Did you know that the hedgehog quills are made from a protein called Keratin, the same protein that can be found in your nails, skin and hair? An adult hedgehog has 5-7 thousand quills over its body, and the hedgehog sheds the quills over time, with new quills growing back to replace them...just like your hair!
In 2015 I made my first resin pendant containing hedgehog quills (or sometimes known as spines). The lady had sadly recently lost her pet African pygmy hedgehog called Orinoco and sent me the quills so that I could form them into some remembrance jewellery for her. I received the quills and set them within a resin heart shaped pendant (after handling the quills very carefully). I set the quills fanning out from the centre of the heart shaped pendant and included silver lettering for the name of the hedgehog across the centre of the pendant.
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| Hedgehog Quill Pendant |
Since making this pendant I have been asked many times to make similar pendants for people (I did not realise how many people kept pet pygmy hedgehogs, with the UK African Pygmy Hedgehog Facebook Group having over fifteen thousand members at the time of writing this). The following example resin pendant was made for the owner of a pygmy hedgehog called Milky. Fewer quills were sent to me this time however as you can see the effect is just as lovely.
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| Hedgehog Spine Necklace |
And finally, a sterling silver circular pendant containing a small selection of hedgehog quills; even though very few quills were incorporated into this sterling silver pendant, they create a wonderful effect.
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| Silver Necklace with Hedgehog Quills |
Many thanks for reading about my jewellery incorporating hedgehog quills. Quick question, do you refer to them as Quills or Spines?
Mick
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