While in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I came across a hedgehog cafe while walking around. I knew I had to come back and visit. I’ve gone to cat cafes that are a bit more common, but the Harinezumi Hedgehog Cafe in Chiang Mai, Thailand was a unique place that I was fortunate enough to experience! Hedgehogs are actually illegal in Califiornia (where I’m from), so it’s pretty awesome to have the opportunity to play with these little pets.

Harinezumi Hedgehog Cafe in Chiang Mai, Thailand

This is what the cafe looks like:

Photo used from Harinezumi Cafe

The cafe featured little glass boxes in the middle of tables so you can play with the hedgehogs. They also have a play area for guinea pigs that are enjoyed by all!

If you want to play with the hedgehogs, you’ll need to purchase a set meal that includes hedgehog play-time:

Photo used from Harinezumi Cafe

If you’re just going yourself, it costs about $5 USD to play with a hedgehog that includes a drink as well. You can also get the sets meant for 2 people if you’re bringing a friend as this costs $10 but also includes a waffle on top of the drinks ($8 if you want the cake instead of the waffle). The drinks were okay to be honest, but the hedgehogs are the main event regardless, so who cares! 🙂

Once you order, they will bring out a hedgehog to your table along with some gloves. Make sure you use antibacterial hand sanitizer or wash your hands before and after handling, especially if you’re going to eat their food.

These funny instruction cards are useful though to make sure you handle the hedgehogs correctly.

Aren’t hedgehogs ADORABLE?

Some of them are a bit hard to handle as they might be shy or scared. They usually want to sleep as well.

Throughout the day, the employees give out these leaves that you can use to feed the guinea pigs at the cafe. The guinea pigs are super cute as well:

They seem completely scared of humans though. A few will let you touch them but a bunch will run as soon as you touch them.

Overall Feeling

I really enjoyed my time with the hedgehogs at the hedgehog cafe, so much so that I ended up going twice! The thing is hedgehogs are nocturnal animals so I felt kind of bad that they were there for people to play with during the daytime. Perhaps it would make more sense to allow people to play with the hedgehogs at night while guinea pig access was available throughout the day (but this may be bad for business). I hope they have a playpen for all the hedgehogs in the back so they can all play together! Anyway, it was great being able to play with these creatures I would never be able to play with back home.

P.S. if you love hedgehogs, check out Hedgehogged! They have awesome hedgehog information as well as hedgehog clothing and things to shop from.

Have you visited the Harinezumi Cafe in Chiang Mai, Thailand? Let us know in the comments below!