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Hedgehogs Anyone?

StormRose

StormRose

Looking for Marbles
I'm asking here because this is the only animal related place I hang out, and everyone seems to like odd pets here. lol

Do any of you own a hedgehog?

I've loved hedgies for quite awhile, and my husband has offered to get me one for our upcoming anniversary. I've done some on-line searches but the info I'm getting about their care seems to be really contradictory.

Can you point me to a reliable place to get more info?

Are they good pets? Difficult to care for? How are they with kids?

If you have fur allergies does the hedgehog bother them?

I'd appreciate any info you can give me and/or trustworthy sites to get some good information about their care.

Thanks so much!
 
I have a female albino hedgehog. She turned a year old in October.

There's a few books on them and some incidental info on various forums and sites, but not much really... they are still rather uncommon. To be honest, they are somewhat boring pets really, unless you work at night... at home... because they are awake literally in the dark of night. Mine doesn't really get going until 10 PM, and Lord help you if you try to rouse her in the day. She does the Hedgehog PuffBall of Death on you.

I am fur allergic (which is why I have cats, dogs and chinchillas) so I dope myself heavily with drugs to counteract my bodies reactions. That being said I've never had a reaction to her EXCEPT when I bathed her and her quills punctured my skin. Then it was like a skin test for allergens, I think because hedgehogs "self annoint" or lick their quills a lot, and the saliva might have caused the reaction. I put some Benadryl cream on it and it went away right quick and was not bothersome.

Let me know if you have any other questions I can help with.
 
I have a hedgehog...She's an oak brown snowflake.

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I would consider them pretty good pets. I see you are in Wisconsin which is where I am from as well. I wonder how far away from Chicago you are? I got my hedgehog and cage from www.hedgehogsbyvickie.com. I'd suggest getting one from a breeder because they are usually handled more and used to being held. My hedgie has been calm with being held from day 1. Many that i see in pet stores and very skittish, nervous, high anxiety. If you have a calm hedgehog they are fine with kids...as long as you understand it is possible for them to get poked...it doesn't hurt very much though. They are usually better if you stay away from petting by their head where they are more sensitive. My hedgehogs ears get very dry around the edges so i have to keep them moisturized with cocoa butter which she hates me touching her ears...but she's not too bad. I don't have allergies so i can't help you there.

I'd say their difficulty is average. You shouldn't feed them most any of the hedgehog food you see in most pet stores. I've only seen 1 ok brand of hedgehog food in a petstore and that was pretty pets. Many people give their hedgehog a high quality brand of cat food like chicken soup for the cat lovers soul, etc...

the only site i can think of off hand is called chins and quills or something like that...it's a site about chinchillas and hedgehogs. If you have any more questions I can try to answer them or I'll add more if i think of anything.
 
Thanks!

I get hives from our cat, but it's nothing I can't live with unless he tags my eyes. I think *think* I'd be ok with a hedgehog.

I work at home, and keep kind of weird hours, if I'm in bed before midnight it's early for me. So I think the 10pm wake-up time would be fine. It would keep my 6yo from driving it crazy at least.

What about heat? I live in WI and it can get pretty chilly here during the winter. Do you have a heat source for your girl? Also, do you keep her in a tub or in a wire cage? I got conflicting opinions on both of those questions.
 
awww, she's so cute! Those noses melt my heart. lol

I live in Racine, which is about an hour from downtown Chicago.

The only child I'm worried about is my 6yo, she's a little hyper. Since my corn bit her though she's been better about doing what I tell her to around the animals.
 
StormRose said:
Thanks!

I get hives from our cat, but it's nothing I can't live with unless he tags my eyes. I think *think* I'd be ok with a hedgehog.

I work at home, and keep kind of weird hours, if I'm in bed before midnight it's early for me. So I think the 10pm wake-up time would be fine. It would keep my 6yo from driving it crazy at least.

What about heat? I live in WI and it can get pretty chilly here during the winter. Do you have a heat source for your girl? Also, do you keep her in a tub or in a wire cage? I got conflicting opinions on both of those questions.
Click to expand...


I keep mine in the 'deluxe setup' as seen on this page http://hedgehogsbyvickie.com/cages.htm
(note, mines never learned to use the litter pan...she goes poop on her running wheel which is a mess to clean up!) Though I would recommend the 'toasty tent' type of thing...my hedgie almost always sleeps in that.

As far as temps go...if it gets too cold hedgehogs will go into a hibernation like state which is not good for african pygmys. However, I keep my house at 70 in winter which is about at the low end of the suitable temperature range. If your house gets colder you can use a UTH with a thermostat.
 
ZoologyGirl said:
My hedgehogs ears get very dry around the edges so i have to keep them moisturized with cocoa butter which she hates me touching her ears...but she's not too bad. I don't have allergies so i can't help you there.
Click to expand...

I am so glad you said this! Mine is the same way, and I have had her to the vets to check for mites, but it came back negative. I am going to try some cocoa butter on her ears and see if they improve.

And yeah, I feed PrettyPets. It smells delish. I also offer her bugs and mealies as treats. She really likes them!
 
StormRose said:
awww, she's so cute! Those noses melt my heart. lol

I live in Racine, which is about an hour from downtown Chicago.

The only child I'm worried about is my 6yo, she's a little hyper. Since my corn bit her though she's been better about doing what I tell her to around the animals.
Click to expand...

I've let my nephew pet it and he is about 3. Though I have never let him hold it because if the hedgie balled up I'm scared he would drop it. But usually i hold it in my hand and he pets the back end. You can get 'hamster ball' type things for them...but mine never runs in it and just pees and poops in it so I don't put him in it. I do let her walk around once in a while supervised though.

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She wants that mealworm!
 
Hypancistrus said:
I am so glad you said this! Mine is the same way, and I have had her to the vets to check for mites, but it came back negative. I am going to try some cocoa butter on her ears and see if they improve.

And yeah, I feed PrettyPets. It smells delish. I also offer her bugs and mealies as treats. She really likes them!
Click to expand...

does your self annoint? I'm sure it does. I hate it! lol. I give her a bath...the second she gets some food in her mouth she's mashing it up and spreading it on her quills.
 
Hypancistrus said:
I am so glad you said this! Mine is the same way, and I have had her to the vets to check for mites, but it came back negative. I am going to try some cocoa butter on her ears and see if they improve.

And yeah, I feed PrettyPets. It smells delish. I also offer her bugs and mealies as treats. She really likes them!
Click to expand...

Yeah her ears got so bad for a while they started nicking and cracking...when i started using the cocoa butter they improved.

I think I'm going to switch mine to pretty pets. I have been using cat food...but i finally found a store that supplies pretty pets.
 
A very good website for up to date info on care and feeding is:
www.chins-n-quills.com/ They have gotten harder to get in stores due to the fact that most of them go to Japan and France (you don't want to know why...). The PBI food is not the best thing you could be feeding. It's "okay" if you are supplementing with insects. A good quality cat food like EVO is better. We have a little albino boy at the store right now that is very gregarious, even during the day. But that is rare.
Terri
 
Yes, mine does self-annoint. I used to keep her on CareFresh and the paper break down would get embedded in her quills. I since switch to Aspen-- it's working a lot better. This one girl tried to talk me into washable blankets for her bedding... I said I can barely wash my own laundry, let alone my hedgehogs... what do you keep yours on ZG?
 
Hypancistrus said:
Yes, mine does self-annoint. I used to keep her on CareFresh and the paper break down would get embedded in her quills. I since switch to Aspen-- it's working a lot better. This one girl tried to talk me into washable blankets for her bedding... I said I can barely wash my own laundry, let alone my hedgehogs... what do you keep yours on ZG?
Click to expand...

mines been on corn cob...arguably not the greatest but she's done fine on it for years.
 
The more research I'm doing the more I want one. :)

It looks like we already have most of the supplies we'll need. I'll have to pick up a large exercise wheel, but since we're pretty much running a small animal zoo here, I already have the bedding, cage, and other accessories. I think I even have a small UTH with a thermostat I can put under the bed if it needs the extra warmth.

How often do you bathe them? Another question I'm getting dual answers on is: water dish or water bottle?

Thanks so much for your help!
 
StormRose said:
The more research I'm doing the more I want one. :)

It looks like we already have most of the supplies we'll need. I'll have to pick up a large exercise wheel, but since we're pretty much running a small animal zoo here, I already have the bedding, cage, and other accessories. I think I even have a small UTH with a thermostat I can put under the bed if it needs the extra warmth.

How often do you bathe them? Another question I'm getting dual answers on is: water dish or water bottle?

Thanks so much for your help!
Click to expand...

Personally I use a water bottle.
 
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