doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/14 09:10Hi I'm kinda new around here and i have some questions that I need help with. I got my little girl Sparta last friday (4 days ago) and she warmed right up to me when I first picked her up and continues to do so but, she won't play with her toys. So far I have a hand full of cat balls with the bell in them and some tp tubes. Has any one else had this kind of trouble? Shes eating/drinking fine runs in her wheel nightly. The other thing I was wondering about was, i caught her staring at her own reflection in the glass but, she was just staring no huffing,growling or anything. I was wondering if any one has tried a mirror on the outside of the cage?
Thanks a Bunch -Jon
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hookedonhogs
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/14 09:15I've never tried a mirror.. but I know that my boy Hagrid didn't really play with his toys too much in the first month or so I had him. Sparta's probably still adjusting to her new home. Give her some time!Abbey, Lafayette, Indiana. http://www.myspace.com/thehogspot -Hagrid's Myspace Page! Mom to 1 hedgie (Hagrid) and 1 mini schnauzer (Rudy)
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smhufflepuff
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/14 10:44I had a small mirror in Satin's cage for a few months; she ignored it. She ignores her toys too - no fun with balls or tubes. She loves her wheel. And goes crazy for shiny metal objects... though I have to keep those away from her. Very cute that your little one was checking out the mirror
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hedgiepirate
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/14 11:24Thanks, If she never warms up to the toys maybe I could try some shiny cat toys or other hedgie safe toys. Other than the wheel she loves her castle hut I made.
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jick
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/14 21:38Mine doesn't go for toys at all, but I still make sure to leave them around just in case. Oftentimes I'll leave a new toy in his cage overnight and in the morning it will have moved. So it makes me feel like he might just be shy while playing but then again.. it could just be him digging under the liner which he likes to do. He's four months now and it was just the other day that he finally figured out how to use his exercise ball so at least he's still picking new things up!Check out Ham's Blog !
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lozzabubble
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/15 15:25My little boy never seems to play with his toys when i'm around either, he loves his big guinea pig tube that he can hide inside, and I hear him happily wheeling away at night, but no toy action. Although as Jick said, mine also seems to move the toys around overnight so maybe they're just a little shy about these things!Lauren, Hufflepuff and Scarlet UK
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hedgiepirate
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/15 18:59I tried Hiding mellies under the balls and she pushes them out of the way then looks at them like what in the world?! And now when ever i take her out at night she climbs up my chest and claims the back of my neck and shoulders!
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LORI611
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/15 19:30Okay, maybe It's me and I'm new and a little ignorant, but, what the heck is a mellie (or are mellies)?? LoriLORI, SOUTHINGTON, CT Mom of: Chloe(dog), Mr.Toad(frog) and Hazel the hedgie!!
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LORI611
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/15 19:52Ohhh, I get it.Sorry, if I knew more maybe I would have gotten it anyways. I used to have lizards but, it's been a long time since I've handled the little creepy crawlies! loriLORI, SOUTHINGTON, CT Mom of: Chloe(dog), Mr.Toad(frog) and Hazel the hedgie!!
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jick
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/15 21:33don't worry, I imagine you'll get over the heebie jeebies pretty quick. Especially with mealworms. They don't even bother me anymore. But crickets! Even the freeze dried ones make me ill. They smell SO bad!Check out Ham's Blog !
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kyliesmom07
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/15 22:06I had sugar gliders before I ever had hedgies and they require mealworms. I was so terrified of mealies back then I used tweezers to pick them up and set them on a plate so I could use sicsors to cut the heads off. I would leave them on the plate to die and then use tweezers again to put them in the food dish. These days I grow my own mealie farm.. I have come a long way. I now allow my glider to eat them on me getting guts everywhere! It takes some time but before long you will be an old pro..Mommy to 3 beautiful children They are my everything! Alyssa 6 yrs Aiden 18 months Kylie 6 months and my fur kids Isabella & Baby Katie-westie Lilly-boston Bommer-sugar glider Twinky, Iggy & Izzy- Chinchillas Marie & Michelle - Rats Blessed With Hedgehogs: Zeda, Balder, Colton, Berdine, Fluffy, Brillo & Snuggles
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harpgrrl
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/16 07:35my hog doesn't like standard toys either...his favorite is a felted knit hog bed i made him (he likes to dig in it and throw it around his home) and small boxes he can claw and poo in....otherwise he won't touch the standard cat toys!
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LORI611
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/16 08:12You know, I used to have to do the cricket mealworm thing for the lizards,and crickets..no problem I'd pick 'em up or whatever.(although my big biker ex-husband wouldn't EVER touch them! ) But man there is something about mealworms....BLEKKKK! I think they have a maggoty, grubbish kind of look. I used to raise them too, but I never got over the squeamishness of it all.And I'm usually bug friendly with the exception(s) of spiders, centipedes,and grubs! LoriLORI, SOUTHINGTON, CT Mom of: Chloe(dog), Mr.Toad(frog) and Hazel the hedgie!!
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psi_chick
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/16 13:32why are you cutting the heads off mealworms? i hope that you don't think that they're going to "eat their way out of the stomach" like that old tale that pet stores tell people.
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saabgirl9000
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/16 13:59psi_chick wrote: why are you cutting the heads off mealworms? i hope that you don't think that they're going to "eat their way out of the stomach" like that old tale that pet stores tell people.
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omelette
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/16 15:58jick wrote: don't worry, I imagine you'll get over the heebie jeebies pretty quick. Especially with mealworms. They don't even bother me anymore. But crickets! Even the freeze dried ones make me ill. They smell SO bad!
yeah dead crickets tend to have the worst odor imaginable. when i worked at a pet store i had to clean out the bins we had our crickets in. if you can imagine what hundreds of dead crickets smell like.... ugh and the sludge they would leave behind... definitely not one of the things i miss about working there. as for the topic at hand, my hedgie doesn't seem all that interested in cat toys. (heck my cats won't even play with their own toys for very long.) but one thing she can't get enough of is a toilet paper tube! she will drag that thing for hours!Lisa My Heart Belongs to: Teddy, Sugar, Sapphie, Fudge, Archie, Chuckie - The Yorkies Wendy (Siamese Mix), Echo (Tabby) - Cats Omelette - Hedgehog Basil - Guinea Pig
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thistle
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/17 13:53Neither of mine seem particularly interested in any toys (bar their wheels of course).
Now mealies, they love, especially when I leave them to turn into beetles, they seem to love that extra crunch , and the beetles are better for them as well.
It's only been in the last few days that Harriet has started to eat the mealworms or beetles (she is now 9wks old). She was frightened of them at first and would run and hide if she saw them, then the other day it just seemed to click in her mind and I almost lost a finger because she grabbed the mealworm so quickly! Barbara with Hector & Harriet Hog Glasgow, Scotland
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Ges, VA
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/23 08:42Yeah, Schöndorn also ignores his toys. I thought he'd be a playful one, when I picked him up, he tried to shove a brother around the cage.
But here... I gave him all kinds of toys, shiny; dull; balls; plushies... all he wants is munch, drink, sleep, poop and run in his wheel.
The toys seem to only get moved if they block the path to wheel or food.
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Hedgehogmadhatter
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/23 15:31kyliesmom07 wrote: I had sugar gliders before I ever had hedgies and they require mealworms.... so I could use sicsors to cut the heads off. .
Why did you have to cut their heads off? I only ask because my hedgehog Isabel, when she ate a meal worm would always leave the head behind. I have never figured out why. But if she had 2-3 little worms when she was done, the heads would be in a little pile.. ugh. Talk about creepy. My new hedgehog Harley eats them too fast to do any such thing.
~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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Julie Pierce
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Re:doesn't like toys? - 2008/01/23 15:54You have to cut the heads off of superworms (not regular mealies). Superworms bite and there are stories that they can actually bite/chew/etc the intestines of animals..yuck!!!! They scare me!!!!!!Julie Pierce Pierce's Pogs http://www.piercespogs.com
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Hedgehog Forums 
Even the freeze dried ones make me ill. They smell SO bad!
) But man there is something about mealworms....BLEKKKK! I think they have a maggoty, grubbish kind of look. I used to raise them too, but I never got over the squeamishness of it all.And I'm usually bug friendly with the exception(s) of spiders, centipedes,and grubs!
