Animal Spotlight! African Pygmy hedgehogs have become common in the pet trade due to the fact that they are Pygmy. Question 1 - what does Pygmy mean? However, even though they are small and cute there is one thing you should know about a hedgehog... they spit on themselves! “Toothpick” is demonstrating this action called self-anointing. They do this to put new and different smells on their quills. One idea is so they can blend into their surroundings by making their quills smell like what is aro