New owner-got some questions!

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Twreckshedgie

New member
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
Messages
1
Hello everyone!

I am a new Hedgehog owner, super excited and already in love. He doesn’t have a name yet (Hermes, Neptune, Berry are my top three choices). He’s 6-8 weeks old. I have several questions and concerns!

I will start this off with everything I have for him.

I have him in a storage bin lined with fleece. And a fleece snuggle sack he loves to go in. I also have a little fleece pineapple house that he tips over and hides under. I have a bowl of food (given by the breeder) and a small bowl for water. I have a heating lamp but haven’t been using it much as his bin is usually 75-77f. I currently do not have a wheel as the breeder forgot to bring the one she made for me (don’t worry I plan on getting one).

He seems to be very tame, he will actually come to our hands when we put it in his cage and when we have him out he will actually climb us and seems ok.

I have a few concerns.

I will hear him squeaking often, he’s usually digging into the fleece or sometimes just while walking. Is this normal? I’ve heard it means they are content but it concerns me (probably just paranoid):

He also is a climber, he will go to the corner of the bin and stand up and claw at the corner. This makes me really sad because I feel like he’s not happy. I also feel like he only gets in our hands because he wants out of the cage (he will sometimes hop in our palms then climb up our arms out of the cage). How can I prevent this? Is this dangerous for him because he will sometimes tip over when he claws at the corners. He’s also climbed the fleece pineapple house which tips overs while he’s on it, they aren’t super far falls but it concerns me because they seem so fragile. I know hedgehogs can be pretty clumsy.

Another issue I have is biting. When I first got him, which was only this Monday (24th of February), he would lick our hands and kinda bite and then anoint. Today though he would just bite and sometimes aggressively (it doesn’t really hurt). He at one point bit my girlfriends palm and kinda kept pulling on it like a dog with a toy. Is this normal behavior for a hedgehog this young?

I feel this just might be my anxiety and paranoia getting to me as a new owner but I would love to hear from you all and if you have ANY tips! Thank you guys!!
 
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