'Only hedgehog shop' in the country has its home in Franklin

FRANKLIN — The Three Rivers City may be recognized as the birthplace of Congressman and U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster, or perhaps more recently for the addition of artificial rapids for kayakers on the Winnipesaukee River. But for the niche exotic pets community, if you’re looking to buy a hedgehog, Franklin is also recognizable for a store downtown called Granite State Hedgehogs.

Founded in 2012 by James Brennan and his wife, and co-owned soon after by his friend Sam Hilerio, the only thing you would find in Granite State Hedgehogs is, well, hedgehogs. While they also have cages, gear required to take care of hedgehogs and even merchandise, everything in the store revolves around this one tiny mammal. Purchase prices for hedgehogs depend on sex, size, color and friendliness.

“As far as I know, this is the only hedgehog shop in the entire country. Haven't heard of any other shop dedicated to just hedgehogs,” Hilerio said.

While there is no official determination, Hilerio supports his claim by saying other hedgehog businesses are usually breeders who sell and breed out of their own homes. And if there is another store, they might conduct business by appointment only. With Granite State Hedgehogs, shoppers can come in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and talk with Hilerio and play with the hedgehogs appointment-free. Appointments can be made, however, for off-hours, as Hilerio manages the store next door called Unique Pawn the rest of the week.

In an interview, Hilerio told the story of a man who came all the way from Portugal with his family, just to see the store.

“He found our shop on the web, decided he needed to come down and see, because his whole family liked hedgehogs,” he said. “They traveled all the way to Boston just to come here to see a hedgehog at the only hedgehog shop they've ever seen.”

Brennan opened the store because as a kid he was allergic to many pets. According to Hilerio, the only animal Brennan could get that he wasn’t allergic to was a hedgehog. That's when Brennan’s love for hedgehogs started.

Granite State Hedgehogs started in Brennan’s bedroom. He and his wife bought their first hedgehog, then another. Eventually they noticed there were different colors of hedgehogs and wanted every color they could find. It wasn’t until then that they started breeding. It wasn’t a business yet, but after a couple of people asked for hedgehogs, and it slowly became one.

While Brennan and Hilerio are still in the business together, Brennan has taken a behind-the-scenes role and Hilerio manages everything at the store.

Hilerio did not have the same background of enthusiasm for hedgehogs as Brennan did. He only fell in love with the animals after he was asked to take care of them at the store when Brennan went off to a hedgehog convention in Florida for a week. Hilerio’s response was “I will take care of your spiky rats!”

After that week, Hilerio decided to take a hedgehog home and the rest is history.

A long-time customer of Granite State Hedgehogs, Meredith Noyes of Manchester has purchased two hedgehogs from the store. Her first she bought about five years ago. Franklin, who’s named after the city, was her first introduction to hedgehogs. She was already looking for one when her husband surprised her by gifting her a hedgehog for her birthday.

Noyes’ reason for owning a hedgehog is similar to Brennan’s. Her husband is allergic to cats, and with she and her husband working full-time, she didn’t have the time to dedicate to taking care of a dog, either.

After five years with Franklin as their only pet, he died.

“I had a huge emotional attachment [to Franklin],” she said. “I mean, he was very inspirational to us. I'm an illustrator, I draw a lot. When I got Franklin, I drew hedgehogs all the time. I feel like for five years, he was a huge part of our family.”

Franklin was somewhat of a celebrity himself, accruing almost 50,000 followers on a TikTok account Meredith started called Franklin.Hedgeworth, which gained almost 800,000 combined likes. His most popular video had over 1 million views.

After Franklin died, Noyes spontaneously bought another hedgehog from Granite State Hedgehogs, and named him Tilton after the neighboring town.

“Initially, I was just going to go look at hedgehogs and just snuggle them because I would need some hedgehog therapy,” Noyes said. “And then [Sam] ended up showing me this little baby one that I was just like, ‘I have to have that.’”

For those looking to buy a hedgehog, Hilerio has some advice. He suggests to everyone to do their research. They are easy to take care of but are not the average pet and may require some extra care. Hilerio recommends a large enough cage, about 4 square feet; a heat source that warms up between 71 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit — a ceramic heat bulb is his preference; and a space to let the hedgehogs run.

“They love to roam around and run,” he said. “These guys can go about 60 miles a night.”

This must be why Sega’s Sonic character is a hedgehog.

The biggest thing Hilerio emphasized is taking care of a hedgehog requires more than buying the proper gear. If given the proper affection they need, they’ll be the perfect pet.

“They're low maintenance, so you don't need too much care,” he said. “Just your companionship.”

While the shop is certainly successful as a hedgehog store, the owners see it mostly as a passion project due to their love of the animal. The shop is not what pays Hilerio’s bills; it only makes enough to sustain itself. His goal is to teach others about hedgehogs and hope someone decides they want one to be a part of their lives.

“Most of the people that come in weren't buying a hedgehog, and I know they weren't buying a hedgehog, but it doesn't make me upset,” he said. “You can come in and you learn [and] you can play with a hedgehog.”