# Newbie- HELLO!



## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

I've been lurking on your forum for a few mths  learning, learning, more learning...not exactly Gerbil keeping this Hedgehog stuff lol! My new girl came home with me finally on Thursday and so far doing well. I managed with quite a bit of swearing to finish her bucket wheel (not as easy to find the right bucket as one might think and took me a week+ to track down some used roller blade wheels after hitting up every possible place for a nylon roller. They must be in high demand cause nobody had them in stock errr ) But I did it and she ROCKED that thing last night...QUIETLY as I heard nothing but delighted to see it full of pasted poops this morning hahaha!

I've not had a Hedgie before...Hissy-Fit-Hazel is my first. I looked for a Hedgie for a few mths and the pet stores here "order them" for you UGH. So I used my patience and waited for one needing to be rehomed and found my girl  Unfortunately she was a product of a MALE lol pet store purchase who had babies  The gal I adopted her from had taken her in from the friend with the babes. She is 7 mths old now.

I've pretty much been able to find all the answers to my questions over the last few mths here but had a couple more if anyone could help:

She is used to "Good Mews" pellet type litter so that's what I bought...now reading the bag it says that you can scoop it? What is used as a scoop as it looks like a regular scoop would be too small hole wise. AND how do you tell the wet parts? It does not appear to swell so you can tell???

I was also wondering if anyone used that foam type solid shelf liner at all or would they eat it? (Hazel is not a chewr YET anyway) I wondered about putting it under her liners. Right now I have that plastic cutting board stuff and I hoped it would help it stay in place better.

Oh and a couple pics of our first couple days and some pics of her as a babe

http://s1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd375/hissyfithazel/Hissy-Fit-Hazel/

Thanks for all the learning and sharing here!


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## CanadienHedgie (Feb 4, 2011)

Congrats!  

Hedgehogs aren't rodents, so they don't chew usually, so you shouldn't have to worry about that. But, some hedgehogs will eat bedding/litter so you'd want to watch for that. I'm making an assumption that Good Mews is similar to Yesterdays News. I've never heard of it, but it says is recycled paper, so is Yesterdays News. I'm not sure what it means my scooping it either, so I can't help with that, sorry.

If you could post a picture or link to the stuff you want to use under her liners, that'd be good, cause I'm not too sure what your talking about. I use stuff that seems similar. It's grippy on the bottom, and a design on the top, and wipe-able. It's for kitchen cupboards. It feels kind or rubbery.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Your hedgie is adorable, that's great you took her and gave her a home  I think I know what kind of shelf liner you mean. If its the one I'm thinking of it kinda has a spongy feel and would be easy for a hedgehog to bite a piece off if they took an interest too. I know that there have been hedgies in the past that have taken chomps out of the spongy cat ball toys and the material doesn't seem too far off from the liners just in different forms. Not 100% on the litter. I looked it up and it looks pelleted. It does seem to just be just recycled paper but looks like it could cause a problem if its ate. Because its compressed and says it expands a lot as the moisture is drawn in, it seems like it could expand and cause an impaction if its accidentally ate. Some alternatives to it would be paper towel or some people even make an extra potty liner that goes under the wheel and just change it out more often. The kind you are using may be okay though, I just haven't ever seen in real life and only know from the pics I saw of it just now and reading up on the details of it. Hopefully someone has some experience with it and give a better answer on the safety aspect of it.


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## newfie_nurse (Apr 28, 2011)

I love the name! Hissy fit hazel! cute cute pics..


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## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

Thanks! I had read here about the pellet type/ blockage issue and really didn't want to use it but my thinking was that she might be more likely to taste test something new if I changed from her norm. She has been using it since she was a babe. I think this is something I will have to rethink! Maybe like a food change add in a bit of new each time.

To be safe I think I'll stick to the foam liner stuff UNDER the cage lol. She never had a lot of enrichment in her cage before, not even a house just a fleece and had far outgrown her old wheel so she is easily amused right now but as she settles in might be prone to taste testing hahaha. I'm having a lot of fun shopping and sewing for her


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Your hedgie is stunning!  Welcome to the forum!


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## ReginasMommy (Apr 13, 2011)

Welcome!!! She's so cute! I love her coloring!

A lot of people (me included) just use paper towels in the litter pan or under the wheel. They're easy to just fold up and change, and the health risk is really low.



Hissy-Fit-Hazel said:


> I'm having a lot of fun shopping and sewing for her


I know exactly what you mean, it's so addicting!!!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Welcome to HHC and Congrats on Hissy Fit Hazel!  Cute name, adorable hedgie!!


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## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

Thanks  she makes me laugh a lot. Her name was previously Hazel...I added the Hissy-Fit part based on our first couple days lol.

She is still quite nervous...hissing at me if I go near her cage :twisted: or move much when she is out ha! She unballs quick enough when I take her out and she has free run of the place for several hrs each night but doesn't move off her fleece much yet to wander around. She does respond well to a bit of scrambled egg tho. She is eating her kibble, drinking, eating egg treats, using her wheel and her poops look good so the inactivity when loose is not concerning me too much since it's early days.

I was thinking last night how strange to go to all the worry of the correct lighting 12 hrs a day when she snoozes in bag or hidey house most of the day lol. She is however set up with a clip light/timer and natural light.

I've lived with Alaskan Malamutes for the past 12 years and I am finding Hazel A LOT like them... stubborn, independent, Hissy-Fitty, all about the food, whats in it for ME and *YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!  *


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## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

I could not mind my own business and just HAD TO see what the heck went on in Hazels cage at night. I mean PARTY TIME was obvious in the mornings....but if I snuck over in the dark to get a look she would stop all activity until I was back in bed several minutes. So I installed a night vision camera in there yesterday  WELL...I had no clue she was so active all night cause I don't hear her and active she was! Wheel, food, poop, wheel, drink, mess things up, wheel....I woke 3 hrs later she was still wheeling  

The real interesting thing I noted while watching her (uh at 2 am lol) was that she got OFF her wheel to pee and poop quite deliberately. (I had pulled her tray out a bit for more space just yesterday). The first time she did this she climbed back onto the wheel with a bit of poop stuck to her foot which stuck to the wheel....and highly annoyed her as she kept stopping to look at it then even changed directions trying to avoid it lmao! 

When I woke this morning and took her wheel out to wash, only that one stuck poop was in there....yaaay for Hazel for trying to stay clean


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I love the idea of night vision camera. Our girl Zoey is a clean-freak too. I love it! :lol: Hardly ever have to clean her wheel or give her foot baths. Wish she could teach the other 2. :roll:


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