First Time Owner

Hey! I'm Emily. I just got my first hedgehog, Lucy, a week or so ago. I'm still learning and doing research on these wonderful creatures.

I have a couple of questions.

1. She's on Iams Weight Control, is that an OK food or should I move her to a better quality? I'm thinking I need to switch to a combo of Solid Gold and either Wellness Healthy Weight or Blue Weight Control.

2. Hissing/Clicking/Being a general grump: Lucy is about 14 months old, per her previous owner (from Craigslist...take that as you will), and let's just say she is an uber grump. When I get her out for play time should I keep interacting with her even when she clicks and jumps? Or should I back off? I can tell a huge difference just in the last week. She still puts on a show but her quills are way more relaxed. I'm wondering if she is just a drama queen.

3. Bathing. How long should I wait to give her a bath? She seriously needs one...but I don't want to stress her out more than she already is.

None of those foods sound good. Try this list http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2936

When they are balled up, popping and huffing there are 2 things you can do. Pick them up and see if they unball to look around which works with partially tame hedgehogs but not very stubborn antisocial ones. Or just wrap them in fleece and put them on your lap until they chill. Eventually they will want to explore. It may take a few weeks or months before they stop balling up and huffing at every movement or noise but if you keep working with them they eventually learn not to bother.

Do avoid their head. When you pet or touch start about 3" back from the head spikes or even tame hedgehogs often get upset. They have very poor eyesight and protect their eyes to the extreme so they will react badly to seeing your hand or anything else move near their head.

You can give her bath whenever you want. Hedgehogs actually like baths. Just make sure you run the water when she's not in there because the noise is scary. Also it is best to add colloidal oatmeal or stick oatmeal in a sock and swish it around. It helps avoid dry skin. Then you can pour the oatmeal water over their back, again starting about 3" back from the head spikes so you don't get any in their ears or eyes. Mine even enjoy a slight swim but only for about a minute.

I fill the bathtub so the deep end is just deep enough they have to swim to cross it and they run circles around the bathtub swimming for a few seconds and then splashing back to the shallow end and around again. I take this time to pick up each of their feet and rub them to get any poop off. When you take them out make sure they don't get chilled. Keep them wrapped up in towels or fleece until they dry which doesn't take long.

Thanks for the advise! She does un-ball pretty quickly after I pick her up. I'll also try wrapping her in a blanket. I got some Equate brand oatmeal bath to use. She absolutely stinks and her back nails are way long, so she'll get a bath in the next few days.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'll take a look at the food list. I know she needs to be moved to something other than the Iams. If I had cats I wouldn't feed it to them.

She does start to un-ball fairly quickly once I pick her up. At first anything I did would make her cover her eyes (at the very least...normally it was a complete grump ball). Now she's more OK seeing my hands. It was hilarious the first couple of nights...she would cover her eyes and then peek out, if she saw me looking at her she'd jump and curl back up. At the very least I try not to cause her to go complete angry quill ball. I will start petting her further down her back.

She's going to definitely get a bath this week. Not only does she stink but her pinto quills are yellow. I got some Equate (Walmart Brand) Oatmeal Bath treatment to use. I've been looking at actual soap, too...just in case there's a big poop/anointing mishap.

Hello. I'm a new owner also. I have had Chester for about 3 weeks. He now10 weeks old. He was not handled much as a baby, which was apparent when he didn't settle down very quickly in his new home. I take him out every single night, and he still huffs, puffs, balls up and clicks. But i can tell that he is coming around. It's a slow process, but I'm determined to show him that he is safe and we are friends.

Unlike most of the hedgies I read about, Chester hates meal worms, likes to go up his little ramp to his second floor, hates a bath, hates to sit curled up on my lap, but doesn't get poop boots!

Like most hedgies, he poops on his wheel more than anywhere else, loves hiding in his little fleece line hut, and likes running around exploring outside of his cage.

Just be patient and show lots of love and devotion, no matter how many clicks and huffs you get. I try to remember how scary life must be to Chester, and that just encourages me to do everything I can to make him happy and healthy.

I have two hedgehogs, one is totally tame and loves to be out of her cage with us. The other, who I have had for about 2 1/2 years still doesn't like to be handled much. She likes to come out to explore, she just doesn't like being held, so she will still ball up up and huff at me when I pick her up. Sometimes it's just a personality thing, but it sounds like Lucy is becoming more socialized, so she will probably adjust.

akane said:

None of those foods sound good. Try this list http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2936

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Agreed. However, I'd stay away from Innova that's on the list. It used to be a quality product, but it's been subject to recall after recall after recall this past year.

akane said:

When they are balled up, popping and huffing there are 2 things you can do. Pick them up and see if they unball to look around which works with partially tame hedgehogs but not very stubborn antisocial ones. Or just wrap them in fleece and put them on your lap until they chill. Eventually they will want to explore. It may take a few weeks or months before they stop balling up and huffing at every movement or noise but if you keep working with them they eventually learn not to bother.

Click to expand...

Patience is the key!

akane said:

Do avoid their head. When you pet or touch start about 3" back from the head spikes or even tame hedgehogs often get upset. They have very poor eyesight and protect their eyes to the extreme so they will react badly to seeing your hand or anything else move near their head.

Click to expand...

I'm starting to believe they can see better than most people think. Bella has managed to watch herself on my phone (video mode) and maintained a calm demeanor for much, much longer than usual while doing so. But you are right about avoiding petting or stroking them on the head. Even my uber-calm Tex would let me know that touching him on the top of his head was not the right thing to do.

akane said:

You can give her bath whenever you want. Hedgehogs actually like baths.

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Depending how you read it, I don't agree with this. Bathing too often can dry out their skin... even when adding in the oatmeal. You could do a footbath just about every day. But a full bath - no. I'd advise against that. It's generally a good idea to let a new hedgie settle in a bit before first bath, but if your hedgie has poop caked in her quills or something like that, I'd go ahead and bathe now.

I have yet to meet a hedgehog who really truly liked bathing. Satin would scramble so quickly to get out of the water. On a few occasions, she actually got herself so upset that she vomited. Bella will stand in the bathwater without scrambling, but will try and leave and will poop and pee in the water. Marlee is okay with a shallow foot bath. She will try to leave. And she'll have messy poops immediately after getting out - yeah, right as she's drying off. Ugh. After Texie settled in... he... well... mind you, I love this boy... but he used to drink his bathwater.

akane said:

Just make sure you run the water when she's not in there because the noise is scary. Also it is best to add colloidal oatmeal or stick oatmeal in a sock and swish it around. It helps avoid dry skin. Then you can pour the oatmeal water over their back, again starting about 3" back from the head spikes so you don't get any in their ears or eyes. Mine even enjoy a slight swim but only for about a minute.

I fill the bathtub so the deep end is just deep enough they have to swim to cross it and they run circles around the bathtub swimming for a few seconds and then splashing back to the shallow end and around again. I take this time to pick up each of their feet and rub them to get any poop off. When you take them out make sure they don't get chilled. Keep them wrapped up in towels or fleece until they dry which doesn't take long.

Click to expand...

Mine do not like the water. I've started using the triangular corner litter boxes designed for ferret messies as bathtubs. I put in a washcloth (folded into a triangle), so they have something to hang on to rather than sliding all about, and fill it so the water level is just over the washcloth. If they absolutely need a full bath, then I'll get out a dishpan and fill it about an inch or so after putting down a washcloth for them to stand on. This way, I absolutely know that their "bathtub" is clean (eg, no left-over toothpaste from the bathroom sink, no harsh chemicals from the stuff usually used to clean bathtubs, etc...). It also allows me to do things like bring their bathing area to a place where I can sit down, set the tub on a table and get them all clean without being all scary and hovering over them.

Absolutely agreed regarding keeping the water out of their eyes and ears. And have a blankie ready for the moment they're done. Keep them snuggled up and warm until completely dry.

Mine don't like the sink. It curves too much. They scramble to get out. They will play in the bathtub though. All 6 love to splash around although some will only stay in the shallow end. I never said to bathe frequently. Mine get a bath less than once a month but there's no reason they can't give a bath now.

I'm of the mindset you treat the animal how you want to treat it for the rest of it's life from day 1 instead of leaving it sit in a cage unhandled for a time.