I just rescued a hedgehog?

[Robotzik]

Hey
I sometimes rescue chins and place them into foster homes, got two of my own... but I found this baby hedgehog at this shelter and he was so terrified my heart was breaking. Somebody dumped him over night in a park and he almost froze to death, BC nights can get chilly as ****, specially for a tropical specie
So I bought him a cage, brought him home...
(I've been researching about hedgehogs for about 2 years now, I've always wanted one)
and the poor fella is freaked out ****less.
Now... I know he will come to, I've only had him for about 4 days which is not a lot but...
he is so scared of the world around him it makes me wanna cry. First of all, if I'll ever find the owners, and I'm kinda working on it, I know I can't do much exept give them a piece of my mind but oh I will give them a piece of mind. But not the point. The point is... has anybody ever seen a hedgie scared of every little noise and thing and any advice? And what do you guys think those assholes did to him for him to be so skittish? (or her, too freaked out to see)
His/her name is Cactus, and yeah, any thoughts are welcome
Cheers
Muffin

 

[elvira.]

have you been handling it? yes she may be scared, but thats the only way for her to learn that you arent going to hurt her. I say just spoil her as much as you can since you'll have a lot of making up to do for the loser people shes accustomed to. Congrats to you both for finding eachother.

 

[Nancy]

Give him/her lots of love and gentle quiet TLC. She may or may not become a social butterfly but even the ones that remain shy and timid know they are safe and loved finally. Since she was dumped outside, watch for any signs of a URI, sneezing, runny nose, loss of appetite and get her to a vet asap if she shows any symptoms. URI's can quickly progress to pneumonia.

To try and determine sex, put him/her in a clear container that is large enough for her to stand and hold it over your head. Make sure she can't fall out. I use a small aquarium.

Good luck and post pictures when you can.

 

[shetland]

Bless you for giving this baby a loving home.

 

[Robotzik]

Good idea for the sex finding thing! I shall do that asap
Yeah Cactus (that's what we called him/she) is starting to be better
I checked his teeth and fur, limbs, and he is in perfect condition. His eyes are clear, he is eating, drinking, taking the smelliest little brown dumps ever, so he is good. He let me touch him for a second before rolling in a ball
I try to leave him for an hour, bug him some more, leave him some more, bug him some more so he gets used to me
He still rolls in a tight ball and freaks out but not as much, there is progress! Soo I'll inform you guys about his sex and all that when i get the chance to do it, but for now he is great^_^
yay!
I can hear him drinking water as I type this, I LOVE the noise and wrinkles they make when they eat, awww!!!
So yeah, I'll take some pics of him, maybe one day he will get used to my chin and they can be friends that would be amazing I think hehehe
cheers
muffin

 

[FiaSpice]

So yeah, I'll take some pics of him, maybe one day he will get used to my chin and they can be friends that would be amazing I think

mmm not really since one likes it cold and one likes it hotter. Once my ex really wanted to try and it ended on Boing trying to bite Litchi. It was the end of it.

 

[Robotzik]

yeah they stay in different rooms =]
my chins are really loving though and I'd only let him chill with my last rescue chin which is obese because last owner fed her rabbit food and for some reason she is having a hard time losing weight
but she loves other moving things it's awesome hahah
we gave hedgie a bath today, cut his nails too
only on 3 legs though he got all angry so we are going to do the last limb tomorrow, hehe
we got soo much mud out of him
he turned white from yellow, it's quite nice hahah

 

[shetland]

Awwwwww poor wee hedgie. Thank you for the update-look forward to more!