My first hedgehog, Winston

[ivyfung]

Hi, I just got my first hedgehog today. He is about 6 weeks old. I am very new with hedgehog and even though I read a lot about in online, different people seem to have different opinions about stuff. I am using a wired rabbit cage for my hedgehog and when I put him down he rolled up into a ball hiding in the corner right away. I heard that I have to leave it for a few days to let him get used to his new house, but does anyone knows how I can pick him up from the corner with just one hand? I used a glove the first time, but eventually I would want to stop using it. Any suggestions? Also, for the food. I know I'm suppose to feed them twice a day. Should I leave the food in his cage all the time or should I take out the dish when he's done? It would also be great if someone can give me some advise on things I need to be aware of such as grooming, etc. thanks.

[sllagnire]

As far as picking him up, I would avoid using gloves. You want them to get used to your scent and your handling them. With my little Hurley, we usually pick him up with one of the fleece pouches we have for him to snuggle in, or something like an old t-shirt or other piece of material would work. It's difficult to pick them up sometimes when they are all balled up, but I find that using a piece of material (even though you still can feel the quills a bit) makes things a whole lot easier.

As far as food, from what I hear (and I am new to the hedgie world as well, so don't take my word as gospel) is that when they are young and growing, it is ok to have food in there all the time, but once they are full grown (about 6 months) then you may have to be more careful about how much they eat a day so that they don't get too overweight (hedgies are prone to obesity).

Hope my advice is helpful! Welcome to hedgehog world and congrats on your new hedgie!

[StacyHedgie]

Congratulations ! Make sure the cage you have does not have wires on the bottom where he will be walking. His legs could get caught or fall through and get injured. Do you have somewhere for him to hide and a wheel for him to run also ? Also, make sure he is warm enough. He should not be in a very tight ball when he is sleeping, that may mean he is too cold.

[Jednine]

Though most people say not to use gloves, I think its okay if you use only ONE glove on one hand and use both of your hands to pick up the hedgie, so that the ungloved hand conveys your scent, and the gloved hand protects you a little until your hedgehog calms down and gets used to you. This is what I did with my hedgehog, Kozmo, and now I pick him up without any gloves at all. Another possible 'plus' to using one glove is that if someone else ever needs to pick up your hedgehog they can use that glove and thus smell a little more familiar. Congratulations and welcome to the hedgehog forums!

After having him for half a year, Kozmo stopped balling up altogether (unless I pick him up when hes sleeping, but then he unrolls quickly), which in some ways is a little sad because they look so cute all rolled up except for their face and maybe a paw sticking out. But its good to know he likes me :0) (he's almost 3 years old now by the way) Its a little funny though because sometimes when I pet him he'll still slightly huff and jump a little, but its with his quills totally down (the reason I say its funny is because it is their natural instinct to have quills up and jump and huff to hurt/scare predators, so its funny to see him doing that with no quills raised at all)

[ivyfung]

Thank you for all the great advice. I now have Winston for a week and I got use to picking him up but I think he is still scared because whenever I am near his cage, he rolls up into a ball right away. I guess I just need to give him some time. Another question, does anyone litter trained their hedgie? My cage is not big enough to put a litter pan in even though is quite big. I placed an igloo and a wheel in and that pretty much takes up all the space. Recently (like for 2 days) when I woke up in the morning, I found Winston poo on the wheel. Is really messy since he runs on in after. Just wondering how do I get him not poo on it? Any suggestion? Also, today I held him 3 times and he poo in my hands. Does any one experience similar situation before? Please let me know. Again, thank you.

[sllagnire]

My little Hurley poos all over his wheel and often on us as well. I've heard it's pretty difficult to train them at times. We tried putting a small corner of a box in his cage with some paper towels in it to try to encourage him to go there, but he just liked to hide under the paper towels, so we gave up on that. As far as pooing on you, I don't really have much advice either. Our little guy usually ends up going about 45 min to an hour after getting him out of his cage and there is not much warning, or much we can do about it other than clean it up. Sorry my post is not that helpful, it was more just to let you know you are not alone! Hopefully some of the others have some good advice.

[Pinto Pony]

I use a towel or the snuggle bag to carry Pyjama around if he is being grumbly. I also think he feels more secure when he is wrapped in something while I am walking about holding him 3 feet in the air! Once we are sitting I will take him out or he comes out on his own and I will handle him. I think the hardest thing to learn is not to flinch when they do "pop" in a ball when you are holding them. It took me ages to learn that if he does "pop" when he is in my hands it doesn't really hurt all that much, just uncomfortable but I am not going to be injured haha, and if I am relaxed and don't react too much he is ok.
My hedgie poops and runs on the wheel too. Not much I can do about it but I put paper towels under his wheel for easy clean up and hose his wheel out daily. If I get to it early enough in the day it hoses off easily, but if I leave it for the afternoon it needs a good scrubbing!
I think the deal is that the movement and exercise helps stimulate their digestive system and its just natural for them in the wild to poop and run away, but on the wheel, well, they aren't running away from it. When you were holding him was he moving around a lot? I notice if my little one starts to get antsy and moving about he usually has to go so I will pop him back in his cage or put a towel under him and let him do his business then bring him out again to avoid accidents and he seems much happier to poop in private haha.

[Mytheral]

Thank you for all the great advice. I now have Winston for a week and I got use to picking him up but I think he is still scared because whenever I am near his cage, he rolls up into a ball right away. I guess I just need to give him some time. Another question, does anyone litter trained their hedgie? My cage is not big enough to put a litter pan in even though is quite big. I placed an igloo and a wheel in and that pretty much takes up all the space. Recently (like for 2 days) when I woke up in the morning, I found Winston poo on the wheel. Is really messy since he runs on in after. Just wondering how do I get him not poo on it? Any suggestion? Also, today I held him 3 times and he poo in my hands. Does any one experience similar situation before? Please let me know. Again, thank you.

Impossible to get him to not to poo on a wheel... since movement stimulates them to go to the bathroom.

Also they need a wheel, so... the wheel will need to be cleaned daily.

Also it's a good idea to let them go to the bathroom after waking them up... or they will move around and need to poo/pee.

[termonjai]

Awesome choice of names, my hedgie is also named Winston. When I first got him, he pooped on me once, and right before he did, he got real figity. So, I learned that when holding him, when he started to fidget, that was his signal he had to go potty. I would put him in his cage, and sure enough, he went potty. I would give him a few minutes to finish his business, then I would pick him up again, and no more accidents. Also, I've read on here that some hedgies can be litter trained others not so much. My Winston has realized that the less he poops in the wheel, the less often he will need to get a foot bath. So, he tends to let the big ones go in his litter and every once in a while a little one works its way out while running. He does have his relapse moments (like this weekend, foot baths on Sat and Sun), I think he's trying to get back at me, but hasn't realized that it only makes it worse for him. Silly hedgie.

[sweetgrey]

Sounds like you and Winston are starting to bond! Don't feel too worried that he's still balling up when you come near. I got a real 'grumpus' in Wilbur, and for the first four or five months, he was a real pill. I more or less 'trained' him that he couldn't get irritated with me because whenever he acted like a putz and chuffed up or balled up, I'd pick him up and cuddle him. It sounds odd, but I used affection as his "punishment". Ha- he was that unhappy with it! But the result was, I can pick him up even when he's balled up and in a chuff, and once he gets my scent, and hears the sound of my voice, he comes out, almost no matter how grumpy he is. On top of that, he's been socialized enough that he comes into school once a year and meets my students- all 70+ of them, and is a well behaved little gentleman. Give it time, and don't let up on him- he'll come to love the nightly 'harassings'.