# Questions from a potential new hedge owner :)



## Em32 (Nov 12, 2013)

Hello!

I'm brand new here and I don't actually own a hedgehog yet, so I thought I'd come straight to this section to ask my questions!

I've been hoping to get an African Pygmy Hedgehog for a while now, and I've recently started my research.
I won't be getting one till next year, possibly Easter if not later. The place I live at the moment I don't think is suitable due to the noise levels. There are two dogs, though very lovely have a tendency to bark a lot, and the large room my hedgehog's home would be in has music equipment that will be in use frequently during the week. Correct me if I am wrong, but from what I've read they have extremely sensitive hearing so being in a room with musical instruments (piano, guitar) would stress the little one out a lot.

Anyway, my main question right now is, after the initial cost of the hedgehog and it's setup, what is the average monthly cost of caring for a hedgie? I only ask because I keep monthly budgets and I would like to know how much to set aside. (Excluding emergency vet bills).

Aside from that any tips and advice for a potential new owner would me much appreciated!

(Edit: Title was supposed to say 'hedgie owner!)


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

They do have pretty sensitive hearing, so your concern is definitely understandable, and I think you're right - it'd probably not be the best situation to keep a hedgehog in a room with all of the music equipment. During the day it would keep him or her from sleeping, and during the night it'd likely keep them from coming out as normal.

Hm...They really don't have much of a monthly cost, I don't think. Food tends to last longer than one month - I had a mix of three foods for Lily, each came in 5-6 pound bags, and we'd go several months (possibly up to 6? I can't remember) before we'd start running out. I usually had to throw out the last bit of all of them since they'd get stale. I think the cost for all of the bags together would come out to around $45-50, every 5-6 months.

Mealworms might be a regular cost, if you continue buying them instead of raising. Same with crickets (which I don't suggest raising!) or other insect treats. Other treats can be mostly fruits/veggies/etc. that you have around your house anyway (there's a list of safe things in the Nutrition forum), unless you want to get the baby food forms - jars of baby food are typically only 50 cents - $1, maybe a bit more for larger jars.

If you go with fleece/fabric liners, they'll be more of an initial cost than a continual cost, since they're reusable. If you have to pay to use a washing machine, then you'll have to figure in the cost of a load maybe 2-4 times a month.

Bathing supplies would be more of an initial cost than anything as well - I had a big bottle of Aveeno oatmeal body wash for Lily and we only used half of it in the 3.5 years I had her.

So...hm. Like I said, I'm not sure there's a lot of regular, month-to-month costs! The initial set up is the most expensive, as well as food (when you do have to buy it), and vet visits. Others may have other experiences though, I suppose.


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## Em32 (Nov 12, 2013)

Thanks very much for your reply, it's really helpful!
I already had an estimate for initial costs, which is one of the other reasons for holding off till next year. Both my bf and I will be on better wages then, plus it gives us a bit of extra saving time.

Vet costs won't be a problem hopefully! I have money put aside for my cat, and he hasn't needed that yet! Since I will be on a better wage I can just put extra into that each month to cover the hedgie too. (And I can get my bf to chip in since it will be his pet also.)

I had a read through the food list and we often have the fruits and veggies listed as safe since we're a fresh food kind of house  I'm used to the cost of cat food already so that's no problem.

Thanks again for you reply, you've settled my mind over wether I'll be able to afford it now!


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

1. Budget (personal experience)

For the first few months of hedgehog-ownership, my monthly cost was around $50/month, mostly because I kept changing, upgrading, or modifying the original setup and equipment. (ie, I did an ok job with initial setup, but then learned so much more about what would be better for us in particular.)

Our ongoing costs are $25/month, although in actual spending patterns it's more like $45/3 months for food + $6/month for treats (mealworms, toys, new fleece...) + $4/month for laundry (1 wash, 1 dry). As my little friend is almost done growing, he's eating a bit less (1 Tbs instead of 1.5Tbs per night), so I'm starting to wonder if our food purchases might push back to $45/4 months.

Our local vet fee is $50 for a standard check-up, $100 for concerns-that-require-testing, plus $20 in personal transportation costs to get there. I stash $10/month for routine, anticipated vet visits (annual checkup, minor medications like Revolution for mites, etc), but thus far have spent it as a $70/year chunks.

2. Research resource
If you haven't encountered it yet, this book is an awesome intro to all the things you'll want to learn in advance of collecting a quilly friend.

3. Musicians & Hedgehogs
My little friend lives in our living room, which doubles as a fairly active recording studio. The first day he came home, he slept within 2 meters of a live vocal take for a drinking song (lots of bellowing), and then an hour of hand-drum takes to go with it. He slept fine.

He's since moved to a slightly different location, a full ... 5m? from the recording setup. When he's awake and playing, his reaction to recorded music has been utter indifference, and his reaction to bass guitars is absolute infatuation. When given the opportunity, he will climb on, in, or anoint with, any piece of bass gear he can reach, including managing to escape up into an (unpowered) amplifier!

I suspect the peak frequency of the instruments has greater impact than the amplitude. Because their ears are so tiny, they hear higher frequencies better than lower frequencies, although I haven't seen the cutoff of what they can and can't hear. From observation, he can hear things like basses, but considers them more soothing/less startling than higher-pitches like flute or tin whistle. When watching movies, explosions are no big deal, gun fire is sometimes-jump, sometimes-not, but women screaming freak him right out.

So: Yes, it's more kind to not expose your new tiny friend to a constant bombardment of noise, but they also do fine with moderate household (even musician-household) levels of ambient sound if they are accustomed to it on a daily basis.

Lights have had a far greater impact on whether or not he comes out to run than the sound level. He's come out for a full evening jog when we've got a band recording (without drums) adjacent to him, provided the lights are extremely dim and no one is standing so close he can smell them. However, forgetting a table lamp on in his corner of the room and going out to leave him in an empty, quiet house, will be sufficient for him to stay hidden and not run a single meter until we get home and turn off the light.


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## Em32 (Nov 12, 2013)

Thanks for your input on the budget side of things 
I'm hoping to have the setup as I want it before hedgie comes home, hence the early start to research!
I have a vet in my area whose website says they take exotics. I'm going to ring the. A little closer to the time to make sure it includes hedgehogs and get an idea of their prices. I'd like to have their regular visit price easily accessible (ie not in savings) at all times if I can.

I did read that book  It was very Informative.

I'm still a little concerned with the music, as it's my bf's brother and he always has everything incredibly loud and refuses to turn it all down. I think my bf and I have decided not to get our hedgie till next year now for certain, so hopefully that won't even be an issue as we will have our own place.

I'm definitely going to be getting a light timer though as I know I'm likely to forget to turn it off occasionally!


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