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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| New Hedgehog
Hi guys!
I just got a new hedgehog, I think it's a cinnamon hedgehog. I got him from a close friend of mine who wanted to give it away because he and his family couldn't take care of it anymore. So he gave it to me. 
Chiko, the new hedgehog, moved in with me yesterday. I managed to get him a small tank for him to live in for a while until I can get a proper cage with everything inside. I also got him a small tray for water and small cat biscuits which he loves to eat. Anyways, since yesterday he moved in, I discovered his behaviour and found out he's very lazy and sensitive. He sleeps the whole day even at night and only wakes up to eat and drink then sleeps again. He doesn't like anyone touching him or handling him AT ALL! And whenever someone tries to carry him or just pet him, he would either curl himself up into his little spike ball or try to hurt that person's hand with his spikes! What can I do? I sometimes let him roam around my room to just let him be free since he seldom has this kind of freedom with his previous owner. But he has been handled a lot by his previous owner and also experienced the same behaviour. 
So my question is, how can I make him feel more calm and relaxed to my touch? I've tried everything and can't seem to make him familiar to petting. I just don't want to have this pet if he keeps getting shocked or sensitive whenever I pet him. PLEASE HELP!  | 
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Good morning. Congrats on your new addition to the family. I've never had them myself. Would love to see some pictures of it if it's possible.
Check out this link and maybe it will help. http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/
Last edited by aquarist48; May 7th, 2009 at 06:52 AM.
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by aquarist48  Good morning. Congrats on your new addition to the family. I've never had them myself. Would love to see some pictures of it if it's possible.
Check out this link and maybe it will help. http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/ | Thanks for the website! Yeah, just took some while he was sleeping. Then he woke up... | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Too cute! Thanks for sharing and keep us posted.  | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Cool.
One thing to do is figure out his absolute most favorite treats (edit: I believe that I have read that grubs are among their favorite foods, but I'm not positive about this) and use them to get him used to human contact. Start out letting him eat out of your hand. If you want, put him in one hand, and then put food in the other hand, holding them together so he associates being held with food and friendliness. | 
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thanks! My friend said it's a few months old. Yeah, i will.
Yeah. Sounds like a good idea! Thanks sir! I'll try that. But the only problem is he always eagerly crawls out of my hand whenever I carry him. I'm gonna try to hand feed him first, then later carry him... | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Ive been fasinated by this animal. Please keep us updated!
Beth | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Me too, I think they're adorable.
His little home doesn't look homey, he would probably feel more secure with some things hedgehogs like.
I have no idea what that might be, but I think you should go shopping.  | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| When I was reading about them, I learned that they like to cuddle and be close, ppl carry them in their pockets (not smushed up, i mean like front pockets in a shirt or sweater)
Don't forget, they are not all alike, just like our fishies.
Each is different.
beth | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| How adorable!!!!..He really is sooo cute..I want one.lol..not really..lol..
I'm with Lucy, maybe put some shredded newspaper or something for a bed?? Good luck with him and keep us posted. | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| my friends little sister has two hedgehogs, and they are SO different. one of them (callie) does nothing but sleep all day long, she doesn't mind being held but only if you keep her in one place and use your finger to get underneath her quills and rub her back. the other one (mazy or mazie i'm not sure which) is crazy, she never ever stops moving all day and night. she doesn't like being held because she is constantly on the run, they put her in one of those hamster balls and let her run around all the time.
i'd definitely consider buying some mealworms, her hedgehogs go NUTS for them. | |
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May 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| omg!! He's sooooo cute! | |
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May 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| New home coming
Thanks for checking out my thread guys! Yeah, updates will be on the way! Don't worry about his home. I'll be getting a homie cage for him which will be bigger than the container I'm keeping him in now temporarily. I'm just having trouble with finance because I have to spend on my new 55g tank. So I decided the 55g will be on hold for a while or I'll buy the stuff slowly.
My lil' new hedgehog named 'Chiko' by the owner, starting to get use to my handling. He doesn't try to run away when I hold him that much now, he also likes it when I hand feed him. I tried to feed him water with a bottle today but he refused to even drink from it but rather drink from the floor. Silly thing! haha  I also went to the pet store to find a suitable cage and found a perfect cage about 20-30$ but without extra stuff like bedding and food tray. Or I might get a second hand one on my local internet store. I'll keep you guys updated with info and pictures. 
Btw, he still likes to snooze a lot. He sleeps a lot during the day as expected but also sleeps every half an hour or one hour at night too. He gets tired quickly after I play with him for a while, might get him a wheel to exercise on but the cost is out of my hand. Costing around 100$ which I can't afford. | |
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May 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| u don't really need to "buy" bedding and food tray do you? you can prob come up with something from your own home to use. be thrifty!!
keep up with the updates please. 
Beth | |
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May 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| OMG he is adorable! I had no idea that hedgehogs could be kept as pets. Good luck with him. I'm glad to hear that he is warming up to you. For bedding, you can just shredded newspaper. Its cheap and it works great | |
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May 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth1965 u don't really need to "buy" bedding and food tray do you? you can prob come up with something from your own home to use. be thrifty!!
keep up with the updates please.
Beth | haha yeah. I actually got a small tupperware cover for his food tray & water tray but thought about getting a real good food tray. LOL  Thanks! My mum just told me to maybe just continue using the tupperware cover to save money. haha Quote:
Originally Posted by MissMTS OMG he is adorable! I had no idea that hedgehogs could be kept as pets. Good luck with him. I'm glad to hear that he is warming up to you. For bedding, you can just shredded newspaper. Its cheap and it works great | Yeah. I know. My lil' sister shows him off to every visitor who visits my home and I hear the word 'cute' everytime they see him!  Here in Malaysia, I don't really hear or see any restrictions or need for licence from keeping Hedgehogs. So... yeah. Thanks so much MTS! Well, bedding I managed to get an old t-shirt which he so LOVES to crawl under and snuggle into it. He just looks sooooo cute in it! He's sleeping under it now! LOL | |
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May 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Hi, I'm the friend of Alex's whose sister has two hedgehogs. They are really great pets. Some suggestions:
they drink a LOT of water. They have one of those water bottles like hamsters use and drink AT LEAST half of it per day. So make sure Chiko has access to as much water as he wants.
They can be litter box trained, but my sister had a hard time so she gave up. A little tip: if you want to handle him and he was asleep, be ready for him to poop or pee within a few minutes.
I know you said that you don't want to spend the money on the exercise wheel, but my sister's use it anytime they aren't drinking water or sleeping. They run on it together, it's so cute and funny. It's really easy for them to become overweight. Before we got Mazy, Calli was really inactive and shy, and she was really fat. Now that Mazy is here, Callie and she run a lot more, and Callie has really come out of her shell and lost her excess weight. I'm not saying that you need to buy another hedgehog, because they are naturally solitary and don't really care about cagemates, but Chiko needs to stay active. I don't know why exercise wheels are so expensive for you, here they are only around $20. This isn't the one we have, but is similar.
As for food, they enjoy mealworms, cilantro, and we give them treats meant for small animals like hamsters, rabbits, etc. They might like cat treats too. Their favorite is definitely mealworms. You can make them run for their food by putting the mealworm on a little dish or napkin and dragging it across the floor. We feed them some kind of small animal food, but I'm not sure what.
Like Alex said, Calli likes her bonding time with Katie when Katie is watching TV. She holds her and sticks her finger in her quills and just moves her finger. Calli just goes to sleep for a long time. She has really opened up in the past few months. She used to hiss and spike us whenever we made noise or touched her. Just be persistent. Mazy nips a little, so watch out for that. She is crazy though. We just let her run around for a few hours to make her happy.
OH! and if you have the type of cage that is plastic bottomed with a wire upper, make SURE that he can't climb it high enough or use anything as a platform so he can squeeze through the bars. We lost Mazy a few times like that (she is still young and pretty small. Calli could never fit)
Sorry for writing you such a novel. I'm sure you've already figured out a lot of this stuff on your own. Do you have any more pictures? He is so cute.
EDIT: Oh, I totally forgot. In the winter, or anytime it is chilly in the house (like at night, fall through late spring), Katie keeps a heating pad under the cage. They really appreciate the warmth. They also have little fleece pockets to sleep in. | |
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May 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| this post is bringing back memories, my hedgehog Elvis died in Feb from ear mites so watch out for this and I've missed him ever since *cries*
Here's some advice ^^
Don't be hurt if your new hedgehog never wants you to pet it, I owned Elvis for 3 years and handled him daily but he would always curl up or hiss at me and after a few minutes allow me to pick him up. Don't be afraid of getting pricked, it doesn't hurt that much and you get used to it after a while, I would get pricked so much that afterwards my hands would feel tingly lol
Don't wear gloves when first handling your chiko, use your bare hands for him to get your scent
mealworms and crickets are their favs but give them as treats or twice a week during mealtimes, feed them a proper hedgehog food mix.
Good luck trying to potty train it lol, elvis would use his litter and the next minute poo outside of it argh! >.< whenever he woke up he would go on his wheel (which they love!) and take a poo... I'm just being honest. It's the first thing they do, wake up, exercise and poo lol
As well at night keep your hedgehog warm, try those microwaveable heat packs and then wrap them in a towel keeps little hedgehogs nice and toasty
If you have any questions, ask and I'll try to help, in fact I should have never clicked on this thread, I want another hedgehog now
Last edited by penance; May 9th, 2009 at 12:00 AM.
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