hello. just a few questions.
my fiance and i just brought home our first hedgehog, a rescue we named hammy.
she's done nothing but hide from us all day and night, and she will only eat and drink if we take away her hiding spots (an igloo, and a tube.) could this just be the stress of moving to a new home or should we be concerned?
we don't want to totally remove her hiding spots ( Read more... )
ANYWAYS, my 2 cents:
We also had a crabby guy. He DID warm up.. sorta, but it took time and patience. And plain cooked shredded chicken breast as a treat when we were holding him. :) Also egg.
There are several odd things you guys will have to watch out for. Long hairs for instance can get tangled in their legs. Also, nails must be clipped. Generally we did this by putting him in a bath of warm water.. The little guy will most likely poop.. Don't be surprised.. If you guys washed him, you probably noticed this.. And gently pulling his foot out so we could quick snip the nail with tiny clippers. Careful if he tries to ball up in the water. I can't say it's the best method(Patience), but it worked for us.
We also didn't used conventional bedding, we had him in a large (4x4, or we setup a alternate huge one occasionally.) pen lined with cloth. Thick stuff, like sweat shirt material. Or like what churches make quilts out of. One person we know uses corduroy. We also had several items specialy made by good hedgie rescue folks. A couple hedgie 'hats'. (Little cloth domes) Sleeping bags and squares to be held in. We would put cut-up sweat shirt parts in his house for him to sleep with, and he seemed to love it. A little too much sometimes.
I thought our most important thing, aside from the food and water.. Was the wheel. These guys will run marathons. It needs to be large. They have very fragile backs, and need the flat angle. Something in it for traction is also necessary, and can help keep their nails short. We set ours in a shallow pan we would line with something innoculous. Like Yesterdays News litter or paper towel that we would throw away daily. They'll also poop in the wheel. A lot.
They anoint themselves too. Which you might see eventually. I'd give ours a taste of wet catfood sometimes, and he'd froth up at the mouth and wipe it all over himself if he didn't eat it. Was quite a sight. Gross too.
Have fun! They're interesting critters!
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