Hedgehog World - A community for African Pygmy Hedgehog Owners and Breeders - Re:still huffing after 2 months

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General Care and Handling

Handling and Socialization

ashleyinpjs
User

Posts: 1

still huffing after 2 months - 2007/09/29 17:38 I've had my hedgehog since the middle of July and she still doesn't seem to be adjusting.

The breeder was very friendly and informed me that she was having a tough time with her quilling and that I would just need to spend extra time with her. For a while, things seemed to be great - I could hold her and she would crawl around without huffing OR curling into a ball! But then she started going back to her old ways, and now it's as if I just got her!

What should I do?

Also...at night, she rearranges her cage. She'll move her litter pan all over the place and carry her tube and put it in different places. I always change it back in the morning, but then I started thinking she just didn't like how the cage was set up, so I left it the way she put it one night. When I woke up the next morning, she had it back to the way I originally had it. Is she trying to tell me something?

Thanks for your help in advance!!!

Ashley

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CThogs

Admin

Posts: 1559

Re:still huffing after 2 months - 2007/09/29 18:29 Hi Ashley

2 articles that may help:
http://www.hedgehogworld.com/content/view/52/42/

http://www.hedgehogworld.com/content/view/39/42/

What I usually try to do is figure out what they like best whether it is cuddling, running or exploring and let them do that when they are out with me.

Bribery with mealworms can also work, but don't overdo it.

As far as cage re-arranging, that made me laugh because our first one always did the same thing. You may want to get some extra cat toys and things for her to move around. Ann
Connecticut Hedgehogs

We had a great time at Hedgehog Fest 2008!!!

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HamorHollow

Admin

Posts: 2169

Re:still huffing after 2 months - 2007/09/30 01:13 I think your hedgehog may have been an interior decorator in a former life. Does she have a wheel in her cage? If not, try adding a wheel to let her burn off that excess energy. Hedgehogs love to run on their wheel, and by adding a wheel it may help her mood a lot.

Try playing with her when it's quiet and dim the lights. Allow her to run around if that is what she wants to do. Forcing a hedgehog to cuddle will just create a moody piggy.

Do you smoke, use perfume, or any sort of hand lotion? Hedgehogs are very sensitive to smells. If she is smelling something she doesn't like, she may get moody.

Go to Walmart and buy a small baby blanket. Put it in her cage, and then use it when you take her out of the cage. Maybe having a familiar smell next to her will make her more comfortable. Also, having the blanket to hide in should make her less moody and more willing to cuddle.

-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. |
Do you want to buy a baby Hedgehog? Please fill out out questionnaire. |
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voodewlady

User

Posts: 361

Re:still huffing after 2 months - 2007/09/30 03:51 I have had Pickles for a few months now and she still huffs and rolls into a ball everytime I come around her. She is an older hedgie and has been this way ever since I brought her home from the school I adopted her from. She is very skittish around people. I call her a grumpy hedgehog a lot! She is very moody, but eventually once I get her out she unrolls and explores while in her playpen.

~Erin~
~Lives in the land of OZ~
Ms. Pickles the hedgehog
Mischa the ferret
Sydney the dapple dachshund

My Myspace link:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=120500732

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clutterbuster

User

Posts: 513

Re:still huffing after 2 months - 2007/09/30 06:15 Our P-k has a wheel, a tube, and assorted balls and cat toys and every once in a while will just move things, including food and water dishes. Night before last her tube was horizontal to length of her bin and the next morning I found it vertical. Hedgies most definitely need a wheel to play and burn off energy!

I have found what works well with huffy hedgies is getting them up during the middle of the night to socialize. When you get them up early evening, that is like 5 or 6 am to us and how thilled would you be? They do most of their activity at night, so when you make a middle of the night trip to the bathroom, detour to your hedgie afterwards and get them up and spend some time with them. I had to wear gloves with Pippi for months for how she spiked whenever I went to pick her up, and then three weeks after middle of the night socializing the gloves were gone.

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