# Having a hard time bonding



## thebronze1 (Nov 18, 2011)

My hedgehog nippy. I've had her for one week now. I let her settle in for about a day and 1/2. I rolled her out of her sleeping bag (she is about 5 months old) and let her explore it seemed to be going well, she even stepped onto my hand and let me handle her. The second day i tried the same exact procedure, i even gave her a treat and she was friendly. The third day i did it again but she was in a foul mood, she kept balling up and not letting me handle her, i put her back in her cage. after getting her to only barely interact with me. The fourth day i tried to handl her she bit my finger and after almost an hour and 1/2 let me partially handle her. This whole time i"ve been placing my worn shirts over her cage so she can get used to my scent but i still cant pick her up from her cage, she wont let me. The next time i took her out for play time she popped and peed on me. Now im all nervous about playing with her. I dont know if i should wake her up for play time or let her wake up on her own. Should i let her use the bathroom when she wakes up? Whats the digestive track time, how long after she eats will it be before she poops.


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## Sar-uh (Sep 6, 2011)

Just keep trying. The more you handle her, the more she will get used to you. If you have a hedgie bag or a little blanket, let her sleep on your lap while you watch TV or read. Don't put her back in the cage if she bites you, because then she will bite every time she wants to go back to her cage. Was she squirmy before she bit you? She might have been hungry. Maybe try handling her for shorter intervals, like a half hour at a time. 

It seems like hedgies tend to use the bathroom shortly after they wake up (much like humans!), so I usually let Petunia walk around on her potty pad before I pick her up to let her do her business.

Best of luck!


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## sweetergrrrl (May 5, 2009)

I know it can be tough but hang in there!! It took Link more than a month before he would even let me put my hand in his cage without freaking out. He still isn't crazy about me but I handle him anyway and after about 10 minutes will unball and walk around. 

Spikes and bites are things that come with a hedge that hasn't been socialized but just keep at it! If you put him down or away when he pokes you or takes a chomp of your finger she will keep doing it because it gets her what she wants. They are smart like that lol.  

Take a clean blanket of fleece and sleep with it, or keep it in your shirt all day. Tonight (and every night) use that to pick her up. The pointy ends will be more covered and she will feel safer because she is bundled up. 

As for poopin'... It happens. I had Link in an over-sized sweatshirt I was wearing and he managed to crawl from my lap to my arm pit and proceded to poo and pee all down my left side :shock: It was gross. I set him in his cuddle bag (I always have it nearby when I have him out) and changed the shirt I had underneath. Put the sweatshirt back on and him back inside. He thought he was going back to his house lol but I wasn't going to "reward" naughty behavior. 

Hope that helps!


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Patience, treats and confidence are your best friends during the first few months of hedgie ownership.

What is your light schedule like? Hedgies need 12-14 hours of light a day so a lot of us here hook up a lamp or an aquarium light to a light timer that turns the light on at a certain time in the morning and off at a certain time at night. My timer is set to turn on at 7am and off at 8pm. If you don't have her on a schedule for when you take her out, this might help. Hedgehogs like consistency.

Washing your hands with a plain soap before you handle her might help the biting. It doesn't sound like she's aggressive so you probably had something on your hand that smelled good to her and that's why she bit you. If you don't like being pottied on, you should wake your hedgie up before you want to handle her and give her some time to go potty if she needs to. It's fine to choose when you want to take her out. She doesn't need to be awake first.

When you take her out of her cage, use a fleece blanket or something else (not gloves) to protect you hands. Most hogs aren't real fond of large hands coming at them when they are in their safe cage. My hedgie is used to me now and we have built trust, but she is still jumpy when I take her out of her cage. Fleece will be your friend here. Once you get her out, put her on your lap and let her hang out there. If she is nervous about being touched, don't touch her. Don't rush her and don't expect her to warm up to you right away. It takes a while with these little guys, and some take longer than others to start trusting their humans. Go slowly. After a few days/a week goes by and she seems to be more comfortable hanging out on your lap, start laying your hand down near her so she can smell you while she's on your lap. Learning your smell is important. Do that for a while, then try moving to resting your hand on her over the fleece during lap-time. Take baby steps and give her time to get used to changes.

It's hard to bond with hedgehogs (and who knows if we are really "bonding" with them? That' what we call it, but they are naturally defensive, solitary animals), especially if you haven't been given the information YOU need to do it successfully. Putting her back in her cage after she bites, pops, balls up, poops, etc, is not a good idea. Doing this just teaches her that if you take her out and she bites/poops/balls up, she will get to go back in her cage. They relate bad behaviors with the reward of you putting them away. Nervousness also won't help you one bit. I know they can be intimidating - I myself was jumpy and nervous the first week I had my little one - but I quickly learned that my hog picked up on my nervousness and it made her more nervous! She sensed that I was anxious about something and she felt she should be too.

Don't be afraid to ask questions here.  Hedgehog ownership can be very... trying at times and needing advice is normal.


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