Difference between wild and 'pet' hedgies, also cage question.

[Arcanist]

Hello

I've been wanting a hedgehog for a really long time, but I can't find anywhere in New Zealand that sells 'pet' hedgehogs, so my only option was to capture a wild one. I finally found one that looks young enough to be friendly, so he's now mine. I was wondering if there's any real difference between wild and pet hedgehogs that I should be aware of.

He's currently living outside and under cover in this cage http://i.imgur.com/78iJi.jpg
I think it should be big enough for him. What I plan to do is get a wheel for him (If I can find one big enough for him) and put another layer in there, along with some other toys, and a long tray of kitty litter for him to use.

Although a problem with the kitty litter is he eats it, so is clay kitty litter the right thing to be using?

I put a water bottle in the cage he was in for the last few nights (one of the ones with a tube and ball bearing coming out of it) which he didn't appear to know how to use. I tried to teach him what it was but he didn't get the hang of it. I've owned rats for most of my life and I've never had a rat that had any problem getting water out of it. He just licks the water off and then tries to bite the tube and loses interest. Can hedgies use these, or are my efforts in vain?

In his shoe box there's some brown paper lining, and some strips of an old towel.

Are there any tips that you guys could give me to improve his cage, and is it big enough?

 

[DazzlRazzle]

Well, I really can't help you out on the whole wild thing considering hedgehogs, but I can help ya a bit on your cage set up. Outside should be fine as long as it's warm enough. If it's lower than 70 degrees, they can try to go into hibernating, and I'm not sure if it applies to wild hedgies, but at least tame ones have a high chance of dying if they try to hibernate. All i herd about kitty litter is that it should be non clumping kitty litter, and also make sure that there is no baking soda in it. You can always switch out kitty litter with strips of newspaper so that there is some sort of bedding. If you have a paper shredder, it can be your best friend for the fact that you will just need to throw paper though that and then put it in his cage. With the water bottle situation, I would just give him a little dish that is heavy so that he can get water that way. Hedgies are not rodents, in the fact that their teeth do not grow, and they do not need to chew on things. Their teeth look similar to a cats. So if hedgies chip their teeth on a waterbottle like that, they will always have a chipped tooth. I would suggest that he has a weighted little water dish that would be hard for him to knock over. Since he is wild, he would probably feel more comfortable just drinking from a dish anyways. I would not use a towel because if towels unravel, then there are strings that hegies feet and quills can get caught up in. I use fleece since it has no possibility of unraveling. I also kinda throw the fleece in a pile because hedgies like to burrow, so they can crawl into the fleece. And I think that the cage size is fine. Especially if you get a wheel in there, and as long as you plan on becoming friends with it and taking it out every day for a half an hour.

 

[melbur10]

Personally I don't agree at all with capturing a wild animal and forcing it to live in a cage.

That being said I would not use kitty litter. Try fleece or aspen shavings if you don't want to use fleece
Use a water dish not a bottle -they can break their teeth on bottles and they have a hard time bending that way to drink from a bottle.

To be honest the kindest thing you could do here would be to release this little one into its natural habitat.

 

[Pikaia]

I agree with Melbur, it's not right to keep him. He was born in the wild, knows the wild and that is where he should be.

 

[DazzlRazzle]

I agree with Melbur that it is a wild animal, and animals belong in the wild. But isn't that where any pet has come from in the first place? Even animals that have been bred to be pets will act like a wild animal if they are not handled. Think of wild cats. People still will capture them, and successfully make them into house pets, and people don't think badly of that. So what's the difference? The fact that people associate cats for being a good house pet compared to a hedgehog?

I'm not saying that I agree with capturing a wild animal, because I personally wouldn't ever do it. I just feel that by having any pet you are holding them from their natural habitat. I'm sorry this sounds very PETA-y, but I just feel like by having any pet you are holding them from their ideal settings. Not like I'm one to talk though, I own a hedgie, a chinchilla, cat, dog, 4 axolotls, and 2 horses. So tear me apart if you must, I even gave you substantial information about the pets I own to do so. I'm just trying to put the facts out there.

 

[Pikaia]

Domesticated pet animals usually have a difficult time surviving in the wild. That is because they are used to being cared for by us humans. So, the wild is not their ideal setting anymore. Our pet chinchillas (and several other domesticated pet species) have been domesticated for years and years. They usually can't survive out in the wild. This is why you never let a hamster or bunny that has been a pet out into the wild. They will surely die. This hedgehog was born in the wild and he can survive out there. That is the difference. What about his quality of life? Do you think he is happy to be in a cage when he was outside and free before?

I know that is how we get pets in the first place (capturing wild animals and keeping them) but this is just my opinion on this current situation. We can agree to disagree and that's ok. The OP is free to do as they want.

 

[DazzlRazzle]