# newbie with hedgie behaviour



## scarletastrea86 (Jun 30, 2009)

hye everyone, im new here and just recently gotten myself a hedgie, well more like 6 days ago  her name is Kookie Monster aka Kookie and she's going to be 3months old this 18th july... and on the first day i took her home from a breeder, she seems rather friendly, she even managed to snuggle and slept on my belly, but i realized that she likes to poop and pee on me rather than doing her business in her cage. then i took her back to my hometown (like 400kms away) in a car, and after that day, she sleeps a whole lot...even at night and only seem active just for a while..like when i take her out she would be running around, but as soon as i put her back into her cage, she would hide under her blankie...

but still altough her attitude towards me changed a bit...but her habit still remains..she would poop and pee outside the cage!!! :roll: more like every time i hold her....shes like a pooping machine when i hold her up...n what's odd is that, for the past 3 days (eversince i brought her back) she hasn't poop (maybe pee, but i coudnlt see them) in her cage, should i be worried? well she does poop, but ONLY when i took her out of the cage, other than that she would just sleep....

and since im still new, im still abit scared when approaching her to take her out...she would huff and puff and point her quills upward...should i leave her alone? most of the time i would still try to take her out, even when she tried biting me once or twice...even when i succeeded but then i would be a little put off when she starts peeing and pooping (again!) , so because of that i ahd to put her back into the cage.....as of right now...she's still sleeping..but did managed to play with her this morning for a while though....

well anyone who can help me out? i would really appreciate it 

ps/ how exactly do i put up pictures in here? im terrible at this LOL :lol:


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

From what I understand it is normal for baby hedgehogs to sleep all the time. Especially when they are in a new environment because it will be somewhat overwhelming for the first few months. Babies also poop and pee everywhere. If you start litter training it may help. Otherwise just put a fleece blanket down on your lap for your hedgie to sit on so she poops on the blanket instead of you.

You said that you don't see any evidence that she has been pooping or peeing in the cage. What type of bedding are you using? if you are using anything other than fleece liners (e.g. paper shreds, carefresh, wood shavings etc.) it would be very difficult to see if your hedgehog has peed. This is why most people on here prefer to use light coloured fleece liners for the cage. 

Popping when you take her out is normal at first and she may always roll up. It sounds like she comes out to explore after a minute which is a good sign. If you want your hedgehog to be friendly you need to handle her even when she pops and rolls up. Don't back off because it will make her do it more often. 

Congrats on your girl and good luck with everything


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Babies do sleep a lot. 

Though there are a few questions that if you could answer, would allow us to know more about what's going on...

What's the cage temperature?
What kind of food do you have her on?
How much is she eating/drinking?
How's her poop? (colour/consistency)


As for taking her out. Toss in a worn shirt with her to let her snuggle up and sleep in. Most hedgies will end up burrowed inside somewhere, so you just lift the entire bundle up, along with your hedgie, and then start peeling back the fabric layers. Mine is most defensive when he is in bed, but he's gotten much better with me just lifting him out of his cage.

Also, since they are nocturnal, she's probably VERY sleepy and VERY tired in the morning when you're trying to play with her. I know mine is EXTRA grumpy if I bug him in the mornings, even if it's just to adjust his bed. :roll: Try taking her out in the evenings, when she's much more well rested.


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## scarletastrea86 (Jun 30, 2009)

wow! tq so much for the advice!!  btw to hedgielover:

i use pine shavings as the bedding, is that ok? i read somewhere that it is fine unless it is cedar, and like u said, it's hard to see their pee and poo using that, but last night i went for a "treasure hunt" and found her poopies embedded in the shavings!! yay! she's normal after all :mrgreen: and last night i braved myself n picked her up using my hands even when her quills were up...

and i read from the forum that some would pat the head/forehead of their hedge to calm it down when its quills at the front head is up...so i did just that and she's getting more open to me! 

to Immortalia:

im actually from a tropically climate country, sooo i put her in my room with the air condition on between 22'c to 27'c at night, during the day ijust switch it on from time to time.. then for now i just feed her the cat food (pellet type) from royal canine brand for kittens? and as for her drinking and eating, i would have to say...she eats alot...i feed her twice a day...but sometimes when she's asleep during that feeding time, i just leave her food in the bowl, and when i wake up in the morning, her food is almost gone/or completely gone! owh, i put in about 1 and 1/2 teaspoon per serving twice a day...

and as for her drinking..everytime she wakes up she would be drinking a whole lot of water...which i put in the bottle type and not the bowl...so basically i can hear her drinking because the bottle keeps on knocking against the wall of her cage :roll:

and lastly her poop, well they look more like those bullet size droppings, colour....dark brown if i have to say, and not that sticky 

and last night i finally managed to play with her for a full 1 hour+ by letting her roam around my room, and i also managed to pat her without poking myself with her quills 

oh yes...n one last question...i read that around the age of 3month she's be going through the quilling process right? how's that going to be and would she go half bald or something? i;ve never seen that process before...this is all too new for me :mrgreen: n would she be hurting?

thanx!! 
[attachment=0:3odb722y]1.jpg[/attachment:3odb722y]


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Pine shavings or any sort of wood shavings are not a preferred bedding. Hedgehog's have issues with dusty or smelly bedding and shavings will have both. If possible it would be better to find somewhere that sells fleece fabric and just cut it to the size of the cage. You can get a bunch of liners out of the length of fabric you buy. If you can't find fleece, baby receiving blankets are a good substitute. 

Royal Canine is not the best brand as it has corn in it which has no nutritional value. Kitten formulas are usually too fattening. Check the food and nutrition section for better substitutes and suggestions. 

It's great that you picked her up, good work! I'm sure she'll start to come around even more if you keep it up. 

I'm curious as to why you picked a bottle over a bowl. I know that there are pro's and con's to each choice but I think that it's generally accepted you should use a bowl. Hedgehog's have a harder time tilting their head on the angle they need to drink from a bottle and so don't get enough water from it (or not as much as they would from a bowl). Also hedgehog's can break teeth on the metal of the bottle nozzle. Did you choose the bottle so it wounldn't get filled with bedding? If you switch to fleece that won't be an issue. It's your choice but in my opinion a bowl is much better (easier to clean too). 

22-27'c is a pretty big difference. If it's closer to the 22 end it might be too cold. 27 would probably be find but I know that air conditioning set to 27 is colder than heating set to 27 so it still might be too cold for a hedgehog. Hedgehog's can go into hibernation from the temperature dropping just five degrees so if it's at 27 most of the night and then goes down it could be a problem. Try to keep the temp in the cage stable. 

Poop sounds normal to me.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Around eight weeks is when most hedgies quill into their adult color (except for some that become whites, they can take longer). The quills will probably look a bit more sparse but definitely not bald. There shouldn't be any bald patches. You should also be able to see new quills growing in.

It is uncomfortable having the quills poke through the skin, so she will probably be grumpy for a while. Just keep handling and be extra gentle, and try not to put pressure on her back or anything that may be painful. Giving her an oatmeal bath once a week or so (you will only really need to do this for 2-3 weeks) can help the quills come in and sooth her skin.

She is just adorable, congrats.


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## scarletastrea86 (Jun 30, 2009)

to hedgielover:

owh my, when u put it that way, i feel like all the things im doing have been totally bad for her!! ok i'll try n change everything that is needed  but how exactly do i keep the fleece in position? because before this i used some old cloth as her bedding but then she would just sort of "dig in" and hide under it as a cover...

n yes...i used the bottle because of the reasons u stated, but i guess i would change that too...

owh...n how can i tell if she's gone into hibernation? i certainly don't want that!!!

thanx 

n to lizardgirl:

thanks so much for the information! i think she's possibly going into the quilling state, coz i can see some of her quills have come off, n been grumpy as of late too :roll: but i'll keep my eyes on her....n would try to bathe her too  thanx alot!!


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

^_^ Don't worry about the learning process, it's great that you are here learning and taking the advice into consideration. And what you're doing now isn't all that bad, so no worries. ^_^

As for the hibernation, you know when they are lethargic and listless. They don't move, and their belly is cold. If that happens, you need to warm her up immediately. A great way to quickly warm a cold hedgie up is to put them in a hedgie bag(of sorts) and keep them next to your body, even under your shirt, or maybe even just get into bed and snuggle your hedgie under the covers until they are warm and starting to move again. After, you can try offering some food and water, a favourite treat, so on and so forth. 

And I would also agree with hedgielover, in that 22C might be too cold. My boy is usually happiest at 24C(heated) It's set at 26-27C when it's a/c. If you can find a way to keep the temperature from ranging down to 22, then there shouldn't be much to worry about. 

As for the fleece, there are different ways of keeping it down. One is to put velcro on all 4 corners and attach to the cage. Or, what else you can do, is give her a pile of fleece strips to dig through, so she doesn't have to dig under the liner. Do you have some sort of "house"(igloos, box) for her? They love burrowing into something until it's completely dark when they sleep. Which is probably why your girl dug under the cloth. 

Oh, and another reason why some don't like wood shavings...Is the ever-going possibility of a mite infestation. As for the pine, from what I remember, it must be kiln-dried pine. 

Some hedgies are ok with the bottle. But I too prefer a bowl over a bottle, just because it is more natural, and mine can drink more water without having to tilt his head at an unnatural angle and try to get water to dribble down his throat. And because I use liners, nothing gets the water dirty, as I separate his water and food bowl by a few inches, on opposite sides of the width of his cage. Only sometimes, do small particles of his litter(yesterday's news) get into the water. 

Lastly, if you do a search(upper right corner) on "quilling" "bathing" "oatmeal", you'll get threads with a lot of advice about the bathing process and what to use.


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## scarletastrea86 (Jun 30, 2009)

thanks immortalia for the great advice!!  


btw i changed my kookie's bedding today, but for the time being im using some old towels as the bedding since i havent gotten the chance to buy some fleece (but going to get a few tomorrow!!), and yes i do have a small box for her and in fact i cut some small pieces of towels n put them in the box and outside the box (took some hints from the caging thread  ) n so far i still am using the water bottle, because i plan on buying the small bowls but couldnt get some so far, the petshops around here mostly have the hugeeee ones, which i find that those would be a bit too crowded for her...

so far as for her behaviour, i think she's getting more acquainted with me! just the occasional grumpiness, n she still pees though, but not as much as before, n which i find normal now (kinda get used to it too)  however i noticed that she would only be defensive when she's in the cage, but once i've gotten her out n let her run around to explore my room(she's a curious one this Kookie!! and always running with her little feet!), she doesnt seem to mind being pick up and all....that's odd to me  how come it's ONLY ok ONCE she's out of her cage but now while in it?

oh yes, i do have another question (sorry, im still learning)  in another 3-4 days time, i'll be going back to college, and would be bringing her along of course, but the trip would be 4-5 hours away, would this cause alot of stress on her? after all...i did just brought her back home like 1 week ago after the same 4-5 hours journey,,,...hmm....but my breeder did mention that Kookie is abit different than his other hedgies, as she doesnt get carsick like others would....but still..i am worried.... :| 


And should i get one of those carrier? like the one for cats?i saw someone posted a picture of it in a thread, looks interesting!  or can i just carry it in a shoebox? (me holding it of course) 

ps/i just saw her snuck out of her box to eat (now 3.30 am)..yay!! at least i know she's ok and not hibernating (god forbid!)


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Careful with the towels, because their nails can get caught in the little loops and end up pulling/ripping/hurting their nails. Since they like to dig and burrow, it's easy for nails to get caught in the loops.

Try the dollar stores for the small crock bowls. That's where I got all of my tiny bowls for my boy. Much cheaper too 

Mine is the same way. He's extra huffy when he's in his bed and cage. I would assume this is because that is their home, their place, and you're invading their space. They are mostly solitary animals, with us sticking our hands in, is like an intruder invading their home space. This explanation makes the most sense to me in my mind ^_^ Once I have him away from "his" fleece, he is not huffy at all, and if anything, he tries to climb into my lap to find a place to sleep :lol:

As for travel, check this thread http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2804 for proper travel accessories. The thing with just putting her in a shoebox and you holding, is that if anything were to happen, whether it be an accident, or hard braking, your hedgie will go flying. And Nikki brought up a very good point on another thread, which is that the EMS are trained to look for animal carriers, not random boxes. They would have no idea that there's a hedgehog in a shoebox. So a proper carrier that is seat belted to the car is the safest way to travel.

Also, check the travel sections of the forum, there are many threads about traveling, from 1 hr travel, to 6 hours travel, and even longer. 4-5 hours isn't all that long, just check up on her during rest stops(in case she dirties herself, then you can give her fresh fleece to lay on). But ya, definitely check the travel section, and then ask if there's anything else that isn't clear ^_^

Will her cage stay the same? If it is, I would suggest not to do a thorough cleaning the night before, so that when you arrive at school and put her back into the cage, it's all still her scent. If it's a different cage, then bring the fleece that she's been sleeping on, so she has familiar scents.

And...Hedgies make great college studying companions....If they are sleepers like mine is :lol: Mine goes with me to school as well and he just sleeps in my lap while I study, do homework, procrastinate.....play games...etc etc XD


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## scarletastrea86 (Jun 30, 2009)

owh...tq soooooo much for all the tips!!  

btw i checked up on the towels, so far she's doing ok with it, no loose threads whatsoever, but it's just temporary anyways as im getting her some fleece blanket,n besides she's more keen to snuggle up in my old tshirt that i put into her cage 

owh...and as for the carriers, i guess it was yours that i saw in the other post!! great looking one, i think i'll try to find something like that, i think it would be more convenient to both of us 

n thanks for the link to the thread on travelling, i tried finding myself, but couldn't get the specific ones  that really helps alot! n as for her cage, im thinking of getting a bigger box, since the one im using is rather small (in my view) but im going to get it once i've settled in my college, and im going to get better accessories for her too, like those igloo hideout, bowls, maybe some stuff that she can climb on...n i guess just like your boy, my Kookie also does that thing where she would run around then come back n climb on my lap to sleep  

n yes, one of the reasons why i got a hedgie as a pet for college is because im sort of like a night owl...so with her being awake at night would be a really comforting company with my kind of stressful studies  hehe

but i wonder, how exactly do u bring ur boy around? i mean, aren't pets NOT allowed around campus? well like during classes n all? did u hide him under ur shirt or sumtin? boy...if u do...u really must have some THICK skin! :shock: 

anyways thanks alot! n i'll try to provide the best i can for my baby girl


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Haha, I don't really bring him into school much, though I have once or twice. I have a bag that acts as a purse and as a soft carrier. It has 3 big pockets and he goes in the center, while my wallet and purse stuff goes on the sides. So it looks like I'm just carrying a purse around. ^_^ But, my boy is very good with staying still and just sleeping, so it's easy to take him places.

But mostly, he just stays at my school apartment and I take him out at nights when I'm attempting to study :lol:


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## scarletastrea86 (Jun 30, 2009)

btw today i woke up early (around 6 am) , and while the light was still off, i went to have a look at my baby, well it was actually good to finally see her in action  , however i do have some question about her behaviour... :? 


i've read about mites and quilling, n i think she may be in that process now (but i doubt there are any mites)

but im abit puzzled with one thing, from the thread on quilling, the hedgie would be scratching occasionally because of the quilling process, however in my case, i find it puzzling because....

when i turn on the lights....she would be in a normal stage, but as soon as i turn off the lights, she would be scratching alot! well i won't call it scratching like crazy, but it's alot...but when i turn the lights on again.....she's back to normal...normal in this sense would mean she would still be active, running around eating and all that stuff like it was in the dark, but minus the scratching...

it's like a signal to her...

lights on-scratch off
lights off-scratch on

hahaha....weird...from all the quilling or mites thread....i dun think there's any mention about the time n situation that a hedgie would scratch..right? unless i missed it... :| 

soo...can anyone plz help out n explain this kind of behaviour? maybe anyone have encountered it?

btw before this i've NEVER seen her scratch herself...well not during day time/when there's light that is...but after i switched off....well who knows? tq in advance!


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

No, there are no specific times in which a hedgehog would scratch.

Yours probably has very dry itchy skin from quilling and would really benefit from getting an oatmeal bath soon, and probably a rinse with some flax seed oil too. 

Again, just search for the bathing, along with the flax oil for more in depth info ^_^

Also, as long as she is growing as many quills as she is losing, then it's quilling.

If she starts getting bald patches, then it's probably mites and you need to take her to the vet asap.


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## scarletastrea86 (Jun 30, 2009)

Alright thank you  i'll look into it. However today i had a look at her, n don't see any bald pathches anywhere on her body, except for the one on top of her head, well i won;t exactly call it bald but just a little , but that one is a normal feature on a hedge right?  btw just a little info she never scratches before, n not even today, as a matter of fact, i have never caught her scratching herself ever, except for that last night, n it was only when it was dark.

do they do that only when it is dark? sorry...i couldnt find an answer for that anywhere  
because last night she only scratches when the light was off..other than that it's normal behaviour,...playing around..eating...pooping n sleeping alot 

btw sorry for all the questions but i truly appreciate for every answers given 

ps/ i finally fed her mealies..the small worms (but using tweezer as im terrified of them!!)n she absolutely loved it!! n because of that she wouldnt even mind me trying to hold her when she was in the cage, in fact couldnt wait to get out so that she could have those little creepy crawlies!!


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