ErynSMA
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Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/21 23:01
Been a long time since I posted, but I came back to share a story.
I've had Butterscotch now since late October, and I've been very consistent about handling her/playing with her for at least 10 or 15 minutes a night, sometimes far more.
However I noticed that after a while, every time I picked her up, she'd always huff and puff and do her grumpy thing for most of the time. It was getting to the point of where I thought that I really must be doing something wrong or that she just didn't like being handled.
So last week I had to have surgery and couldn't be home. I left her in the care of my grandparents, who raised farm animals for years. Even my grandfather gets a little freaked out by Butterscotch in terms of holding her despite his experience with many different kinds of animals, but I knew he'd feed her and keep her watered and cared for.
Well, my grandmother called me about 4 days after the surgery and said that things didn't look so good, because Butterscotch wasn't moving around or eating a lot, which is really unusual. So I got my butt back there, and sure enough, almost no poop on the wheel, and almost a full food bowl!
I was worried up until I reached my hand in the cage. She bristled for a moment, so I knew at that point she was still alive. But the kicker is that she let me pick her up with her quills down. She was crazy after that, climbing all over me and everything.
She got a little huffy after about a half hour, but it's been two days now, and she's far less grumpy when I play with her, her food is being wolfed down, and her wheel is now again poop covered. Everything is as it should be!
I guess she missed me as much as I missed her, which I never would have thought possible. No way am I leaving her for four days again though!
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saabgirl9000
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/22 05:51
I was hospitalized for about 5 days, and the same thing happened to me! My boyfriend took care of Digit, but I guess it just wasn't the same. When I got home and held her she got so excited and went crazy licking and sniffing me. I had never seen her do this. 
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smangela
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/22 09:42
I used to have a dog that would never eat if we weren't around. If we went on a vacation, we would have someone stay at the house with him, but he still never ate until we came back home. It makes sense that a hedgehog would do the same.
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HamorHollow
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/22 10:37
Hedgehogs are smart little critters, and they do love their routines! You both must be doing an excellent job with care and socialization to have your hedgehogs miss you so much.
Hedgehogs know their people. My nephew has 2 hedgehogs and they love him and look foreward to their mealie worms every night. If another house member goes into the cage, they don't get nearly as warm a reception as Will does.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
Hamor Hollow Hedgehogs - a New Hampshire breeder, serving Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and any where else hedgehogs are legal. |
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Aaria
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/22 10:58
What I am having a hard time wrapping my head around is why hedgehogs seem to love their people. They are naturally solitary creatures and don't have the social drive that we or dogs do. Do they really love us as much as we think they do?
(I don't mean this in a bad way I'm just wondering like from an animal behavior point of view)
Post edited by: Aaria, at: 2008/04/22 12:50
Becky
Mother of Peanut the baby hedgehog |
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CandJ327
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/22 20:42
Cats aren't social animals actually. Ferrell cats may live in what's known as a colony but it is by no means a social organization or pack like dogs, horses, or even humans. HOWEVER, some domesticated cats REALLY love their people.
Ava's mom!
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saabgirl9000
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/23 07:53
smangela wrote:
I used to have a dog that would never eat if we weren't around. If we went on a vacation, we would have someone stay at the house with him, but he still never ate until we came back home. It makes sense that a hedgehog would do the same.
My dog that I grew up with, he still lives at my parents house, does this too! He will not eat or drink until we get home.
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WuIffi
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/24 14:51
One of my cats is like that with my youngest sister. I've never really seen a cat obsess with a person before.
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jade
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/24 18:08
my cat did the same with me. sadly she's passed on now but i had her from my 5th birthday til i was 19 and she was sooooo attatched to me.
She used to sleep on my pillow next to my head every night. my mum used to worry that she would suffocate me.
when i would go away she would go off her food, stop playing (and she was really playful) and sit up in my room all day long waiting for me to come home.
funny thing is when i got home she'd be annoyed that i left her and bite me and ignore me for about 48hrs
When i was upset and crying she would come running and give me kisses til i stopped.
She was the best cat and don't think i'll ever experiance that realtionship with any pet again.
My mum uses to say she was my shadow - followinf me to the local shops and everything. I was heartbroken the day i had to have her put to sleep. But no one can expect their cat to live with a brain tumor.
Jade
England
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Aaria
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/24 18:17
its so unfair that pets don't live as long as us. I wish when they were loved by their owners they would live forever.
Becky
Mother of Peanut the baby hedgehog |
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jade
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/24 18:20
ah, thats really sweet. and definately true.
Jade
Jade
England
www.huffpuffhedgies.com |
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robosonic
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/25 08:52
One of our cats is somewhat like that. When we go away she gets stressed and when she gets stressed she gets ill (she caught some kind of common cat virus thing when she was little, she's a rescue cat) and when she gets ill her nose gets stuffed up and she doesn't like eating. They're so funny, they just love their schedule and don't like it when it's changed or interrupted.
Pets:
Timmy (M, neutered) and Smokey (F, spayed) the maine coon and something else rescue cats.
Aureus (Unknown) the goldfish.
Pepper (F) and Briar (M) the hissing cockroaches. |
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HappyHedgie8
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/25 22:22
I feel kind of left out here  Tweetle doesn't seem to like anybody, including me! I mean this may just be quilling, but I mean every time I hold him he wants to burrow, he isnt social and always huffs when I want to take him out of his cage. *sigh* Oh well, I still love him.
~Felicia
**Mommy of Tweetle the hedgehog!**
~Felicia :] |
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Aaria
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/26 10:31
Don't worry Felicia. Peanut is like that too. When I hold her she just looks for the fastest way down. I'm glad she hasn't jumped yet. I'm sure Tweedle knows you and loves you. They just show it in a hedgie way and not a people way.
Becky
Mother of Peanut the baby hedgehog |
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Hedgehogmadhatter
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Re:Hedgie Depression! - 2008/04/28 00:20
HappyHedgie8 wrote:
I feel kind of left out here Tweetle doesn't seem to like anybody, including me! I mean this may just be quilling, but I mean every time I hold him he wants to burrow, he isnt social and always huffs when I want to take him out of his cage. *sigh* Oh well, I still love him.
~Felicia
Don't worry, you will see this happen with time. And Aaria is right, hedgies show affection in their own way.
I've been ill lately and my boyfriend came to stay and keep an eye on me. The days I was out of it, Harley was anxious, grouchy and gave Darran a hard time. Last week I made the comment that Harley and I get along but that I didn't think he really cared for me. Darran laughed and told me I was out of my mind. He said I should've seen him try to handle and feed Harley while I was at the doctors or sick or asleep. "That animal knows who his Mom is and he really loves you, in his own way." I felt like crap at the time and hearing that warmed my heart. 
~Sara
“The fox has many tricks, and the hedgehog only one, but that is the best of all”
Archilochus (Greek lyric poet and soldier, 675-635bc)
There's no love like HEDGEHOG love!
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