# Things you didn't know about hedgehogs until you got one!



## Katten (May 10, 2014)

This is the thread for hedgie surprises. No matter how much research you do, there will always be things that surprise you when you get the real thing. ^^

1. The poop! I thought they pooped like rabbits, but no, it's like actual poop. 
2. "Huffing". I imagined they hissed like cats -- opened their mouths up and showed their teeth. Now that I actually have one, I'm glad they don't. That would be way scarier. 
3. Speed. I thought they were known for running super fast. They can run, but nowhere near as fast as I expected. 
4. The nose wiggle. Teehee~
5. I thought they smelled really bad, and I was prepared. My hedgehog doesn't smell at all.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

How long their legs are when they really get going. Most pictures they are sitting still, scrunched up on the ground, the first time I saw Cody running full out on his wheel was definitely a surprise!


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

Soyala_Amaya said:


> How long their legs are when they really get going. Most pictures they are sitting still, scrunched up on the ground, the first time I saw Cody running full out on his wheel was definitely a surprise!


I agree completely! The first time I saw hedgie legs in all their glory I was watching an overweight rescue at a pet store. He got up on the wheel, lifted up his skirt, and zoomed off on his spindly little legs. I was so shocked!

I'm also surprised at how well they can climb. I knew they were good at it but wow. Finnick gets inside the pant leg of my baggy pants and scales his way to the waistband before I can stop him, so all I can do is support his ascent.

And then once they've climbed something they're terrible at getting back down!


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## MistyDay (Oct 31, 2014)

I found hedgehog legs hilarious! I was just as surprised by them. They're so cute and awkward and unexpected. Tulsi is an excellent climber as well. She can climb all the way up my shirt, and then she tries to go on my back and gets herself where I can't reach her, so I have to arch over and have someone take her off of me. :lol: 

A surprise for me was that my hedgehog is actually quite vocal. She squeaks, grunts, purrs, growls, and hisses on a daily basis. The growls and hissing are more because of new smells and what not, but she was vocal the moment I brought her home from the pet store.


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

The nightmares they can have sometimes! Omg I thought she had died the first time I heard it :lol:


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## Katten (May 10, 2014)

Yes, haha, the legs were a surprise to me too.


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## hedgiehedgie (Jan 16, 2015)

The spikes were not as bad as i thought!! I read on 1000001 site about how bad is the spikes and the owner who passed me told me to be careful of the spikes but nooooo, its not as bad in fact all these warnings only make me more scared of my hedgehog when it isn THAT bad in the first place..


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

Yeah, the legs are longer than you think.

What surprised me the first time I saw my hedgie yawn was how long their tongues are!

Annointing is weird, even if you've seen a video, the first time your hedgie does it kind of shocks you. The weird positions they manage to get into.

How soft their tummies are--they are like velvet. 

Most of all, how much of your heart they take when they go.


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## TikkiLink (Dec 4, 2013)

HOW CUTE THEIR FEET ARE. Seriously, I love my girl's little feet so much and I can't believe those tiny things can hold up all that weight!

I was so surprised to learn that my hedgie also LOVES to cuddle with her face in our faces, feeling our breath!


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

It was the ears. Pictures do not prepare you for the cute as **** little ears! They look like they're made of felt. I had an uncontrollable desire to touch them when I saw them in real life. Nico of course felt differently about that, but now she will let me touch them without much fuss.


Huh, apparently H E double hockey sticks trigger the language filter. Neat.


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

Another thing I think is amazing is the way they can shake themselves and then magically all their quills are in the perfect place. (wish I could do that with my hair!) :lol:

I had always heard that they didn't clean themselves, but mine did some grooming on her paws and tummy. I guess some do and some don't.

I never knew they made all the different sounds that they do, way beyond just huffing and the snuffling they do. After a while you can kind of tell what their mood is by the sounds they are making. 

They are really the most fascinating animals and then there is the fact that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS CUTE! :grin:


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## phoenixjay (Nov 18, 2014)

How much random stuff you want to get for your hedgehog that wasn't even on the to buy list. (Moyo needs a hamper now) 

Also, no amount of reading about boy hedgehogs makes you prepared for when your hedgehog starts doing his "boy thing" on you. 

Thirdly, how obsessed you get with hedgehogs to a point where half or more of everything you talk about is hedgehog related.


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## hedgehoginthetardis (Dec 5, 2014)

have to agree with you: the poop.

I am consistently amazed by how much these TINY creatures can poop. Give them a bath before taking them for a meet and greet with friends. 3 poops in the tub and you think you're ok. BUT OH NO...the little nugget can squeeze out 4 more poops on each of your friends. 

Or when you wake up and check on them after their nightly activity and running and look at their wheel. At this point you begin checking if you have 4 hedgehogs in your cage because one 200 gram hedgehog cannot poop that much.... oh wait, yes he can.


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## MistyDay (Oct 31, 2014)

The size of the poops sometimes. I'll go to clean her litter box and I see these huge logs! For a tiny creature, their bowels can hold a lot! It's like the have Hermione's bottomless bag inside if them. :lol:


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

@ PhoenixJay...monster hedgie bags. Om nom nom...I want one so much

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFluffBowtique?ref=hdr_shop_menu


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## phoenixjay (Nov 18, 2014)

OMG so cute! I'm saving money right now otherwise I would attack one! (I just splurged and got Moyo a Valentine's Day liner. :lol


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## tony21 (Apr 8, 2014)

Its gotta be, how loud they eat (or at least Bell). She eats so loud I can hear here in my bedroom lol.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

I just spent way too much money on a castle shaped fleece hide myself or I'd already have a monster bag! TOO MANY CUTE THINGS!


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

i am amazed by how fast their tiny little snouts quiver up and down when they are smelling something new! I love the snuffly sounds they make too. I didn't think I could adore such a tiny thing so hugely!


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

I discovered they could eat snakes, scorpions and centipedes with ease.


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## Classic Girl (Dec 24, 2014)

The faces they make when eating a treat! Or anything really. He scrunches his nose up.

I'm embarrassed to say that hubby and I watch Splat poop every night. We take him out in the evening, feed him a few mealworms and let him explore a bit, then we notice "the position," pick him up and move him to the litter box. And then........my husband and I stare in awe at the size and process of it all. I mean...where is he hiding it? It's like a cat!

The "angry eyebrows"

The absolute love I have for him! My husband and I bought him for each other for Christmas and we are SO in love with this little guy! He's sweet and snuggle and we've learned how to communicate.


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## tony21 (Apr 8, 2014)

Tongue_Flicker said:


> I discovered they could eat snakes, scorpions and centipedes with ease.


The scorpion I can kinda see, but not so much the snake. How does this work lol:-o
Also what made you think of feeding these?


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

tony21 said:


> The scorpion I can kinda see, but not so much the snake. How does this work lol:-o
> Also what made you think of feeding these?


It's a kind of snake called bronzeback treesnake.. I may have posted those here a while back. the males have heads just roughly smaller than your pinkie finger with bodies about the girth of a standard pencil but could be as long as 2-3 feet. Whenever I get excess of them during breeding, I would feed them off to my owls and my asiatic coral snake. They don't really give much of fight since they're flimsy-bodied and an adult hedgie could easily tackle it with 2-3 bites or until it grabs the head.


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## tony21 (Apr 8, 2014)

Tongue_Flicker said:


> It's a kind of snake called bronzeback treesnake.. I may have posted those here a while back. the males have heads just roughly smaller than your pinkie finger with bodies about the girth of a standard pencil but could be as long as 2-3 feet. Whenever I get excess of them during breeding, I would feed them off to my owls and my asiatic coral snake. They don't really give much of fight since they're flimsy-bodied and an adult hedgie could easily tackle it with 2-3 bites or until it grabs the head.


 Well that's pretty cool hahahah!


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## hedgehogbella (Oct 12, 2014)

What surprised me were the teeth. Hedgies are like little vampires. When you look at them from a certain angle you can see two longer teeth at the front.


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## justminick (Feb 20, 2013)

Sonni is a huge climber! He loves swimming, too. The legs are the best. He has turned to look at me from across the yard when I called his name, and proceeded to change directions and walk back to me.


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

They will cause *everyone* that you know to send you hedgehog related stuff

pictures
videos
tshirts
candle holders
cards
bed covers
etc etc... not that I don't love it


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## MistyDay (Oct 31, 2014)

Oh my gosh CashmereSkeleton, I'm totally with ya! My aunts and me hedgehog photos on Facebook all the time and my parents got be a hedgehog piggy bank. I fall into it too though. I found a hedgehog shirt and I had to have it. :lol:


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

MistyDay I got so much hedgehog stuff for Christmas and I didn't even have her yet! :lol:


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## Katten (May 10, 2014)

Yesss! I definitely get tons of hedgehog-related gifts. Especially hedgehog chocolates, haha, I work next door to Purdy's chocolates and my coworkers buy them for me on a regular basis.


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## Tifa'sHuman (Feb 13, 2015)

How accomplished I would feel when my hedgie responds to my voice. When I got her she was a Huffy Puffy Grumpy Gus. Nown she's a much less Huffy Puffy Grumpy Gus. She dislikes being woken up and picked up, but doesn't mind being held. And she is (imo) the perfect mix of adventurer and snuggler. I just wish my paychecks were bigger so I could spoil her more


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## hedgielover224 (Feb 16, 2015)

It never ceases to amaze me just how much hedgies poop! I had Lestibournes out on a towel in my lap. He pooped about seven or eight times in under ten minutes! To add to it, I was not prepared for the smell either. Goodness it is yucky! That is the ONLY thing I don't like about him is his poop. I was also surprised at how he began to warm up to me! I picked him up the night I got him and I didn't expect him to uncurl from a ball, but he did! And that very same night he ran around my room and went tubing and ran on his wheel all while I watched. And though he still needs to warm up to me a bit, he seems to like me. Oh! One other thing is the obsession. My hedgehog obsession began about a month or two before I got him. And since I got him, it has only grown! I think that most hedgehog owners can relate in the obsession!


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