two hedgehogs that parent a litter. A baby from this litter is sold to Stasi of Alaska Hedgehogs and given the name of "Burrwin". This hedgehog's full name is "Hedgehog Valley's Burrwin of Alaska Hedgehogs", or abbreviated, "HHV Burrwin of AKH". If Stasi then sells Burrwin to "John Doe" a pet owner with no herd name, the hedgehog's full name is then Hedgehog Valley's Burrwin of John Doe. Full names such as "John Doe" cannot be abbreviated.). While this may be confusing, it helps us distinguish between multiple animals with the same name.
• 7. An animal's name may include only one herd name prefix and one herd name suffix. When the owner is changed, the suffix will be changed, as noted previously.
• 8. Once registered, a breeder name prefix may not be changed unless it is an animal whose origin is originally unknown, and new information as to the origin is uncovered.
• 9. In order to change a suffix, an update form must be submitted. Updates are free, but new certificates will be issued at the standard cost of registration certificates.

• 1. There are Two Registration Books kept by the IHR. These are the Litter Registration Book and the Variety Book:

A. Litter Registration Book - This chronicles the reported litters of registered animals. In order for litters to be included, the following criteria must be met:

1. Parents must be registered with the IHR. Exception given in cases of unknown fathers only.

2. Only the breeder of the litter (the owner or leasee of the dam at the time of conception) may register a litter.

3. All litters will be considered "trackable", unless noted as "lost". To prevent "lost" statuses, breeders are encouraged to pre-register litters when the babies are between 2 and 3 weeks old. Breeders will then be given Litter Registration/Transfer Certificates for the new owners to complete. The transfer information may be transmitted to IHR via mail or email, to complete the registration.

4. A litter is considered trackable when approximately 3/4ths of the litter has individuals that are accounted for. Individuals are considered accounted for by considering various criteria including but not limited to:

a. The animal is later shown at IHA events.

b. Updated animal photographs are available on request (eg: photos of when a baby, photos of them as an adult etc.)

c. Litters are registered as parented by the animal.

d. Transfer of Ownership slips are sent to the IHR with new owner's contact information and signature.

e. Updates on the animal's health or date of death are sent in to the IHR.

5. A lost litter is determined by various criteria including but not limited to:

a. breeder or owner of the litter reports it as such (eg: babies were cannibalized; breeder reports majority wholesaled etc.)

b. No updates for the animals are sent in over a several year period (eg: a litter of hedgehogs that never is reported upon any ownership changes, health conditions and/or when they died) 

c. breeder claims to keep the entire litter but can not show their club officers the animals the animals to prove it.

d. unusually high number of transfer agreements and other updates from individuals or entities that can not be contacted; falsified contact/transfer/registration information; "new owners" report not having pets when contacted, and other patterns of incongruous information.

e. patterns of unusually small litters or litters with large number of reported stillborns with no accountable lethalities or environmental influences (such repeated occurrences raise suspicion of falsified registration information). In such cases, the breeder maybe requested to provide additional information to clarify the matter.

B. Variety Book- This chronicles registered animals.

1. Any hedgehog may be registered.

2. Animal must be alive at time of registration. An exception to this will be made until 12/31/03, in order to allow breeders time to update their pedigree lines.

3. Only the current owner of the animal may register it.

4. Owners are expected to transfer ownership if there are any changes. Transfer may be done by email or mail. New certificates will be issued at the standard certificate price.

5.  Animals with fewer than 4 complete generations of registered antecedents will receive a letter designating the level of registration in the pedigree. The letter designations will be as follows:

A = no registered parents, or at least one parent is not registered.

B = both parents are registered, but at least one grandparent is not.

C = all parents and grandparents are registered, but at least one great-grandparent is not.

D = all parents and great grandparents are registered, but at least one great-great grandparent is not.

No letter = all antecendents through great-grandparents are registered.

• 2. Honesty: The person registering the animal or herd name is expected to be honest in their representation and claims of ownership of the herd and animal, as well as the variety, gender, lineage, temperament and health of animals. Any person found to have purposefully falsified information shall be disciplined such as through suspending or revoking eligibility to register animals, removing questionable animals from the database without refund, or other discipline seen to be appropriate by the IHR and IHA. 

1. Herd names may be permanently registered with the IHR upon written application.

2. Herd name, letters, characters and spaces combined, may not exceed thirty characters.

3. Abbreviations or orthographic variations of registered herd names are not permitted.

4. Registered herd names and abbreviations may not be used for another herd.

5. Herd names must differ by at least 3 characters from any already registered herd name.

6. Pluralization's, and common abbreviations may not count towards this difference (eg: "n" used in place of "and" still counts as "and")

7. Only one herd name per herd registration (not counting any co-ownerships); Additional registrations to be charged separately. (Example, Joe has his herd registered with the IHR as "Amazing Hedgies". Ann has been working with him, so he has Ann listed as a co-owner. This way, Ann is able to register her babies under the Amazing Hedgies name, as can Joe. Ann then decides to register her own herd as "Ann's Hedgies". This requires Ann to register Ann's Hedgie's separately.