# HeLppp!!! Bought a Hedgie and it gave birth!!!



## vanessa5 (Nov 15, 2017)

Hello,
I am need Help!! I purchased a Hedgie for my daughter. a week ago it gave birth!!!!!!! I DID NOT KNOW IT WAS PREGNANT!!! i don't know much about hedgehog, but been reseaching as much as i can to be able to care for them. Today i noticed the crate was really dirty after a week of it giving birth and noticed a few ants….. i cleaned crate without touching the babies. I KNOW I SHOULD DISTURB BUT EITHER I CLEANED OR ANTS WOULD GET BABIES. After cleaning it Hedgehod mom started caring babies around and act weird. I DNT WANT IT T KILL THEM what can i do to calm her down!!! 
im so worried


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

There isn't anything you can do now except leave her completely alone and keep everyone away from the cage. Don't make any more changes and don't clean the cage again. Mom is stressed right now so you need to keep her from being stressed again. You're going to have to figure out away to keep the ants out of the cage because you can't clean it again no matter how dirty it gets.


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## Zozo (Oct 23, 2017)

If you take a picture of the settup, I might able to figure out a few ideas....


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## vanessa5 (Nov 15, 2017)

I WILL leave her alone. I even covered her cage with a big blanket to she dnt see us walking around. Thabkx Nikki for the advice! And ZOZO I WILL take pictures. I ended up putting back dirty blanket to see if she would calm down. 

Now, how do i notice if she is rejecting the one baby she was carring around?or if shes even being mean to others in the nest. Im even afraid of trying to look!!


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Please DON'T take pictures, there is nothing you can change in the cage right now and any different sights smells etc is just going to stress her more. I have no idea what good pictures would do right now since you can't change anything. 

There is really no way to know what's happening in the nest but you can look for babies outside the nest when you go to feed her. The most important thing is to not do anything new or different.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Zozo said:


> If you take a picture of the settup, I might able to figure out a few ideas....


Pictures aren't going to do anything. You can't change, add or move anything in the cage while the babies are there. Please be careful giving baby advice unless you have a lot of experience with moms and babies.


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## vanessa5 (Nov 15, 2017)

Today I pulled the cover up to put food and water and she was very very defensive. So I just put the water quick and cover cage again. I did noticed one baby crying. mommy hedgie had kind of rearrange the cage her way. She was still acting CRAZY. she was trying to climb and kept on walking around and sniffing the one baby. I FELL SOOO BADDD  I Told my daughter to let everything cover and not disturb her.

Nikki, if I continue to hear babies cry, should I just remove them from mommy n hand feed them until they can eat ?? I don't know about Hedgies, but I definitely don't want them to suffer  I'm so heart broken!!!!

PLEASE GIVE ALL THE ADVICE YOU CAN

THANK You so much for the help and support


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Their best chance of survival is to stay with mom if at all possible. The chance of survival with hand raising babies only a week old is about 25%. As long as she isn't actively hurting them it's best to leave things alone. Did you have a cover on her cage before this all happened or is this new?

I know it's scary but you need to remain calm so mom calms down, they can feel our emotions and if you are stressed she will be stressed more. Right now you're doing every thing you can and you just need to let nature take it's course.


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## Zozo (Oct 23, 2017)

Alright. Pictures and trying to change thing with minimal stress = no. Got it. But understandable if the mom's being very defensive with just change food.

But should she be kept covered 24/7? Because of the day and night time of thing? 
I'd like Nikki to reply to this..


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

It depends on the cover. If it's blocking all light then one side of the cage should be left uncovered if possible but I would be very leery of even doing that right now. 

Make sure you talk to mom softly before changing her food and water so she know you're there before moving the cover.


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## vanessa5 (Nov 15, 2017)

I cover it but let light go in zozo. And i always before i get close i call her name and i usually wait until i hear her making noise, to approach her. That way i dont scare her.Yesterday afternoon she was calm n she seemed like she had her nest fixed up. I did not noticed babies around or hear them cry. I am thinking shes not so stress anymore. Shes been eating and drinking as usual


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## Zozo (Oct 23, 2017)

I heard about a guy who breeds hedgehogs that in order for him not to bother the mother and the babies he gives them big enough food bowl that'll last a few days.. Would this be wise or not?


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

You want to give food and water daily so you can see if she's eating and drinking normally and to make sure there are no babies out of the nest.

I'm glad she seems to have settled down, that's a good thing. Make sure you're extra careful from now on to not make any changes until the babies are weaned.


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## Zozo (Oct 23, 2017)

Also gotta think of the future once they grow... Are you gonna be able to keep all of them??


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## Scuzz (Jun 3, 2017)

Re: the ants, Just see if you can get an ant stick. (looks like a stick of chalk, but is made with poison in it.) Then you just draw a line on the floor around the cage and the ants will either stay away, or die.


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## vanessa5 (Nov 15, 2017)

I feed her daily early in the am when shes awake and late evening when shes waking up. I make sure her food is fresh and water is fresh. Babies are gettting big i noticed them inside the nest. 

A few friends asked me for them but i want to make sure they are healthy n that they know a little before handling them to them.

Tiday hedgies are 2 weeks old and their spikes are so much longer?. Mommie hedgie seem to be more calm, ive been lettibg her smell my hand and she licks it. 

No more ants but the smell is driving me insine. Lol. Im just leaving everything the way it is!!!


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## vanessa5 (Nov 15, 2017)

Nikki do the babies learn on their own to eat food?? When would i be able to check if babies are boy or girl?


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Yes the babies will learn to eat on their own. They'll start by eating crumbs left behind by mom. In another couple of weeks you can put a small dish of crumbled up food in there for them to eat from.

I would wait another week before handling the babies just because of how mom acted before. When you do start go very very slowly. Only just touch one baby for a second or two every day to start with, then a few days later you can try touching two for a bit longer. If she's ok with that then you can start by holding one for just a few seconds and slow go from there. If at any time mom seems stressed then stop holding and touching them for another week and then start over from the beginning.


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## vanessa5 (Nov 15, 2017)

This pic was a week ago. THANKS to all of you guys advice they made it this far. Today i hold them real quick and i was able to see their gender. I have two girls n a boy?. They are starting to move more(still inside the nest) I noticed mom bring crumbs n food inside nest) 

Hedgies are 4 weeks n 2 days old. When should i separate the boy???I DO NOTT want more hedgies!!!!!!!! Lol.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

You need to separate the boy when he's between 5-6 weeks old. I always waited till they were closer to 6 weeks old and never had and "oops" pregnancy from it. 

I'm so glad they're doing well, you've done an awesome job with them.


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