difficult..

[sonicandmikey]

ive had my hedgehog since december (christmas gift) and im trying my best to care for him... i have a few questions. sonic has a litterpan in his cage, but he refuses to use it, he will poop and pee right beside it, but never in it, i was wondering if i should just take it out and give him some extra room to play or what? I also got him a ball, he loves it when hes in it, i was just wondering if it was good for him. its odd when i put sonic in the ball we spends almmost 20 minits scratching and pooping, than he starts to run around, but he always has to scrath first, when he scratches no skin or anything flakes, just his shavings come out from his quills. also he is very shy, he never started to open up, do i just have an angry hedgie?one last thing, how would you feed a hedgie baby food as a treat? with a spoon? or on top of his dry food?

[Tampaquillowner]

1) Not all hedgies will use a litterbox and even when they do its irregular at best. I have three boys and though they do go on the paper at times they also go when wheeling and still go when I am holding them. He may never be littertrained. I have had success with taking a cookie sheet and covering it with papertowels and placing the wheel on top. They will stop and go on the towels sometimes and others not.

2) The hamster balls are terrible for any animal. They have poor ventilation and you cant tell if hedgie is terrified and wanting to get out or if he is actually enjoying it. Plus the how would you like to be placed in a poorly ventilated ball thats green and makes the world look green? I sure wouldnt, I would suggest doing away with the ball completely. Toss it. If she has a wheel she should be getting plenty of excercise. If you are worried about her getting time out of her cage then pick up a playpen and give her "freetime" to play in it everynight.

[PrettyHate]

In addition to what Tampaquillowner said-

For the baby food you can just put it in a little seperate dish of its own :)

[Tampaquillowner]

whoops missed that one! Sorry

[teela1342]

What a great Christmas present. Glad you are asking questions. They can be quite a handful. :laugh:

Your hedgie may never be overly lovey, but he can be less grumpy. Mine is antisocial too. Just keep up the daily handling. This is mucho important. Getting rid of the hamster ball may actually help. Hedgie proof a room or buy one of those playpen walls (WalMart has them - 8 panels for $10). Hedgies don't chew like hamsters, so you don't have to worry about electric cords or your furniture. Dim the lights or maybe just have the T.V. for light. Set up some fun stuff like toilet paper rolls and empty boxes and set your little guy loose. You can sit and talk to him while he plays, which will help with the "get to know you" process. Pet him while he is playing, pick him up for a bit and then let him go back to wandering. It will also help him get used to the general sounds and smells of your house. That is hard to do in a plastic ball. :( I had one of those balls when I first got Jake, but the fact that he pooped/peed then rolled around in it really grossed me out.

As for food, Jake gets his cat food mix and a "side dish". Baby food, egg, chicken, fruit, or veggie. I have a food bowl that is about the size of a saucer. Usually the kibble goes on one side and whatever else on the other. Bugs in the middle. :laugh: Sometimes I will mix it all together, just for a change of pace. Sometimes I hide the kibble in spots around his playpen so he gets a workout while he eats. You can also try putting some of his favorite baby food on your finger and seeing if he will eat it out of your hand. More socialization/trust activities.

Hope you are having fun with your guy. Experimenting with a hedgie's likes and dislikes is half the fun of having one.

[kaiteedyd]

I keep a sterilite container under my bed with toys in it. I have some tubes, playpen walls, vinyl tiles, a plastic disc thingy they push around and bits of fleece.

I put out the vinyl tiles so if they poo and pee it doesn't get on my carpet and it's easy to whipe up. I set up the small animal corral around the tiles and arrange the toys. My girls run around and push stuff with their noses. It's very cute. I enjoy watching them play while I work on the computer.

[Ododad]

These are all excellent suggestions.
I have nothing to add. :)