need help..

[oksk89]

hi. im a sophomore attending an international school in korea... i recently got a hedgehog 2-3 days ago.. the first day i just let it sleep and all cuz he would be stressed from the trip... so now its been a few days and all he does is sleep during the day and drive me nuts during night. i know hogs are nocturnal animals... but i want to play with him... but at night, he wakes up and for some strange reason, he starts digging the bedding away from the corners. and then all you can hear is the "Squeaky" sound of his feet rubbing on the plastic cage. this drives me nuts, for i cannot sleep at all... and also he wont use his wheel. i put food on it, pushed him on it, and eveyrthing but he wont use it...

also, on the 2nd day he came, i found that there was this yellow-type goo. i thought he threw up or something... so i was really worried.. i also wondered if it was poo, but i heard only of green poo, caused by stress. i never heard of yellow poo... so i asked the breeder from who i bought it from and she said that its probably that he couldnt digest the fat from the food and then just pooed it out... is that right? im not sure but he doesnt poo that yellow stuff any more...

and, the cage i bought from Hagen is nice and big and comes with a yellow feeding tube... but i just dont like it, so im planning to buy 2 bowls. one for just food, and the other for litter training. do you think that owuld work? im planing on buying some cat litter to fill up the bowl and move all his poo in there so he can use it to do his business.. i read somewhere that someone's hog ate the cat litter and got sick or something... is that true?

finally, handling. i just cant touch or hold my hog. im just too scared. when i try to pick him up, he makes a huffing sound and suddenly does some super-ultra-fast-body-shaking-movement that just scares the **** out of me. its so fast and sudden that i get so scared and i jump.... lol... so i dont know how to handle him... or how to get him to recognize me as his owner...

im sorry for all the questoins. im just a newbie owner and have a lot... i would greatly appreciate help.. thanks!

[soft-n-pokey]

I'll try to give you the advice I have to give at the moment..
1:My hedgie always digs the bedding, just until he makes a 'wall' of bedding to close off both sides of his little hut thing. Does he have some sort of house that he can hide under? Because maybe he is just trying to make himself a shelter under the bedding. Even If he does have a place to sleep/hide under, he may just be cold. What is the temp.?

2:Most of the time it takes Hedgie's a while to use the wheel. It doesn't matter if you try to push him on the wheel, put food/treats on it, anything, it just takes hedgies a while. He will figure it out someday. Or..it could possibly be that he doesn't like the wheel. What kind of surface is the wheel made out of?

3:I have no idea what the yellow stuff could be. I would wait until a more experienced hedgie owner comes along on here.. But what are you feeding him?

4:I'm sure that if you get short enough bowls that would work for the food also. I use a small animal water bottle, but some people use bowls..not sure if it works easily for the hedgie though.

5:That it true what you heard about not using clay cat litter. THe problem is that it may get stuck up into their private areas..doesn't matter which gender your hedgie is either. Some people use Yesterday's News in their litter boxes. I don't use it, but thats what I've heard.

6:For the holding part..the more scared you are of holding you hedgie the more he will be scared. They can sense fear, so everytime you get scared, he gets even more scared. Try getting a thick dish towel for whenever you hold him for a while, that way when he jumps or 'pops' it won't scare you as much for getting poked. But for him getting used to you, and you getting used to him, could take a while. So you have to be paitent with the bonding process.

Hopefully at least some of this will help. I suggest that you look through the hedgie FAQ's also. :)

[RoxieFaye]

Hi Oksk89 and welcome to CnQ! Congrats on your little one!

What he's doing at night sounds normal. He's just borrowing in his cage and playing. You're right, hedgehogs are nocturnal, so don't expect this behavior to stop. Can you possibly put him in another room at night so that the noise won't bother you? About the wheel, some hedgies are just slower to catch on to what it is. He'll figure it out eventually, just give him more time. :)

I don't know about the yellow poop... I've never seen that. Hopefully someone else will be able to answer that for you.

As for litter training, kitty litter isn't the best thing. It can be very dusty and cause respiratory problems. Hedgehogs are very close to the ground kitty litter is dusty. Also, kitty litter can, and a lot of times will, get stuck in the hedgie's penial shaft. This can block urine flow and lead to serious illness. If you do want to litter train a bedding like CellSorb, Yesterday's News, Carefresh, wood shavings, or simply paper towels will work. If your hedgehog never takes to litter training don't be surprized. My Quillson never really did.

Holding your hedgie will get easier when you both get more comfortable with each other. One thing you can do to help your little one get used to you, is place a t-shirt in his cage that you've worn for him to sleep with and since hedgehogs have an incredible sense of smell he will get to know you quicker. When you want to pick him up use a soft towel or even that same t-shirt you've placed in his cage. Don't use gloves. The more you hold him the more comfortable you will both be.

I hope this helped a little bit. Can I ask your little ones name?

[oksk89]

thnx for the help. i put one of my tshirts in the cage.. hopefully he will recognize me.... but im still not sure about the cat litter from these answers.. .cuz i remember some person who bouyght a hedgie from the same person i bought mine from, asking her if its okay to use cat litter as hedgie bedding. she said that its fine, but that it just might be a bit pricy... lol... and now the ppl here are saying that its not that great to use... hmm... so im not so sure about the poo dish litter... and as for the other brand that RoxieFaye suggested... I live in korea so the choices i have are pretty limited... lol... so i guess if most ppl say that cat litter is bad, ijust might have to use newspapers.

again, thanks a Lot for the replies.

P.s. i dont have a name for my hedgie yet... lol

[Schmuzzle's Mom]

First of all congratulations on your new Hedgie! :applause: You will soon see that with at little patience and some cuddle time that he will become a great little friend. I have had my hedgie for about 1 1/2 weeks now and she is almost totally tame, even letting us hold her bare handed with her quills down now. :rolleyes:

At first, we were totally bluffed by her huffing and jumping too and were nervous about picking her up and holding her. :banghead: but we quickly found that using a small cloth to pick her up saved our jumpy nerves about being poked and made us much more calm about holding on to her even when she was grumpy.

My daughter used two small cloths to hold her at first to protect her hands, but now we are both using bare hands alot more and she doesn't poke us as much. :D Each day she gets alot of cuddling, which both she and we enjoy tremendously. Today she was awake in the morning when we awoke and she was really interactive with us and really didnt put up her quills at all. We handled her bare handed most of the time and we had so much fun. You can get her up anytime you wish and you don't have to wait until you see her awake on her own. We get our baby up anytime we want to be with her. :sleep:

Time and patience are what you need right now as well as some confidence that he will eventually come around. Handle him every single day and you will be richly rewarded. They are the most amazing little creatures. :blob4:

[Ododad]

Hello! And welcome to the incredible world of hedgehogs!
You will find, as I have, that there is an adbundance of folks here who have a lot, and I mean a lot, of experience with hedgehogs and are more than willing to help.
About the wheel, dont' feel left out. Odo didn't use her wheel for almost two weeks for anything other than to sleep under. Then, just one night for no reason, she climbed on and now wheels almost every night.
I have noticed that Odo is not the same everyday either. She has her moods! Some days or night, she wants to cuddle and then sometimes it's "leave me alone". I just take the good with the bad.
If your hedgie is pooping normally now, it may have just been something it tasted that it didn't like. Odo has never pooped yellow before, but she did get some awful runs after I tried chotolate. Bad idea that chotolate is! lol I would a vet visit just for a check up and to know that he\she is ok to begin with.
As for litter, some people have litter trained their hogs, I never could get Odo trained. She goes where she wants, usually on her wheel. It is easy to clean up though so I don't worry about it. I just clean it up daily.
Odo has a water bowl and a water bottle. She uses both. I figure as long as she has plenty of fresh water, it dosen't matter. She has a food bowl also, just the same as her water bowl.
And last, the handling. That will simply take time. Trust me, it will be well worth the time invested. The sooner you can get comfortable with handling it with your bare hands, the sooner he/she will get used to you. It takes awhile, so don't be in a hurry. Just a little handling each night at first. Take it slow and easy. One has to earn a hedgies trust. But once you do, I promise you, life will never be the same. They truly are little gifts from heaven.
Each hog has it's own personality. They are not like other small animals. They are like little persons. They have good days, and bad. They have good moods and bad. Just like you. Each day will be a learning experience for both of you for a long time. Each day will be different. At least, thats my experience. Just take your time. Your hog will get used to you, and you guys will be the best of friends. It will take some time, so don't get discouraged. Remember, each day will be different. I suggest that you, as I have, just go through some post here, in different threads and by just reading you will learn a lot. There are a lot of really great people here on this board.
Good luck, let us know when you decide on a name and please, post some photo's!
Billy

[oksk89]

thnx for the advice :) its 2:30 am here and im up studying for my test... haha... and dont wrory.. i put my hedgie outside so he wont get bothered! lol