Hello all. I have a few questions.

[Scarey]

Hi,

New to the board here but have had a hedgehog for almost a year. Here's the deal...

It's actually my girlfriends hedgehog. We both go to Purdue and she lives in the dorms right now. I keep her at my appartment cause she can't have animals in the dorm.

Anyway, she got the hedgehog last year from her Mom last Christmas. From everything I've heard, I know it takes time to get a hedgehog comfortable with an owner. I would think that after a year, things would be better.





She is always bothered by any startling noise at any time. If it's a constant noise like music, she doesn't seem to mind. She (her name is Midge) will not allow anyone to handle her. She will huff and puff and pop and even click when my girlfriend(Candis) or I try to pick her up. It's not just when she wakes up, but any time you try.

Also, when we do have Midge out either holding her or letting her roam, she seems to poop and pee everywhere. It's almost as if she knows it annoys us :banghead: . J/J But seriously, I don't understand this habit.

I've sacrificed myself as the bath-giver so she doesn't associate Candis as a threat. She hates me and bites me all the time. When I say bite, I mean she will clamp on and not let go. I have let her actally hang thinking she would let me go but she stays on there. I usually have to wiggle her off me and that will put a nice gash in my hand or wherever else she gets me.

I used to try to handle her as much as possible to try and get her accustomed to human contact, but she would just bite, poop, and pee everywhere or sometimes manage to climb into awkward areas where it was difficult to get here out(IE: my dresser). I also tried to give her meal worms when we took her out to give her a positive result of her being handled by humans. She ate the worms, but her behavior didn't change.

Is this the kind of pet that my girlfriend has to look forward to? Can anyone help us on maybe some tips to get her a little more friendly? Also, I've always been told not to house hedgehogs together, but I noticed some of you do that here. Do you think having an active presence by another hog would make her more socialable?

[paris26]

Hi there~
First of all, what kind of environment is she in? Loud, quiet, high traffic area? How are you picking her up? In her hedgebag, scooping with her bare hands? I have one hufflebutt who balls up right away (he just finished quilling) and he will relax after a bit as long as he is in his hedgebag (aka security blanket!) I always have a hog on my lap while I'm checking my e-mail or the forums, or even watching tv or reading a book. They are used to my scent and come running out of their bags to see what's going on usually.
My hogs will always have to go within 10 minutes of waking up, whether it is me waking them up or them waking up on their own. If I let them walk around a while, they'll use their litterbox. If I don't, I become the potty or they go in their playpen.
How often are you bathing her? Is it necessary to give her a full bath every time or can you just clean poopy feet?
Some hogs are just not as social as others- that very well may be the case here. My first hedgie was a big time biter! I still have the scars on my fingers and knuckles to remember him by. ;) I tried blowing in his face, gently removing his teeth from my fingers, making sure I washed my hands with an unscented soap before hand, etc. Is it possible that you just handled something that may have smelled good to Midge? I even used a product called Rescue Remedy in Wally's water. I honestly thought it worked. He didn't hang on to my fingers as long when I started using it. After 6 straight months of biting, he decided that I was no longer public enemy number one. What is your reaction when she bites you?
I would start over with Midge. Put a t-shirt or something with your scent over her cage so she can acclimate to it. Take her out daily in a hedgebag and just hold her on your lap. Do not force her out. Talk to her softly and offer a few treats after a while.

At this point, I would suggest working on your hog that you have currently before looking at another one. Most hogs are perfectly content to live a solitary life.
Feel free to PM or e-mail me!

[Scarey]

Hi Paris,

Midges environment is for the most part a quiet one. My room is farthest from the living room/kitchen in our apartment and she doesn't get much auditary stimulous. This maybe be why she is so easily jolted.

She used to have a really big cardboard tupe that she would lay in all the time and we would simply pick it up and slider her out. This was actually very effective but we decided she needed something else. She could not keep balanced in the tube and we thought she should be housed in something that would not move around so we got her a log, you know those C chaped ones. Since then, we've picked her up by cupping the hands around her, but she doesn't like this at all. I stopped doing that and I slip my fingers under one side of her and get her in the palm of my hand. I know you're not supposed to do it, but she is a little less skiddish when I do it. We've never had a hedgebag up until now, I just bought before I made this post.

See, the thing about the deficating is that if she starts pooping, I put her back in her cage. But, rather then finish her bowel movement, she just goes under her log and stays there. She just stops pooping all of the sudden, I just don't know why.

I think this might be because she doesn't have a little box persay. Her cage is lined with aspen and she just poops wherever. We tried litter training, but she never caught on.

I try to keep her bathed every two weeks or so. As far as the biting, I know she's biting me cause it's me. She has only bit Candis once or twice and never bit anyone else ever before. My reaction, I actually act like nothing is happening. She'll clamp on to me and I'll just look up at Candis and say, "She's got me again." I tried the blowing technique myself in the past, but it doesn't seem to work.

Thanks for the reply Paris, anything else you or anyone else could help with would be appreciated.

[paris26]

Here are some links to read on biting hedgies:

http://hedgehogvalley.com/biting.html
http://www.daisymeadows.com/care/hh4u.html

I have to get to bed! Gotta work pretty early, but I'm still thinking of suggestions!

[kaiteedyd]

While most hedgehogs poop and pee without thinking that it may be gross to do it in your hands (they have very tiny brains) she sounds like she is doing it more than normal. When upset animals potty a lot more frequently. She's not trying to annoy you, she is just agitated.

Does she have a wheel or a ball? She may not be a cuddly hedgehog but perhaps she likes to run.

[Tampaquillowner]

My boys came from petstores and they both started out almost as grumpy as your girl sounds. Hedgehogs are solitary animals, and they havent been domesticated for very long. So in order to have a somewhat "cuddly" hedgehog she should be holding her and giving her time in her lap for at least an hour a day. I usually give my boys between one and two hours a day (usually around midnight) to sit on my lap and play. Tico used to be very grumpy and did the same things, balled hissed, etc. Well just last night he let me stroke his back for the first time without balling up!! So my hard work and patience has started to pay off. I have had tico for about nine months or ten months. You get back what you put in, if she works hard and gives her a lot of time eventually it will begin to show.
Dont let the hedgie get what she wants (to be put down) if she balls, hisses, etc then just keep holding her. Eventually she will learn that this is not a bad thing. The biting thing I cant help you with since neither of my boys bite (except when they smell something yummy).

Also what has helped me a lot is this. When you take her out turn out the lights if its possible. Once I turn out the lights (leaving the tv on) my boys really start to get active but if the lights are on they usually wont move.

[Scarey]

Of course I realize that she's not pooping/peeing to annoy us kaiteedyd. It was a joke. It just makes it that much harder to handle her if she is deficating constantly when she is outside her cage. You would be surprised by how much she can actually poop.

[kaiteedyd]

I didn't take you as serious as far as the annoying you part. I was just responding to your poop-related comment that she was probably just agitated and was pooping more than a calmer hedgehog would because of it.

[Tampaquillowner]

she was probably just agitated and was pooping more than a calmer hedgehog would because of it.

I disagree Kaitee, she is probably just a "pooper." I take both of my boys out for about an hour a night, while Nemo poops in his blankie/hat every single night Tico only poops once in a while. Some hedgies just seem to poop right after they are woken up. One thing to possibly make the situation better is to turn out the lights and wake her up before you take her out. She may decide to poo in her cage first instead of you. Or you could just wrap her up in a towel and put her on your lap. If she poos or pees it should land in the towel instead of on you. Its annoying I know but this is an animal, they go when they need to go whether they are playing with you or in their cage. You cant fault an animal for being an animal. If you feel that its a huge problem, perhaps its best if you find her a great home where they have a bit more time and patience to dedicate to her.

[Ododad]

Marco is a pooper. He uses Dar for a bathroom EVERY time she holds him. She simply lets him lay in a small hand towel in her lap and every time he poops, I do the ole change out. He is doing it less and less and we hope he will work his way out of it. Odo has never done this. All hedgies are different though.
I think that Tampa has a good idea of waking him up and giving her a chance to go and maybe eat a bite and get a drink of water before getting her out to play. Not all hedgies will litter train either. Neither Odo nor Marco will use a litter box no matter what I do.
Hedgies have a very advanced sense of hearing along with a highly sensitive nose. She will most likely always jump and hiss at sudden noises. Both of mine can hear a car door shut all the way outside and be startled. Has she always been in the home she is in now? You said that your gf has had her a year, but can't keep her in the dorm. Have you always kept her with you, or is this something new to her? If she has been moved around, she may be a little stressed out. She should be used to you though, reguardless of where she has lived for the past year if you have handled her daily or close to that for a year. Unfortunately some hedgies are just biters. Your speaking of actual biting, not nipping I assume? A hedgie will nip from time to time if there is something tasty left over on your hand, or to show displeasure or fright. It may sound stupid, but I would suggest just keeping her mouth away from flesh! Odo will nip from time to time, I just don't give her the chance to latch on. All I can suggest is patience right now. A lot of quiet bonding time, and freedom time. If you have a lot of people coming and going a lot that could keep her upset too. Remember, a hedgie can hear sounds that to you are very quiet. Even a loud tv three rooms away through closed doors can startle. If she is constantly startled then she is not getting a chance to calm down.

I am a little confused though. In your first post, you say you have had her for a year, then in another post, you stated that you have never had a hedgie before, you bought her just before you made that post.