# What first got you interested in Hedgehogs?



## Pokey (Aug 21, 2011)

Hey everybody! Hope everyones day is going well.  

I have been wondering to myself what initially started my interest (more or less obsession :lol: ) with hedgehogs. Personally I would say it would be when my family got a sega genesis from Santa nearly 20 years ago which came with the original "Sonic the Hedgehog" video game. Shortly after... It started, I was soon able to beat Sonic 1, 2, and 3 with ease before my 7th birthday (my older sisters still can't do this! :lol: ), and I then began collecting hedgehog related objects including anything and everything relating to my favorite hero. 

It wasn't until I was in grade 5 when I visited a friends house that I finally got to see and hold an actual APH. I was over the moon, I couldn't believe you could have one as a pet! That only seemed to add fuel to the fire and after years of begging my parents and telling them that I was mature enough to have my very own (many heated arguments later I might add ... ) that they decided to let me do so! It was not until I was 18 where they said, "do whatever you want, you are 100% responsible and we will not give you any funding regarding your decision". That was easily one of the happiest days of my life, six months passed and after educating myself to the point where I would get headaches reading information about APH's on the Internet... I finally brought little Pazu home, my love of hedgehogs has since only grew and will only continue to grow as I learn more about them! 

Well that was my story... But I would love to hear about yours! Share and discuss!


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## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

To be honest, I was introduced to hedgehogs through one of those cute animal picture pages that came up when I was on StumbleUpon (AKA the best time wasting website ever!). I had been thinking about getting a small pet for about a year, but had absolutely no idea what to get. I was intrigued that hedgehogs could be kept as pets and started researching them. 

I was basically obsessed with the idea of having a hedgehog almost immediately after starting my research, especially after finding these forums. I found
Felix in an EBay Classifieds ad and waited patiently until I had everything I needed to adopt him.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I've always been interested in little things with spikes.. no lie. I've kept puffers, and as soon as I saw a picture of one of these guys I fell in love.


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## lpercz (Dec 23, 2010)

My mom sent me an email of the pictures that baby hedgehog that are popular. It's the cutest thing I may have ever seen and I decided at that instant that I wanted one. I was lonely then and I wanted something I could take care of and love to death. Plus I thought I was being unique with a pet like that. So I read up a little, found this site. I didn't think my parents ( correction: my step mom would) would get me one and so one day I came home from school about a week before Christmas and I stumbled in on my step mom, niece and step brother putting together her cage and holding her ( my dad had no idea either). They didn't hide it very well but the rest is history


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## CourtneyFaye (Jul 31, 2011)

I first saw hedgehogs on youtube :lol: I found them really interesting so I started do research on them as pets and I fell in love


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## Pokey (Aug 21, 2011)

lehaley said:


> To be honest, I was introduced to hedgehogs through one of those cute animal picture pages that came up when I was on StumbleUpon (AKA the best time wasting website ever!). I had been thinking about getting a small pet for about a year, but had absolutely no idea what to get. I was intrigued that hedgehogs could be kept as pets and started researching them.
> 
> I was basically obsessed with the idea of having a hedgehog almost immediately after starting my research, especially after finding these forums. I found
> Felix in an EBay Classifieds ad and waited patiently until I had everything I needed to adopt him.


Hahah I used to go on that site wayyy to often... It was unhealthy. :lol: I know what you mean though, after like... Ten minutes of research online I was like... :shock: -yeah... this is gunn a happen-  


Christemo said:


> I've always been interested in little things with spikes.. no lie. I've kept puffers, and as soon as I saw a picture of one of these guys I fell in love.


Like... puffer fish? That's so cool! At a gigantic mall where I live they have aquariums near the skating rink and I always used to go look at the puffer fish... They never seemed to puff up though. :roll: 


lpercz said:


> My mom sent me an email of the pictures that baby hedgehog that are popular. It's the cutest thing I may have ever seen and I decided at that instant that I wanted one. I was lonely then and I wanted something I could take care of and love to death. Plus I thought I was being unique with a pet like that. So I read up a little, found this site. I didn't think my parents ( correction: my step mom would) would get me one and so one day I came home from school about a week before Christmas and I stumbled in on my step mom, niece and step brother putting together her cage and holding her ( my dad had no idea either). They didn't hide it very well but the rest is history


Hahah aww... Baby hedgehogs *are* so adorable! That's a great story though, glad to see you have such a great step mom! Must have been such a good surprise.  


CourtneyFaye said:


> I first saw hedgehogs on youtube :lol: I found them really interesting so I started do research on them as pets and I fell in love


Yes of course the YouTube hedgehog videos... I hope you're talking about the "cute thing of the day" video where it shows a whole bunch of yawning baby hedgehogs. Always melts my heart! :roll:


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

i am a huge into herps (reptiles and amphibians), i was going get a blood python and my one female friend kept insisting i get something cute like a chinchilla. i said if i was going get any warm blooded animal it would be a hedgehog. the thought of getting one stayed in my head and a couple months later i got one. i never loved a pet this much in my life and i have had A LOT of pets!


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

by the way pokey...i guess we think a like because my hedgie is named pokey


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## Pokey (Aug 21, 2011)

jerseymike1126 said:


> i am a huge into herps (reptiles and amphibians), i was going get a blood python and my one female friend kept insisting i get something cute like a chinchilla. i said if i was going get any warm blooded animal it would be a hedgehog. the thought of getting one stayed in my head and a couple months later i got one. i never loved a pet this much in my life and i have had A LOT of pets!


Haha well I am very happy you decided to get a hedgehog! They truly are amazing, I myself have had animals since I could remember, and I would have to agree... not one pet has been as rewarding as my hedgehog. They have such an interesting personality and loveable nature. Did you end up getting a ball python? I myself am very interested in herps and I have heard amazing things about ball pythons, I definitely would love to own one once I am more finiancially stable.  


jerseymike1126 said:


> by the way pokey...i guess we think a like because my hedgie is named pokey


Haha what a great name! Great minds think alike, clearly hedgehogs and names are not the only thing we share in common lol! :lol:


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Yeah... puffers aren't supposed to puff up. It seriously stresses them out and they could die from it.


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## Pokey (Aug 21, 2011)

Christemo said:


> Yeah... puffers aren't supposed to puff up. It seriously stresses them out and they could die from it.


Oh! That would make sense lol. Finding Nemo just got funny on a whole new level for me. :lol:


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## Holly.Kinz (Aug 18, 2011)

I've always LOVED Sonic the hedgehog games growing up. I didn't even no that hedgehogs were real when I was little. I didn't really think of anything of getting a hedgehog, till about 8months ago.. Well It started when my parents were going to give me a passing gift for graduating beauty school, at the time I was kinda' thinking about getting another pet. At the time, I had my dearly loved hampster Flash but they said one pet for myself was enough. We have one cat a dog and at the time a hampster. Mom didn't say no completely she said she'll think on it, so I did research and showed her movies, after awhile I gave up asking, but she said when Flash passes away, I should get a pet that lives longer than 2yrs because I'd be heart broken. Flash sadly passed away on Augest 9th 2011 boy whata day....  so few weeks later I was lonely, out of sorts, i had no duty anymore to care for that special one anymore,I came across this site.. it was a hedgehog breeder but I never told my mom. One day, my boyfriend took me to the pet store and surely enough... I saw two female hedgehogs.. I was SOO curious and I touched one it was neat one huffed at me.. :roll: I looked into how much a cage would be and all that. I proposed the idea when I got home to my mom than showed her the breeders website and all of a sudden, she was all for it. Two weeks later and a three hour car ride there, Stitch came into my life. I couldn't be more happier with him. He is my everything! So doing research got me loving and wanting a hedgehog!


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

I don't even know who Sonic is or what the games are lol! When I was a kid an uncle of mine was a Hedgehog breeder so I was introduced to them that way


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

I always knew about sonic, but didnt pay much attention to it lol. Actually, my obsession with hedgehogs began 3 years ago when I routinely went to a local petstore to visit the ferrets and they happened to have hedgehogs there. It was pretty much love at first sight :lol: I saved up 300 dollars to buy one, thinking that would be enough for the hedgie, cage and food since they were selling them for only 100 dollars. So when I went back, they had drastically raised the price of everything and I wasnt able to get one. So I waited and did all my research, then ended up getting Squiggy from a friend of mine who rehomed him from a previous lady who just didnt have the time for him. My friend wasnt able to keep him though because she started having allergic reactions to his quills, and she had heard of me wanting one for ages lol


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

My daughter started working part time at a pet store when she was in high school. They got their first ever hedgehog in, and it was love at first sight. The rest as they say, is history. :lol:


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## Pokey (Aug 21, 2011)

Holly.Kinz said:


> I've always LOVED Sonic the hedgehog games growing up. I didn't even no that hedgehogs were real when I was little. I didn't really think of anything of getting a hedgehog, till about 8months ago.. Well It started when my parents were going to give me a passing gift for graduating beauty school, at the time I was kinda' thinking about getting another pet. At the time, I had my dearly loved hampster Flash but they said one pet for myself was enough. We have one cat a dog and at the time a hampster. Mom didn't say no completely she said she'll think on it, so I did research and showed her movies, after awhile I gave up asking, but she said when Flash passes away, I should get a pet that lives longer than 2yrs because I'd be heart broken. Flash sadly passed away on Augest 9th 2011 boy whata day....  so few weeks later I was lonely, out of sorts, i had no duty anymore to care for that special one anymore,I came across this site.. it was a hedgehog breeder but I never told my mom. One day, my boyfriend took me to the pet store and surely enough... I saw two female hedgehogs.. I was SOO curious and I touched one it was neat one huffed at me.. :roll: I looked into how much a cage would be and all that. I proposed the idea when I got home to my mom than showed her the breeders website and all of a sudden, she was all for it. Two weeks later and a three hour car ride there, Stitch came into my life. I couldn't be more happier with him. He is my everything! So doing research got me loving and wanting a hedgehog!


Haha good to know there are other Sonic fans out there! Sorry to hear for your loss of your hamster.,, I have grown up with Hamsters myself and I agree it is difficult to get so attached to something that may not last as long as you would hope. That's so great that your mom was on board with everything, kudos to her lol, but it wouldn't be that difficult of a decision once you look at some videos or pictures  ! It's a good thing you are the researching type! I'm sure you are the best mommy for your little Stitch!



Nancy said:


> My daughter started working part time at a pet store when she was in high school. They got their first ever hedgehog in, and it was love at first sight. The rest as they say, is history. :lol:


Oh that's so neat! Where did she work?  I have always wanted to work at a petstore, must have been such a good experience for her! And a good thing too, maybe you would have never stumbled upon the wonderful prickly animals! Must have been fate! --


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## kindacrazy (Nov 9, 2011)

Oddly enough, my sugar gliders led me to hedgehogs. I rescued my first two gliders about a year and a half ago and decided (while wandering through craigslist adds completely bored) to get my babies another cagemate. He was just so cute and being kept all alone so I ended up getting him almost immediately (I'd had the girls for about six months at this point). While researching how best to introduce them to each other (one of the most terrifying experiences in my life, not made at all easier by Mo immediately jumping from his temporary cage onto my face), I ended up on a site that had information about both gliders and hedgies. Being the animal lover I am, I started to research. And research. And research some more. Now, four months later, I'm already in love with my new baby. I don't get her for another two weeks or so but I'm super excited. I think I spend more time wondering what to name her than anything else.  

And that's how one love led me to another. I'm sure it's also going to be the cause of many more staying-up-all-night-to-watch-the-cuteness nights.


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## pitbullgirl101 (Nov 2, 2011)

What really got me into Hedgehogs is I am addicted to looking at pictures and videos on the internet so.. after looking around I stumbled upon baby hedgehog pictures I fell in LOVE... So i did the research and after telling my boyfriend about a MILLION times that I wanted one and being rejected over and over again I thought I would never get one so I gave up... I quit looking at pictures and research and everything hedgehog. I was sad about as sad as one girl can get over an cute little animal  But about a 2 weeks ago I found someone close to home who had some and also had snakes ( he is into snakes I am too but not as much as a hedgehog) so he talked to the guy and found out he had hedgehogs and tourtured me all night untill about 1 or 2 in the morning saying he was not getting me one and this and that and then he called me and told me to come see his snake and then there was Quills!!  

I know long and really not that wonderful of a story but it is what it is !!


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## Holly.Kinz (Aug 18, 2011)

Haha good to know there are other Sonic fans out there! Sorry to hear for your loss of your hamster.,, I have grown up with Hamsters myself and I agree it is difficult to get so attached to something that may not last as long as you would hope. That's so great that your mom was on board with everything, kudos to her lol, but it wouldn't be that difficult of a decision once you look at some videos or pictures  ! It's a good thing you are the researching type! I'm sure you are the best mommy for your little Stitch!

Thank you for the kind words  I still miss Flash and my first hampster that passed away of old age... but I believe things happen for a reason, For all I know, if I never got to have Stitch, he could of ended up in a bad home and neglected... My moms great. Shes my favorite parent and I consider her as a bestfriend :roll: Ahhh I know shes inlove with Stitch too, when I clean his cage, she babysits him in his snuggle bag  I LOVE research :ugeek: I'm still researching on hedgehogs, I've read a few books on them and such. When I move out, I'd like to become a breeder. I try to be the best mommy for my little stinker!


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## Pokey (Aug 21, 2011)

kindacrazy said:


> Oddly enough, my sugar gliders led me to hedgehogs. I rescued my first two gliders about a year and a half ago and decided (while wandering through craigslist adds completely bored) to get my babies another cagemate. He was just so cute and being kept all alone so I ended up getting him almost immediately (I'd had the girls for about six months at this point). While researching how best to introduce them to each other (one of the most terrifying experiences in my life, not made at all easier by Mo immediately jumping from his temporary cage onto my face), I ended up on a site that had information about both gliders and hedgies. Being the animal lover I am, I started to research. And research. And research some more. Now, four months later, I'm already in love with my new baby. I don't get her for another two weeks or so but I'm super excited. I think I spend more time wondering what to name her than anything else.
> 
> And that's how one love led me to another. I'm sure it's also going to be the cause of many more staying-up-all-night-to-watch-the-cuteness nights.


 :shock: Sugar Gliders!? They are *so* cute! One of my good friends actually just had her SG pass away in the night a couple months ago... Missy was a real sweet heart, she used to crawl on on our shoulders and ... chew at our hair :lol: . I didn't mind though, thought it was really adorable. By cage-mate do you mean you can house Sugar Gliders together? That's so cool, makes me feel a little sad for Missy though... she was always housed alone.  I have seen a couple of those websites that breed both hedghogs and SG's! Always interested me to take a more thorough look at them, some of the colors they can breed into those Joey's are really unique looking! That's so exciting though. I still remember looking for hedgehog breeders online, but the only reputable one anywhere near where I lived had took a hiatus until sometime next year and there was no way I could have the patience to wait an entire year. So in the end I decided to rescue Pazu from a local petstore. Make sure the moment you bring her home you have a photo-shoot and post some pictures! Can't wait to see!  By the way... hope you recovered from Mo taking a leap at your face hahah! The thought of that made me chuckle quite a bit. :lol:



ilovemysticker said:


> What really got me into Hedgehogs is I am addicted to looking at pictures and videos on the internet so.. after looking around I stumbled upon baby hedgehog pictures I fell in LOVE... So i did the research and after telling my boyfriend about a MILLION times that I wanted one and being rejected over and over again I thought I would never get one so I gave up... I quit looking at pictures and research and everything hedgehog. I was sad about as sad as one girl can get over an cute little animal  But about a 2 weeks ago I found someone close to home who had some and also had snakes ( he is into snakes I am too but not as much as a hedgehog) so he talked to the guy and found out he had hedgehogs and tourtured me all night untill about 1 or 2 in the morning saying he was not getting me one and this and that and then he called me and told me to come see his snake and then there was Quills!!
> 
> I know long and really not that wonderful of a story but it is what it is !!


That is a _*wonderful*_ story what are you talking about?  I tend to spend a lot of time-wasting while I'm at work and home looking at cute things on youtube as well :lol: ! That's actually a really cute story though! I bet he had it planned out right from the beginning... pretty impressive other half you got there if you ask me.  I bet you that even after all of that waiting you had to do and the teasing you endured was totally worth it huh? Hedgehogs seem to change peoples life... and always for the good!



Holly.Kinz said:


> Thank you for the kind words  I still miss Flash and my first hampster that passed away of old age... but I believe things happen for a reason, For all I know, if I never got to have Stitch, he could of ended up in a bad home and neglected... My moms great. Shes my favorite parent and I consider her as a bestfriend :roll: Ahhh I know shes inlove with Stitch too, when I clean his cage, she babysits him in his snuggle bag  I LOVE research :ugeek: I'm still researching on hedgehogs, I've read a few books on them and such. When I move out, I'd like to become a breeder. I try to be the best mommy for my little stinker!


No problem! Hamsters really are great animals, I always got so attached to mine as well. :| That's a really positive way to look at it though, there is indeed always a reason for the way things happen! Glad to know Stitch hit the lottery with you!  Aww that's so sweet that your mom will do that, my mom always asks to hold him as well (In his *snuggle bag* as well lol... she's terrified when he pops at her). :lol: That's great! The more knowledge the better. I always find it so interesting when I read about something I never knew about hedgehogs... they seem to be loaded with endless amounts of information. I'll have to go to my public library and see if they have any books there as well!  I also want to be a breeder someday, I realize it is a very time consuming (not to mention expensive) choice to make, but eventually once I have gotten myself in a way more financially stable position... it's my number one goal! Good luck with everything, you seem like the type of person that can really succeed if you put your mind to it!


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## Pickle (Sep 11, 2011)

I love all animal and would happily have one of each and every kind if it were humanly possible  
A modern day Noah's Ark, lol

We have a boxer dog and a hamster. Previously we've had a cat and a rescued mouse, she was destined to be a lab mouse but escaped her cage when it was damaged in shipping at the airport and my husband with the big heart scooped her up and brought her home to me. She was the most loving pet I ever owned. As for the hoggies, I was always enamoured with them and when a friend in New York purchased one and flaunted the most adorable pics ever to be seen all over her facebook page, I just had to have one


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## StrawberryJAM (Sep 20, 2011)

Has anyone seen the Telus commercials with the cute animals? There was one with hedgehogs on it and I fell in love :-D


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## Pokey (Aug 21, 2011)

Pickle said:


> I love all animal and would happily have one of each and every kind if it were humanly possible
> A modern day Noah's Ark, lol
> 
> We have a boxer dog and a hamster. Previously we've had a cat and a rescued mouse, she was destined to be a lab mouse but escaped her cage when it was damaged in shipping at the airport and my husband with the big heart scooped her up and brought her home to me. She was the most loving pet I ever owned. As for the hoggies, I was always enamoured with them and when a friend in New York purchased one and flaunted the most adorable pics ever to be seen all over her facebook page, I just had to have one


I would have to agree with you on that one! You can never have enough animals... especially rescues! Seems like a lot of people on here seem to fall in love with them as soon as they look at pictures, I'm not surprised though. Hedgie's are just so darn adorable! :lol:



StrawberryJAM said:


> Has anyone seen the Telus commercials with the cute animals? There was one with hedgehogs on it and I fell in love :-D


There is a Telus commercial with a hedgie!? -googles- Hahah I love those Telus commercials, no matter how I'm feeling they always seems to put a smile on my face.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I agree, those Telus commercials are adorable. Sadly, they lead to impulse pet buying which unscrupulous breeders and pet stores take advantage of. For most of us, watching the commercial and oooing and awing over the cute animals and maybe even saying "I would love one of those", is as far as it goes. For some people, they are out the next day because they just gotta have that cute animal even though they know nothing about it's requirements and in some cases, don't even know what it is. :x


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## StrawberryJAM (Sep 20, 2011)

Nancy said:


> I agree, those Telus commercials are adorable. Sadly, they lead to impulse pet buying which unscrupulous breeders and pet stores take advantage of. For most of us, watching the commercial and oooing and awing over the cute animals and maybe even saying "I would love one of those", is as far as it goes. For some people, they are out the next day because they just gotta have that cute animal even though they know nothing about it's requirements and in some cases, don't even know what it is. :x


Yeah you are totally right... its upsetting :-( But i am so thankful for it because it's what started my research in the first place and plunged me headfirst down the 'hedgehog' hole :-D I cant imagine life now without hedgies!


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## EllenLovesHedgies (Nov 23, 2011)

I watched Pets 101, and the hedgehog segment came on.
I fell in love with their pokey quills, and little cute noses..
I was dying of a cuteness overload!  I did tons and tons of research.. (about 5 months)

I researched a lot over and over and it stuck onto my brain. All I've been talking about is hedgehog, hedgehog, hedgehog 24/7. While I was researching, I stumbled onto this website. I stopped going to websites after website for researched, and just browsed this forum. I learned soo much! A couple days ago I finally got the nerve to create an account on here after so much researching on this website without an account on here. Now, I am finally getting my first ever hedgehog December 15!  
I need an Intervention.. I am addicted to hedgehogs and hedgehog researching! O_O


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## GoldenEyes (Nov 4, 2011)

I was looking at getting a pet for a year, but every pet I saw just didn't do it for me. I have a dog, and he's my best friend, but I've always wanted a small pet in my room. I looked up so many different pets, from hamsters to rabbits to sugar gliders and none of them really kept my interest. The only one other then hedgies was a fennec fox, but I shut that down right away, thinking it would be best if I waited til I was moved in with my boyfriend first before talking about getting something so hyper :lol: 

I just happened to look up "cute and cuddly pets" and some moron posted saying hedgehogs were really cuddly. I did some research and found out more about them and the more I learned the more I loved them. They're such unique individuals. Then when I found this site, I was sold on getting one. 

I'll be getting her in a couple weeks and I'm so excited.


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## nualasmom (Nov 13, 2011)

I had been toying with the idea of a "pocket pet" for a couple of years, ever since I found out a friend of my had a sugar glider. But when I learned more about sugar gliders, I didn't think they would suit me. Anyway, back in July of this year I was at a county fair and there was an area with exotic animals and there were a couple of hedgies. I asked the lady if I could hold one and I fell in love. That was the first time I realized that they could be pets. So I did some research for 3 months before I finally contacted a breeder and bought one. I'm sooo happy that I did! She's just a little ball of love and I can't seem to get enough of her.


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## carmini (Jul 15, 2011)

The first time I saw APHs as pets was on http://www.cuteoverload.com =P
I used to be addicted to that blog and would check it several times a day to get my daily intake of cuteness! I always thought pygmy hedgehogs were EXTREMELY adorable, but didn't really consider owning one until my boyfriend and I looked at a picture together off the blog and he offhandedly mentioned he wouldn't mind having a hedgie as a pet. I'm sure he meant a couple years down the road when we got a place together but I took the idea and ran with it! In two days I had found Hedgehog Central, started my research, and in a week and a half I was trying to find a reputable breeder. At the 2 week mark, we had decided on Hedgehog Grove and before 3 weeks, we were on the waiting list =D
It was really a spontaneous decision, but we are so happy we made it (or *I made* rather =P). Every other day we comment on how cute our bratty little Kue is and how we're so happy to have her ^__^ It's amazing how much you can love something that doesn't really care for you touching it and leaves pinprick holes all over your hands XD


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