Does this all sound normal to you? Advice welcome.

[DeniMarie]

I was wondering how Homer is doing, and since I don't know any other Hedgie owners IRL - I thought I'd ask you guys (Since you are all so wonderfully intelligent :) ) if this seems like Homer is on the right track...


I've had Homer now for 2 weeks.

He still puffs when I pick him up, but doesn't ball up.
He'll eat out of my hand 50% of the time.
He's eating his chicken at night and some veggie (LOVES watermelon)
He's eating his Wellness food in the am and pm. He's eaten in front of us twice
He won't play in his cage while we are in the room
He's getting off my lap now and running around the room in the evening.
He scratching his ears, maybe twice during the hour he was out last night, but they don't look wet or flaky.
I'm offering him treats to wake him up and start playtime at 7:30.
He goes back in his house at 8:30 and gets chicken and veggies at 9:00.
He always has Wellness food available.

I haven't given him a bath, but I did use a warm wet washcloth twice when his feet were really dirty. He tolerated it.

When should I attemp to trim his nails and bathe him?
Is there anything I should be doing with him that I'm not?
Should I make a preliminary vet appointment for a check up?

Thanks :D

[Ododad]

Homer is such a lucky little guy. You have been doing an outstanding job of asking questions and listening to the answers and applying them. I personally don't see how you could be doing any better. Your to be commended on the job you have done with little Homer. (Love that name BTW). :applause:
I bath Odo about once a month. More if she gets into something. (like dog crap!)
I have not trimmed her nails and have decided that I cannot do it so she will be going to the vet soon for that.
Her nails are beginning to curl under her feet so I think that is the time to trim them.
It never hurts to have a check up from the vet!

[PrettyHate]

Deni-

It sounds like youre doing a wonderful job :) It took me almost a month of daily handling (about an hour a day) to get Bosco to be "friendly". And even now, after months of having him, he still huffs and puffs when I pick him up. It is just his personality.

Vet checks are always a good idea, esp with a new animal. May think about bringing along a sample of poop so they can do a fecel float and/or smear, to rule out the possibility of internal parasites etc.

I trim Bosco's nails as needed. I find that the back ones grow alot faster than the front ones. However the front ones tend to curl under, so those are the ones I really watch for.

Billy-
You may consider giving those nails a go :) It isnt so bad really. Just watch out for the quick (the pink part) and trim a little bit infront of it. Usually nail trims arent so bad, they just take time and patience. Sometimes I have to spread my nail trims over a couple of days :laugh:

Some people do nails in the bath so that they cant curl up. I may have to try this with Murdoc and get my mom to help hold him. If that doesnt work, I will bring him to the vets as a last resort. I know that they will have to put him under to get the job done. Also, try using a small pair of human nail clippers :)

Boscos back nails seem to grow so quickly that I find myself trimming them every couple of weeks. I know that if I was taking him to the vet this would add up VERY quickly. Mind you, Bosco is very well behaved for his nail trims (most of the time :rolleyes: ).

[Ododad]

Laura, I just can't do it! :| I am too scared of hurting a little leg. I have tried every advice and procudure that I can find listed here but nothing seems to work. Odo simply will not let me trim her nails. :( I am scared to death of having her "gassed" but her nails are starting to curl under her front feet and something must be done soon. I am just too scared I am going to hurt her, and then I would never forgive myself. I'm such a wuss....

[PrettyHate]

Laura, I just can't do it! :| I am too scared of hurting a little leg. I have tried every advice and procudure that I can find listed here but nothing seems to work. Odo simply will not let me trim her nails. :( I am scared to death of having her "gassed" but her nails are starting to curl under her front feet and something must be done soon. I am just too scared I am going to hurt her, and then I would never forgive myself. I'm such a wuss....

Whichever way you decide to go, I know you only have the wellfare of your baby in mind :)

[Love4Hedgies]

You are doing a fabulous job with Homer and everything is normal so no worries there! I also bath my hogs about once a month and trim their nails as needed. :)

[Schmuzzle's Mom]

Sounds like you have quickly become addicted just like the rest of us. :laugh: I must trim my girls nails about every two weeks. I have had her about 1 1/2 months and havent had to trim the front ones yet. Her back ones are alot easier, although still alot of patience is required. :banghead: I have not bathed my girl yet. She still has orange quills from her yam annointing, but they aren't on the skin, just on the quills, and they don't seem to be doing any harm, so instead of bathing which I am really not all together excited to do, I have just watched to see that the dried on yam stuff is not causing her any stress or discomfort, and have left it on. :slurp: I think bathing her would be much more stressful than how it is right now. Besides, annointing is a normal behavior and I don't think they bathe in the wild, so...........that is just how I have decided to go.

My girl still huffs when I take off her hedgie hat home and she is asleep, but that is normal as they only know they are being disturbed at rest, and not who is doing the disturbing and why. Here is a neat idea to try one day. I give my girl hedgie massage when she is out and restful. just slowly manipulate the quills around in circles with your finger tips, moving all over her body, changing directions and using one hand or both. At first this seemed to tickly my Muzzie, but within about 1 minute, she totally splatted out on me with all her legs out and on her tummy and her hed lolling to the side with eyes blinking sleepily at me. this should really get her used to being handled, as well as you can get a chance to check out her skin etc. Handle her legs alot too, to get her used to it for future nail trims. In general......love her as much as you can and you will reap huge rewards. :applause:

Keep up all your good work!