# girlfriend terrified of hedgie poop



## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I been trying to get my gf to handle some of thr hedgies. She loves animals but is terrified of getting pooped/peed on. Towels dont give her any confidence of staying clean. Figured some of you girls might be like this so i want some advice on how to get her over it


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Please know that I am not in any way being sarcastic or a smartie here. But a less than one pound hedgie sure goes a lot less than an 8,9,10 pound baby. Babies can do terrible things to their parents. There really is no difference in the excretion from anyone or anything: Human, animal, whatever!


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

It does suck having hedgie poop/pee ruin an outfit... and if she doesn't live with you she can't even change. I hold Thistle in a fleece blanket because I was tired of being pooped/peed on and having to change clothes. Now that Thistle's older it's not happening nearly as often. So I would suggest having her handle an older hedgie that is less likely to have an accident, using a blanket/towel, and having a spare outfit on hand, or lending her a hoodie of yours to wear while she's doing it. But my BF is the same way... enjoys petting and giving Thistle attention when I'm holding her or she is exploring, he doesn't want to hold her himself for the same reason. :roll:


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Their poop doesn't phase me. I pick it up with my hand, i am trying to rid someone of an irrational fear. She lives with me so its not her clothes l. She yells "aaaaw poop" when its pooping on a towel on my lap. Guess i should just start yelling at her to man up


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## msredhead (Sep 28, 2012)

Also, when their tail sticks out, they're about to poop, so she can put it down. Auri pooped and peed on me so much in the beginning I got used to it, but I did keep a towel near by if I noticed her about to... (she backs up when she's about to poop or pee, too lol).

It comes with hedgie territory, and as the others said, as they get older they tend not to poop or pee on you as much as when they were babies.


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

msredhead said:


> Also, when their tail sticks out, they're about to poop, so she can put it down. Auri pooped and peed on me so much in the beginning I got used to it, but I did keep a towel near by if I noticed her about to... (she backs up when she's about to poop or pee, too lol).
> 
> It comes with hedgie territory, and as the others said, as they get older they tend not to poop or pee on you as much as when they were babies.


Oh, i know all about getting pooped and peed on.


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## msredhead (Sep 28, 2012)

Yea, maybe some of that info will ease her being afraid of it? I know I was afraid of it because I wasn't used to it (I mean, who is really used to being pooped on?) lol. Good luck though


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Don't try putting it in her hair, it doesn't work, trust me I know!  :lol:


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I am looking for some of you just as squimish and how you handle it?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm not squeamish, so I'm not really sure how you might get someone past it. But do try and see if you can figure out what level the squeamishness is at. Whether it's just a "poop is yucky, keep it away from me" thing, or it's a honest fear, bordering on phobia. Speaking as someone who spent just this morning shoved into a situation where I had to confront my phobia (water), you may know that it's a silly thing to be afraid of or freak out about, but you can't necessarily help it anyway. If it's that bad for her, you'll want to be sensitive about it and try to work with her, even if you think it's silly.

However, if it IS just "poop is yucky ewwwww", then yes, tell her to woman up. :lol:


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I think i will do a larry and put it in her hair. I could use some time sleeping on the couch (joking people )


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

It's not fun to get pooped/peed on but it's really not a big deal. If it is a phobia and she actually wants to work on it then it just takes time, let her handle the hedgehog for only a few minutes at first and gradually encourage her to hold one for longer. Try to find out what exactly is scaring her about being pooped on and let her express her fear to you. The only way to deal with anxiety is to talk about it, expressing fear out loud often takes away the power of it. If you can find out what is scaring her about it you might be able to reassure her. Adult hedgehog's don't pee often either, and poop is pretty little, whatever way you use to deal with staying clean during handling will work for her too just remind her that it isn't dangerous but be careful not to dismiss her fear either. 

It is yucky, but if you can change clothes and wash up right away it's only yucky for a short time.


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Yeah, was looking if anyone had a thing different than the norm. Going force her to sit there with a towel. Lol.

I will threaten to use the larry method if she doesnt comply


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## momIImany (Oct 14, 2012)

Hey Jersey,
Most people don't like to be pooped on. My parrot used to (as a baby) poop all over me (even in my hair - not cute!) So does my RETF and Crested Geckos. If you are an animal lover you don't mind as much because of your love of the animal. Other people stay back. Give her a receiving blanket to hold the hedgie on her lap - even if it is only for 10-15 minutes each evening on the couch. She will hopefully get used to the animal and not get as uptight.
momIImany


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I have NO advice for you, except to mention that it's pretty hilarious to be afraid of hedgie poop. I spot clean cages by picking up turds with my hands... maybe she just needs to watch some Dirty Jobs and then realize that hedgies aren't that bad. :lol:


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## direwolf (Oct 11, 2012)

When I first got my hedgie, I didn't know she was going to poop so much on me. The first time she did, I freaked out and went "ewewewew get it off get it off" for about give minutes. But once I realized that ,1. it's just poop 2. yes it's smelly but it won't eat me 3. me freaking out freaks out my hedgie 4. freaking out won't stop her from pooping, I got over it pretty quickly. Best of luck with everything! I understand her being freaked out by it but it's really not all that awful once you get used to it.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

We have people visit pretty regularly who want to meet our hedgehogs, see the hedgehog room, etc. A few weeks ago two (adult) sisters came, one of them brought her two sons. 7 and 8 years old. We always have paper towels, hand wipes, and hand sanitizer out for people to use while they're handling the hedgehogs, and the two women had no problem with it - but the two boys could NOT get over the poop. They kept squawking and squealing and giggling and saying, "ewwwwwwwwww!" and "groooooooooss!" And finally the mother of the boys just gave them a blunt look and said, "It's POOP. Animals poop. People poop. EVERYTHING poops. Just _get over it_."

So, yeah, that's pretty much how I would deal with it in your place. You can give them a foot bath to coax most of it out before she handles them, and use a blanket on her lap, and have plenty of towels/hand wipes/hand sanitizer on hand. But beyond that, yeah, it's very much a "get over it" thing. :lol:


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## felix-the-hedgie (Apr 28, 2012)

Ha well mike you know I'm not scared of no poop or pee.... Weird thing is hedgie poop dont bother me but when a child or someone throws up I about die haha... But tell her it wont kill her just place a puppy pad in her lap or something.


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Haha. Erica i assume?


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

Could just do the smart thing and give the hedgies a foot bath to get it out of their system first. That way, its safe for her to hold them once you're sure they're empty haha


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## Hillybean (Jun 10, 2010)

After having a human baby poop bothers me even less..Yeah, bad case of running poops from shots after he was younger, got it all in my hair at 3:00am after a 24hrs of being up..Thought he was done. Horrible cases of leaky diapers at target...Yeah, human baby poop gets everywhere!!! I will TAKE animal poo any day of week over my sons. 

But have her wear scrubs, not her normal cloths, and try using more hand sanitizer, more hand washings, and even disinfecting wipes. Seems to help with my spouse and he is a guy..Poo of any kind freaks him out. lol! He yells "OMG, it is pooping! Here, Hilary hurry take it!" He just about drops them, and normally lays them on floor quickly..poor hedgies.  Does our son the same way.

Getting them up and active before he handles them, and foot baths before help with the poop situation..but they still poop. At least he gets a couple of minutes handling them in.


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

Actually, it's not such a bad idea to only let her hold the hedgie AFTER it has already emptied it's bowels in a foot bath or something. 

When Poggles was little, he was a poop machine and I didn't like his poop either. It grosses me out. I think it's dirty, full of bacteria, smells bad, looks gross, etc. I think it took a lot of time before I was used to at least seeing it happen. I still don't like touching the poop or getting pooped on. I will literally wash like crazy if it happens.

Anyways, it helps that I love Poggles like crazy. Otherwise, it's just poop and I want nothing to do with poop. So maybe your girlfriend will feel less scared of the poop once she starts to really love your hedgies and has some time to slowly warm up to the "down-side" of pets  I don't think an "irrational phobia" is really that easy to get over. It will take a lot of time and lots of positive experiences related to the pooping. 

In some ways, it might be like taming one of those super-hard-to-tame hedgies. You can't just force them to unball and like their surroundings. It takes a lot of patience... and motivation (like mealies!). Maybe if you seemed really impressed every time she got pooped on and handled it well, she would get better and better at it. Even if she doesn't handle it well, reward her for going through the experience. 

Good luck!


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## eskye (Oct 5, 2012)

My girlfriend was also afraid of the poop of every animal. She ended up falling in love with my reptiles, though, so she's over their pooping. She doesn't like my hedgehogs at the moment, but I think she will come to like them. She's already warming up a bit to them. Same with the pooping problem though - deathly afraid of it.

I'm not really sure who decided that most girls should be pansies about poop. I'm a girl and I have never had any such fear - probably because I grew up shoveling barn & dog poop and breeding ****atiels. Birds drop gunk all over the place. It's really an exposure thing. I find most people who haven't had a lot of exposure to pets or haven't been responsible for the care of pets exclusively really have issues with them being "unclean" or too "poopy". It's something that is their problem, and shouldn't make you love your animal any less. Either they get over it or they're pretty silly. Just give it time - I'm sure my own girlfriend will love my hedgies soon too.


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## cardiologineer (Sep 29, 2012)

eskye said:


> My girlfriend was also afraid of the poop of every animal. She ended up falling in love with my reptiles, though, so she's over their pooping. She doesn't like my hedgehogs at the moment, but I think she will come to like them. She's already warming up a bit to them. Same with the pooping problem though - deathly afraid of it.
> 
> I'm not really sure who decided that most girls should be pansies about poop. I'm a girl and I have never had any such fear - probably because I grew up shoveling barn & dog poop and breeding ****atiels. Birds drop gunk all over the place. It's really an exposure thing. I find most people who haven't had a lot of exposure to pets or haven't been responsible for the care of pets exclusively really have issues with them being "unclean" or too "poopy". It's something that is their problem, and shouldn't make you love your animal any less. Either they get over it or they're pretty silly. Just give it time - I'm sure my own girlfriend will love my hedgies soon too.


I think it maybe has a lot to do with how people were raised. Like, growing up my dad mostly picked up the dog poop and stuff, so I'm sort of at a point where I think it's gross but I'll happily put up with having to deal with it for an animal that I love. I don't think it's always like that, but it seems like most girls I know who are very grossed out by that stuff either didn't have pets when they were growing up or just didn't have to deal with it that much.
Also, I used to take horseback riding lessons for several years, so I got used to that pretty fast. Though, in my opinion horse poop isn't as bad as dog poop.


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## PickyRemi (Oct 20, 2012)

If you got it to ball up it's just pooping/peeing on itself! :lol:


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I weny with the "sit down and spend time with pokey. I dont want to hear it" method. Worked well


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## Lauren (Oct 4, 2012)

Give her some opportunities to play with your hog on the floor where poop won't be an option. My fiancé hates the poop too but has fallen in love with Ruby so he deals with the poop. If your girl starts to love your hedgehog I'm sure the poop hating will take a backseat.


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

I hate getting the poop on me. xD I'm not afraid of it but Sputniks poops smell like death so i usually have fleece under his butt when I hold him.


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## momIImany (Oct 14, 2012)

I do the fleece too. Even a fleece blanket goes on my bed b4 Mimzy goes down. Fleece is easier to clean than my quilts and bedspread cover.


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

i made her clean the cat's litter box and play with pokey...making progress!


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