# Males Living Together



## gusthehedge (Jan 23, 2017)

Hi everyone,

My friend and I both have one male hedgehog each. We have introduced our hedgehogs to each other, and have even let them spend short amounts of time together (always supervised), with no fighting. They just kind of sniff each other then continue about their business.

My friend has been wanting to get another hedgehog to live together with her current hedgehog. She doesn't want to breed hedgehogs, so she wants to get another male. We are both aware that just about everyone says not to let male hedgehogs live together, because of fighting. However, she is convinced that male hedgehogs can live in the same cage together as long as you do it right - always have another cage ready in case they fight, allow them to spend an increasing amount of time together every day until they are ready to move in together, and give them both plenty of space and two of everything in the cage.

We have both seen plenty of people on forums and hedgehog websites saying males should not live together, but this doesn't seem to be enough proof for her. She is convinced that no one puts male hedgehogs together because of a few horror stories of neglected hedgehogs and rumors and that's why you never hear of male hedgehogs living together.

*Does anyone have any specific stories or examples of male hedgehogs not getting along when living together? *I am hoping that if I can show her people's personal experience of hedgehogs not getting along then I may be able to change her mind.

All feedback is welcome.

Thank you!


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

I don't have any stories to share but hedgehogs are solitary animals and will fight for dominance and territory, even females do it. 

It only takes a second for one to attack so I'd be wary of even letting mine play with another male, you said supervised but people get distracted, we are now attatched to our phones all the time and lose track of what we are supposed to be doing. 

It wouldn't be fair for the animals to put them in a situation in which they can get hurt. They are awake when we sleep and it wouldn't matter if she had a cage ready because most likely she would wake up to a dead hedgehog and another very badly injured. 

Also, since your hedgie and hers don't live together you are exposing one to the other, if one gets sick or has mites you'd be making the other one sick, that's why people quarantine when they bring a new animal into their homes.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I'm not sure personal stories would help much. Sounds like your friend feels she knows best. So let's look at it from a logical standpoint...
North American minimum cage size appropriate for a hedgehog is 4 square feet of floor space. That's for one. Add another hedgehog you need to double that space. Plus however much to avoid squabbles. Plus still need to have seperate cages fully set up in case she were to manage to break up a fight. 
She would need at least 2 of everything, and be prepared for one hedgehog to claim everything. 
Monitoring food and water is impossible when they share a cage. If one slows down eating, the other is usually willing to pick up the slack. 
Heating becomes an issue because now she is supposed to safely and effectively heat at least 8 square feet.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

You also have to consider the fact that when they fight it's going to be in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping. Even if you hear them by the time you get to separate them it could be to late. During the day they are sleepier and less likely to fight so monitoring them and letting them meet during the day isn't going to help.


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## ArizonaHazelnut (Nov 16, 2016)

I wouldn't recommend it, as everything I've been told and have researched states that hedgehogs (even most females) are solitary and territorial and therefore will likely fight. It would be incredibly irresponsible to even risk it, in my opinion. Plus, as has been mentioned, you need double the space and double the supplies (wheels, food bowls, hides, etc). Just doesn't seem like a wise idea.


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