Observations...

[OnAnAmbulance]

I've had Spike for about a month, and so far he's been through two baths, three litter changes, two or three nail clippings, and thousands of kibbles. He has recently discovered mealworms (in other words, I finally got up the nerve to buy them) and he loves them, and he is still as huffy as the first day I got him.

I was cleaning his cage a few days ago, and I noticed the sheer volume of quills he has lost! Casually sweeping the CareFresh onto a small dustpan, I must have found 50 quills! And the CareFresh is only on half of his cage, so I know there has to be more.

At least I know that his new quills are coming in just fine - he still has a full back, and it hurts a lot more when I pick him up. This is because I can see that there are quite a few longer quills than there used to be, but he still has a ton of small quills that end up not touching my hand when he balls up.

About that balling up.... I think every hedgie owner should try and get their finger stuck in the middle of a hedgie ball once in their life, just to see how it feels. It's not a pleasant thing to have happen! My poor finger...

And today I learned one of the perils of having a male hedgehog. I saw a little bit of CareFresh stuck to the tip of his man parts. He was mostly balled up, but I fed him a bit of kibble to make him uncurl a little bit. I grabbed onto the CareFresh with some tweezers (didn't pinch down on it too hard, in case I grabbed some hair or skin), and pulled on it. Lo and behold, it was a lot bigger than just what I saw! I didn't realize CareFresh could get stuck there, but I guess any type of bedding could.

I didn't realize one tiny animal could make so many sounds! Most of the time, those sounds are not happy ones, and most are accompanied by a quill visor, but Spike makes a lot of different noises!

I can't believe how fast a hedgehog's nails will grow. I think that's the main reason for Spike's poop sandals (not enough material for boots! :laugh: )

Also, has anyone equated the smell of their fresh poop (either wafting in the room or in your hands) to old, stale hair spray? That's what I think it smells like! Anyway, I just got done giving Spike his foot bath, a first for him because I haven't cleaned his wheel in two days, and he's done stabbing me for now, but at least he has clean feet!

I think that's it for now :) :winkgrin:

[Nancy]

About that balling up.... I think every hedgie owner should try and get their finger stuck in the middle of a hedgie ball once in their life, just to see how it feels. It's not a pleasant thing to have happen! My poor finger...
You think it hurts now. Just wait until he is full grown and has more muscle and strength to ball up. I agree, every hedgie owner should experience that at least once in their lives. :laugh:


At least I know that his new quills are coming in just fine - he still has a full back, and it hurts a lot more when I pick him up. This is because I can see that there are quite a few longer quills than there used to be, but he still has a ton of small quills that end up not touching my hand when he balls up. You may find once all his adult quills are in that it won't hurt as much. Adult quills are usually duller than the baby quills. Of course there are a few adults that I think spend their night sharpening their quills. Funny how it seems to be the big ones whose weight alone can shove those sharpened quills into our hands. :laugh:

[LunaMidnight]

I've almost got my finger caught in a ball of huffy Luna (Isis never really balls up) but I was quick! :)

The sounds those guys can make are soo amusing! Mine putter, pop, huff, click, grunt, snuffle and even growl. I love the puttering noise though! It's so cute when she runs around my head puttering in my ear (it sounds like a little helicopter!) and the cutest is when Isis makes a sort of hiccupy soft popping noise when she's relaxed and about to fall asleep. :hearts:

[herbiesmom]

Herbie is a smaller hog about 240 grams full grown and his quills don't hurt at all. Snow is 400 grams and his quills have always been very sharp. They did not get much duller with his last quilling. Snow balled up on my finger a few times and I have to say, he has some awesome muscles and quills! Ouch! I got caught by suprise because he does not ball up much but was frightened by a strange noise.

[kellybelly223]

I've had my fingers stuck in a hedgie ball one-too-many times :laugh:

[OnAnAmbulance]

I think my Spike will grow to be a big one... he eats anywhere between 60 and 90 kibbles a night! He can still ball up really well though, so I know he's not getting fat, he's just a growing boy :)

[Dr_DooLottle]

I have learned the valuable lesson, that when you are holding a hedgie in a gloved hand, and have one unprotected hand, and the hedgie jumps, DO NOT CATCH THEM WITH THE UNPROTECTED HAND. try explaining that to the doctor, when they're pulling imbedded quills out of your hand. hehe

[shetland]

On An Ambulance-I like the way you said "my Spike." Just sounds like he is already a piece of your life. Nice.

[LunaMidnight]

Owwwwwwch, you had to go to the doctor to get the quills out? :eek: That would suck!

[Dr_DooLottle]

they got buried so Deep....Ted (the hedgie responible) was a beefy fella... but I couldn't let him hit the ground, could I?