LORI611
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Schedules - 2008/02/28 13:15
Okay everyone, I hate to bring this up again, but I really feel like I'm at wits end. I seem to have a very gumpy hedgie! I wrote to Kelly and got some great advice from her (the scent thing) but I was reading old posts and I feel like I need some advice.
It seems that Hazel is very touchy and grouchy, sometimes she will loosen up but it seems like if I move or say something(like speaking to my hubby) she huffs and huffs!!
She's a little better if I have the lights REALLY low, but if I put her in her play area all she does is freeze and put her visor over her eyes or hides under something.
I think what I really want to know is what are the 'steps' people take when they take their hedgies out. Like what time do you take them out ,do they hold them for a while ,do they put them right into a play area, for how long etc. etc. etc.
I do realize that they are all different, and she is still kind of young, about three months old.I also think she is pretty much done quilling ,althoughI did find about 6 of them the other night when I had her out.
I just want to be a good mommy and I just love her to pieces, but sometimes when I read how much fun everybody has with their hedgies it can make me feel kind of weepy because I don't know if I'm doing something wrong!!!
Is it okay if all she does is sleep (which I know is part of being a baby). I meanwill she still bond with me if she's just sleeping or am I doing the right thing by trying to get her to play a bit???
LORI, SOUTHINGTON, CT
Mom of:
Chloe(dog), Mr.Toad(frog) and Hazel the hedgie!! |
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jick
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 13:58
My hedgehog is pretty shy and will most likely always run/waddler for cover as soon as I put him down. He's not too keen on light either. Just continue to hold her and take her every day. I'm sure her personality dictates a certain amount of how she's acting but it may just be that she's still shy like my little guy. At least now he takes cover under my leg or shirt or something.
Check out Ham's Blog ! |
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LORI611
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 14:12
Thanks jick that makes me feel a little better! By the way I read some of Ham's blog and I think Ham and my little hazel are siblings!! Umber is Hazels Dad too!!
LORI, SOUTHINGTON, CT
Mom of:
Chloe(dog), Mr.Toad(frog) and Hazel the hedgie!! |
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smhufflepuff
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 15:03
It sounds like you're doing just fine. When Satin was a baby (she's almost a year old now), I'd take her out and we'd cuddle... mostly, she'd just curl up in my hands or the crook of my arm and sleep. Then there would be pooping time. Then we'd play truck with her - set her on the floor, lights dimmed, and put out her plastic dump truck with some mealies in, on, and under it.
We still do all that with her, though she sleeps less than when she was a wee babe, and can sometimes be quite the runner. She's never been interested in anything other than her truck (we've tried). And will always find a place to hide (under the couch, under a bowl, snuggle in my arm) if we allow her the opportunity.
Steps? okay it goes something like this --
me: about 9pm I approach her cage and talk to her "hi little girl; how was your day? where could my hedgie be?"
her: "fufff" (a quiet huff to let me know she's there; not an angry prickly huff)
me: I wash my hands off with the same soap that we've always used before we pick her up... ever since she came home. I go back to her house and start rearranging it for the night while talking to her - clean, fill up her food & water, put her wheel & wheel mats in, "where's my little hedgie-girl?" I pull out her litter box and put it in the play area, then come back to her cage "where could Satin be?"
her: "fufff"
me: "oh, I know where my hedgie is. under the blanket. there's my little hedgie" and I start pulling her blankie back. I see her, "there's my sweet little girl. did you have a good day? did you have a good sleepy-time?"
her: "fufff" (unless she's in a mood and says "hufff")
By this time, she's had about 5 minutes of warning that something's going to happen.
me: I reach my hand in, let her sniff, slide my fingers under her belly. "oh, what a good little hedgie. what a good girl. momma loves you." I pick her up and rest her against my belly. i walk over to the play area, sit down on the floor, and depending on her mood, either snuggle (she sleeps on me for a little bit) or I become a human wheel (she runs from one hand to the next, while pausing to poop into the litter box).
After she's "empty," we either snuggle a bit longer or she gets her mealies or veggies (babyfood veggies, that is); trim a few toenails; maybe get a bath if she's a stinky hog. I pet her, rub her tummy... Hold her... set her down on the floor between my legs to roam around safely (she gets a bigger roaming space when get her playpen out, but it's winter and the floor is a bit drafty, so I keep her close).
This whole time, I'm talking to her, singing to her (or hedgiedaddy talks to her), checking out that she looks healthy (any dry skin? quill issues? toenails? poops that I missed during the morning footbath? etc...), and fuss with her footsies, so she's accustomed to that when I try and get the poops off in the morning or clip her nails in the evenings.
After about an hour, she gets restless and hungry, so I bring her over to hedgiedaddy (if he isn't right there -- he usually is) for a kiss goodnight then back to her house.
me: carrying Satin to her house, "who lives in there? whose house is that?" if she's been all antsy up until then, she starts calming down. "is that your house? ah, yes, that's Satin's house. That's where my hufflepuff lives." I set her down in her house and she runs in a circle and starts crunching on her kibbles (yeah, in a circle rather than directly to her food dish... don't know why, but I think it's cute. Hedgiedaddy finds in amusing too).
I wash up and put her toys away. She's often done with munching on the first round of her kibbles by the time I come back and is looking for a way to get back under her liner, so I reach in, "goodnight sweetie pie." She runs toward my hand and scoots under the liner I'm holding up.
Lights out near the hedgie house for the evening.
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smhufflepuff
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 15:03
-- computer was acting up and double posted --
Post edited by: smhufflepuff, at: 2008/02/28 15:04
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LORI611
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 16:10
Thanks so much for that rundown of your evenings with Satin!! It's exactly what I'm looking for ! I think it's funny that when I read how you talk to Satin , it's things I would (do) say to Hazel. I guess all of us moms are the same!! I really , really like her responses. This is such a great forum,with every issue i've had, I immediately feel better as soon as someone answers. I t's amazing- like oh I don't know like a shot of tequila or something Just kidding thanks for the advice and kind words.
LORI, SOUTHINGTON, CT
Mom of:
Chloe(dog), Mr.Toad(frog) and Hazel the hedgie!! |
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CThogs
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 16:57
Hey Lori you are doing just fine Having a consistent routine like Satin does is great for shy or grumpy hogs because then they know what to expect. If Hazel is quilling still that may be part of it too.
Ann
Connecticut Hedgehogs
We had a great time at Hedgehog Fest 2008!!! |
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LORI611
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 17:52
Thanks Ann, I guess it's just a wierd row to hoe, because I don't know anybody who's ever had a hedgehog or anything.It's very different when you have nobody to compare things with, so to speak .Thanks I really love this crazy quilly bond we all have!
LORI, SOUTHINGTON, CT
Mom of:
Chloe(dog), Mr.Toad(frog) and Hazel the hedgie!! |
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CandJ327
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 18:22
Are you sure she's not still quilling a little bit? Six sounds like a lot of quills. Ava only loses one or two every once and awhile. When we first brought her home she started quilling shortly after and sometimes we'd we walking around on the carpert and step on them  But now it's very rare for us to find them except when we change her bedding.
My nights with her are very varied and I usually play to her mood. If she's grumpy or sleepy I put her fleece blanket in my lap and let her sleep in there while I watch tv or read a book. She can sleep in there for hours and when we peek in on her she's usually all stretched out. If I try to futz with her when she is comfy she'll put her visor up and sometimes give me a little huff and sometimes she'll even bite the blanket and try to pull it back over herself. Eventually she comes out to explore and then she's full of energy and not huffy at all.
If she is already very active and relaxed then I set up her playpen, put her in her hedgie ball or I let her run all over me (which can be messy if she's had any crickets or mealies).
I think the thing that really did help the most was us putting "stinky" shirts in her igloo when she first came home. She likes Carlo's stinky shirts more than mine and will still anoint with them sometimes. 
Also, I was REALLY nervous when we first brought her home about picking her up, worried about dropping her or getting pricked by her quills. The more I've relaxed about it, the more she has too.
Ava's mom!
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jick
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 19:58
Oh, that Umber gets around...
Check out Ham's Blog ! |
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HappyHedgie8
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Re:Schedules - 2008/02/28 20:33
I have the same problem with Tweetle. Though he seems a bit more alive. Here are the steps in a day that I do with Tweetle.
1: I wake up in the middle of the night to his supposedly *silent* wheel, grunt, and fall back asleep.
2: I wake up in the morning at 6:30 for school only to see poop all over the cage. [ I still need to get a litter box, lol ]
3: I say "good morning Tweetle, and how are you today"
4: No reply
5: "Tweetle, mommy wants to get you out of that bag to see if everything is normal with you today."
6: No reply
7: I open the cage and hear a "huff" that tells me he isn't in the mood and wants me to go away.
8: I stay persistent. I reach in the bag and get a quill in my finger. "OWW!"
9: "Gosh Tweetle you sure are grumpy!" I move the bag around a bit and then nudge/push hum out.
10: I check to make sure everything is normal. Say "I love you" and get pee' and/or pooped on.
11: I either change the lining or vaccum it out depending on what day it is
12: I go to school and come back
13: Walk in the door and say "Tweetle I'm home!"
14: Take him out, and get pooped and/or peed'd on
15: Change my shirt.
16: Come back and attempt to get him out from hiding back in the darn bag.
17: Finnaly get him out.
18: Get huffed at and blame his grumpiness on quilling
19: Let him run/nap on me with a shirt that smells like me for protection of poop/pee again [ i finnaly realize ]
20: Say "Goodnight Tweetle!" after about 30 min-45min.
21: I wake up in the middle of the night to his supposedly *silent* wheel, grunt, and fall back asleep.
And if you got to the end of this, then you must be very bored! LOL! 
**Mommy of Tweetle the hedgehog!**
~Felicia :] |
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