There is no happier animal than Waldo the African Pygmy Hedgehog. He has a family he loves, animal friends in his house, and he even gets to take field trips to the local pub!

Waldo's owner Niki Brown says that he took time to come around to her after she rescued him, but after 11 months with his new family he was comfortable enough to show off that smile.

They rescued him from the National Exotic Hedgehog Rescue and says that now "He'll start to smile particularly when he's being given food - I've never seen anyone so happy to see food in all my life."

She says that he even gets to go out for date night! "We even take him to the pub with us quite regularly on a Friday night. He's really sociable." He likes to cuddle up in his carry case in his blankets and some sweet corn.

He was adopted in May 2016 and was very shy. "I used to cry, I used to think, 'This hog hates me'" Brown said. But now that he has gotten used to them he is completely different.

"Now the change is unbelievable. He will come out now when I call his name and he follows me around. He'll run around my bedroom which has been hog-proofed so he can't eat things. I think he must have been a dog in a past life," Brown said of her unusual pet.

They spend between one to four hours a day cuddling with him, being careful not to overwhelm him.

He is just too cute and so happy and it's so awesome that she was able to give this little guy the chance he needed to prove how great he really is!