New here, with some questions!!

[HedgieHog]

Hello all! I'm new to the forums.
I have recently been brought into the wonderful world of Hedgehogs. Yesterday I acquired a little 1 year old male Hedgie who I believe is salt and pepper in color. He is pretty shy at first but soon warms up and becomes a bit of a spit fire.
I got him from a home where a little boy was his owner. The boy lost interest thus he was put up for ‘adoption’. I drove 3 hours there (in NYC traffic!) and 3 hours back for this little guy.

Now there's my introduction, I have a few little questions!
I know puffing up and hissing is a sign of fear, he will do that everytime I go to pick him up. I pick him up in a towel and then its done..he wont do it no more unless something startles him. Is this normal? He even did it with his old owners and I feel that the kids handling him may have a big part to do with that.

I also heard that certain types of beddings arent good for hedgies. When I got him he came with Aspen bedding which I understand is sometimes hard to find. His former owner use to put down a towel at the bottom of the cage because he always uses the litter pan anyway. Is that a good idea? I was planning on doing the same but I also wanted to know what kinds of beddings are good, I like the CareFresh but a friend told me her friends hedgie got a skin issue from that type of bedding getting caught between his quills and it caused his quills to rot and fall out.

His former owners put kitty litter in his litter pan, is this safe? I don’t know what kind of litter it is but I have a whole left over jug of it that she gave me. Last night I woke up to him rolling and playing in it. If it is safe, can someone recommend a good one to use?

He gets Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul Lite- Good? Bad?

And lastly, hes in a cage similar to this- http://www.pettravelcenter.com/img/prod ... g_Cage.jpg
Can anyone recommend a good one? He doesn’t have a wheel or barely any toys besides one, which he doesn’t play with. He literally has his hut that he sleeps in, his litter pan, water bottle, feed, and ONE toy.
What cages, toys, accessories can I buy him to keep him happy?
Thanks in advance for the long novel!

[Cardianharle]

Welcome! Glad you're with us! I am not an expert, but I can answer some to the best of my knowledge, and then I can be told how wrong I am by the other breeders here.

I know puffing up and hissing is a sign of fear, he will do that everytime I go to pick him up. I pick him up in a towel and then its done..he wont do it no more unless something startles him. Is this normal? He even did it with his old owners and I feel that the kids handling him may have a big part to do with that.

I think most hedgies do it. It's a deterent, and if some big hand was reaching at me, I might do it too out of instinct. If he's calming down after, then he knows he's safe.

I also heard that certain types of beddings arent good for hedgies. When I got him he came with Aspen bedding which I understand is sometimes hard to find. His former owner use to put down a towel at the bottom of the cage because he always uses the litter pan anyway. Is that a good idea? I was planning on doing the same but I also wanted to know what kinds of beddings are good, I like the CareFresh but a friend told me her friends hedgie got a skin issue from that type of bedding getting caught between his quills and it caused his quills to rot and fall out.

I use CareFresh for my Reia, haven't had a problem. If he's litter box trained, then lining the cage with a towel or even fleece should be fine.

His former owners put kitty litter in his litter pan, is this safe? I don’t know what kind of litter it is but I have a whole left over jug of it that she gave me. Last night I woke up to him rolling and playing in it. If it is safe, can someone recommend a good one to use?

Kitty litter bad. Especially for little boys. Kitty litter clumps together, which it could clump on his tummy, or even his "unmentionables", which could get irritated and very painful. There's a particular type of litter you want to use, but off the top of my head, I cannot remember. I think it should be listed in an article somewhere on the site (which you should totally check them out!)

He gets Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul Lite- Good? Bad?

The breeders here should be able to answer that, I buy my food from Kelly (Hamor Hollow Breeder)

And lastly, hes in a cage similar to this- http://www.pettravelcenter.com/img/prod ... g_Cage.jpg
Can anyone recommend a good one? He doesn’t have a wheel or barely any toys besides one, which he doesn’t play with. He literally has his hut that he sleeps in, his litter pan, water bottle, feed, and ONE toy.
What cages, toys, accessories can I buy him to keep him happy?
Thanks in advance for the long novel!

Sorry, couldn't get the link to work. You want something big for a cage, they need room to run around. A wheel is a must so they can run even more! I recommend the Carolina Storm Bucket Wheel: http://www.carolinastormhedgehogs.co...ket-wheel.html

Best wheel I have ever bought. Easy to clean, Reia loves it, and it's a good price too! As far as toys, if you have a toilet paper roll, they have a blast with that.

There are tons of articles listed on the homepage, you should read through some too! Great information! Oh! And post pictures! We want to see the little guy!!!