i got a MEAN one!!!

[LilHedgie01]

i had a hedgie she was soo adorable until i brought her home!! she bit like a mother and didnt play just curled into a ball in the corner and pooped everywhere!! ooh and it was like physically impossible to litter train her! she also excaped a few times!! its not like there wasnt a lid on the cages cus there was rubermade fit perfectly it was probly just my borther was playing w/ her and forgot to attach the lid on tight... and she would leave little supprises all over the house the one time we couldnt find her!! it was offel cus i used to live in the basement so wesearched everywhere down there then m dogg found her upstaires!! in the computer room! i have no idea how she did it! but it scared the **** out of me! after she started biting m little bother i was froced to relocate her even though i spent hours socializing. it just wasnt enough! hegies are so adorable, possibly one of the cutest things i have ever seen. but there just not the animal that can really love you back..i mean you put all thins love attention and time and it seames its kind of like they would like to be left alone better than all the attention..but thats just my expierences. because when i was on this site and doing all my studing on them every one said ooh how adorable and how loving wich made me desire one even more but as it turns out she was non of those things! but nasty cus like i said eariler i must have played w/ her for hours everyday and cleaned her cage every morniung and her wheel give her alil foot bath for all the soil on them but i guess it just wasnt eough or i just got a mean one but she was soooo nice when i first recieved her boy was she...hope you all have better luck than i did!

[kaiteedyd]

Firstly, don't take this the wrong way but you seriously need to edit what you write. This isn't a problem singular to you. Many people don't seem to re-read and edit the posts they make online. However, I would strongly encourage you to do so in the future. I had a terrible time reading your post.

Secondly, where did you get your hedgehog? Hedgehog personalities vary greatly. I have owned four hedgehogs over the last six years and each one had a distinct personality. Beastly was the runner/explorer who wasn't exactly friendly, but nor was he mean. Confetti was the lover who never raised a quill. Ickus was the quite and reserved one who never hissed but would ball up. Malachite is the sassy hedgehog with attitude who is nice when she wants to be, but doesn't seem to give second thoughts to nipping.

If you got your hedgehog from a petstore that may explain the personality of your piggie. It probably wasn't bred for temperment. If you bought from a breeder maybe you should talk to your breeder about your expectations not being met. Perhaps they may trade your hedgehog for a nicer one.

[LilHedgie01]

well, i had bought her from a small breeder wich was saposed to be better than a larger comerical breeder because of the hole socializing and getting more time spent indivdually. She lived preatty far away so it wasnt like i could just go back and trade her. because when i first got there we spent some time plaing w/ her before we actually purchased her. She seemed VERY affectionate and friendly, but after having her for 4 or 5 months she wasnt as friendly...idk what happened. the breeder said she was one of her best hedgies and she was only 2months old at the time...

[hedgiebedgie]

Hedgehogs are animals, just like people are animals. They behave in a manner that is in accord with their socialization. Neither hedgehogs nor people are "self-socializing"; its up to the owner or parent to make the effort and spend the time necessary to alter their instinctive behaviour. Baby humans cry when a loving 350 pound Aunt Tilly with blue hair, rhinestone rimmed glasses and loose dentures bends over them with a big grin and goes "cootchie cootchie coo!" in a loud voice. If you were a hedgehog, you would not "naturally" resist being handled by a strange looking, strange smelling, noisy creature some 5,000 or more times your size.

Just as a person who was not properly socialized can still develop a certain degree of social skills given the proper attention, affirmation, training and reinforcement, an unsocialized hedgehog can also achieve an acceptable level of socialization as a pet. You probably will never teach it to dance the Lambada as some pigs can, play piano like some chickens, sit up and beg like some dogs or even look at itself in a mirror like some parakeets, but if you want to be entertained, then go to a movie or a concert - the purpose of owning a pet is not so it will amuse you.

My Prickles was not properly socialized before I got him and on occasion he still bites and resists being handled, but by having daily physical contact with him, being gentle with him, not forcing handling on him until he is ready to accept it (he is just as cute lying on my lap as he is lying on the palm of my hand), paying attention to what bothers him and what he likes, refraining from doing the things he dislikes (such as being touched on the head) and doing the things he enjoys (such as hand feeding mealies to him), he always relaxes and comes out of a ball when he feels secure. As for the biting, that is a natural reaction for a hedgehog. As the more intelligent of the animals in the relationship (and also the potential recipient of the bites), its up to me not to get my body parts into a position where they can be bitten. If through carelessness I get myself bitten (or pooped or peed on, for that matter), would it be proper for me to blame a hedgehog for doing what comes natural to it? I think not. I can recall my older son having peed in my face a time or two when I changed his diaper as a baby; I certainly didn't come to the conclusion that he was incapable of being socialized and would for the rest of his life go around urinating in peoples' faces.

My Cupcake, on the other hand, when placed on my chest will immediately crawl up and touch the end of her nose to the end of mine if I bow my head toward her. You can't socialize a girl much more than getting her voluntarilly to kiss someone as ugly as me!

Keep it in perspective, please.

[Kalandra]

I must ask... how much time did you spend every day with your hedgehog? How much of that time was in a quiet room (no loud noises)? Hedgehogs require daily attention and at least 1 hr of attention to remain very social. They also are very sensitive to loud noises. I have a rescue here who was a known biter. His old owner stated you had to watch him, and that he would curl up in a ball. He lived housed next to a ferret in a high traffic area and was a young child's pet. Needless to say he was nervous. After being home with me for a few months he has become a doll and has never landed a bite (he tried twice when he was extremely upset). He enjoys curling up next to me and napping.

It really depends on how much time you give the hedgehog, and what quality that time is. It needs to be one on one attention, in an environment which isn't going to stress her out.

Do you still have your hedgehog?

[Ododad]

You stated that you "had" a hedgehog. I take it that means that you no longer have one. Perhaps a different type of pet would be more suitable for you. Hedgehogs require special attention and care, much more so than your basic guinea pig, hamster or other small animal of that nature. It takes a lot of love and attention from the owner, months instead of hours for a hedgie to accept and trust. For example, it took Odo three months before she began to trust me. And this was with constant daily handling. A hedgehog's trust must be earned and sometimes that can be a daunting task. I don't really think it is an a hedgies nature to be "mean". Frightened, nervous and non-trusting maybe, but not "mean".

[PrettyHate]

When I first got Bosco I was not at all impressed. He was huffy, and grumpy, and just generally not fun to be around. For a long time I debated over if I had made a big mistake in getting him. But I was also determined to give this guy my best shot.

It took well over a month, of an hour of handling every single day, before I even began to see any progress. Was it worth it? Sure was! I love my boy so much, and wouldnt trade him for the world.

Im currently in the same situation with my new hedgie Murdoc. He was VERY shy when I got him, but now he is slowly starting to come around and even starting to unball as soon as he is in my hands.

It takes a special person to be able to deal with the time and patients it takes to make a scared hedgie trusting. While they are very rewarding pets, and I highly recommend them- they are definently not for everyone. If you dont have the time, and patients to spend with your hedgie every day- a hedgie is not for you. If you mind getting pooped on, pee'd on, quilled, and perhaps even bitten, then a hedgie isnt for you.

[Nancy]

well, i had bought her from a small breeder wich was saposed to be better than a larger comerical breeder because of the hole socializing and getting more time spent indivdually. She lived preatty far away so it wasnt like i could just go back and trade her. because when i first got there we spent some time plaing w/ her before we actually purchased her. She seemed VERY affectionate and friendly, but after having her for 4 or 5 months she wasnt as friendly...idk what happened. the breeder said she was one of her best hedgies and she was only 2months old at the time...

You say: "She seemed VERY affectionate and friendly, but after having her for 4 or 5 months she wasnt as friendly"
Now this sounds like she was friendly to begin with and then changed.

You also say in your first post that "she was impossible to litter train". Your research should have told you that not all hedgies can be littertrained, in fact more can't than can. Also babies are poop machines and will poop everywhere and anywhere until they are old enough to contol it. You got her at 2 months and talk about after 4-5 months which would make her 6-7 months which is just about the age at which some of them quit pooping on everybody and everything.

You say after she started biting your little brother you were forced to relocate her. How old is your brother? I am guessing quite young. I have to wonder if your brother was handling her roughly that made her bite.

I'm sure the dog finding her after her escape was probably terrifying for her also.

From all that you have said, it sounds to me as if you got a friendly little girl who has been handled badly and become scared and is acting in the only way she knows how.

I know hedgies can love people back. They just show it in different ways. Some of mine thoroughly enjoy and anticipate the time I spend with them. They just show it in different ways than a dog or cat.

[LilHedgie01]

its not that i wasnt patient or anthing like that because i must have spent well over 4 hours a day with her and yes it was in a quiet place because at the time i was living in the basement wich was saposed to be good for hedgies because its dark and quiet not all dark because i left lights on during the day, anyways i love all animals and would never do anything to put them in an uncomfortable environment she was very happy had a specially made wheel flown in bran new very large rubbermade two room, well you get the picture, i mean i would do anything for my animals and can handel them very well, my little brother is young about 9 and i made sure he had no food or weird smells that would cause the biting he only handled her on my bed or on the floor when i or my mother was around, and while litter training her it was very consistent and well some hedgies are different and some dont train but thats not the reason for anything, i guess i should have spent more time while i was with the breeder, i think i was only there maybe and hour i dont,l rember but i did everthing right by what people told me and b the books and extensive reaserch, i just dont kno

" Perhaps a different type of pet would be more suitable for you. Hedgehogs require special attention and care, much more so than your basic guinea pig, hamster or other small animal of that nature. It takes a lot of love and attention from the owner, months instead of hours for a hedgie to accept and trust."


and its not likei just up and decided to get a hedgie, months and months annnd months of deciding reasurch went into thought before deciding on getting her and she was infact the right pet to get because i must of had everything from dogs to fish when i was younger and i new what i was infact getting into, and loved playing with her maybe the dog did get to her but he rarly was around except for that one instence..who knows

[Tampaquillowner]

I have to agree with the others. Speaking from experience with unfriendly hedgehogs let me say this:
I have two petstore hedgies, both of which came to me very unsocialized. Tico my first boy is only now starting to come around ( I have had him since March) and just last week he let me stroke his back and didnt ball up! Nemo is still a hufferbutt but he is making small progress. Just recently he came volunarily out of his hedgie hat (though I dont know why he would want to as its so nice and comfy (-:) and ran around on the couch with me. The other day he even came out of his hat and ran around in the play pen. No he isnt crawling all over me purring or giving me kisses, but he is making progress. You cannot expect your hedgehog to change personalities overnight, it takes a lot of work and patience.

For instance, after having my boys for awhile I put them on a schedule, I turn on the lights and turn them off at the same times everyday.
I also make sure that when they are out for "free time" I turn out the lights leaving only the TV on for light. If I neglect to do this neither of my boys will come out of their hats. But once that light is off I will slowly see a tiny hedgie nose peeking out from under the hat.

You have to learn your hedgies habits and know their personalities, and likes/dislikes. You say you did everything you thought you should do, but obviously you must have been doing something wrong if it did not work. Hedgies dont act huffy out of spite, they do it because they are animals and they are frightened. Did you ever take your hedgie to the vet? Perhaps she had an underlying health problem that caused her to be cranky?

Maybe its better that you found another home for her, I hope you at least made sure it was a good and loving home. Next time consider something like a pet rock or a stuffed animal, they will give you all the loving you want and you dont have to worry about getting pooped on or bitten.