# Rescued two hedgehogs last Monday. Please help.



## PB&J (May 8, 2011)

My name is Debbie. I'm 26 and live in New Jersey. Here's my story.

My boyfriend was on craigslist about a week ago and he saw that a lady that lived about 30 minutes away from us had two hedgehogs she was giving up. He knew that I always liked them but never owned any. So, he decided to go and get them for me. Of course he can't keep any secrets so he told me about it and I went with him. First of all, we called in advance and let them know we were on our way. We get there and get bombarded by 4 dogs, a few cats, and a naked toddler running wild in the house. The lady's husband comes over to us and brings out the hedgehogs. They were in a rabbit cage that was duck taped together. They had the male and female in the same cage. He said he's not sure about the ages but he thinks the female is 3 and the male is 1. So we load the cage up into the car and go on our way. Now I'm not an expert on hedgehogs but I do know a lot about animals and knew we had to get them separated ASAP. We rushed to Petsmart within 5 minutes of it closing got a new cage, 2 large plastic wheels, new food dishes, 2 water bottles, bedding, and the best dry cat food we could find, and a book about hedgehogs. Everything was sort of rushed because the lady said she needed them gone ASAP. They also told us that they hardly ever handle them and that when the husband did handle them he wore gloves. 

So now I have two hedgehogs that huff and puff every time I go near their cages let alone touch them. I'm worried about the fact that they had them together because the female is older and I'm not sure if she would make it through a pregnancy. I take them out of their cages separately everyday for 30 minutes to a hour a piece. With the female I pick her up with my bare hands as her quills aren't as sharp as the males. I usually lay on the couch and let her run along side of me and make sure she can't fall off. The other day she did bite me when I picked her up. I use one of my old t-shirts to pick up the male and have the same routine with him. When I take them out I give them mealworms as treats as a kind of positive reinforcement. The female usually takes a while to relax and run around. The male is usually fine after about a minute or so. With both of them anytime I move they ball up and huff and puff. 

So here are my questions:
1. Am I doing anything wrong?
2. Should I change the bedding to a fleece liner & just add a burrow box? Right now they have Carefresh Basic pet bedding. After reading some more about them I'm not sure if that was the correct choice.
3. Is the cat food that I'm using okay? Its Eukanuba Sensitive stomach. The first Ingredient on the list is chicken so I thought it would be okay. I also picked up Sunscription Vita: Hedgehog Formula (it was the only hedgehog food the pet store had). Is it any good?
4. Both of their ears look dry and eaten up. Any advice on what it is and how to fix it?
5. Is biting normal? The female did bite me. She didn't clamp down and I didn't jerk away or anything. It was three bites, didn't break the skin but did leave a mark. I figured she just didn't want to be held anymore so I put her down.
6. How soon will I be able to tell if the female is pregnant and do you think it will kill her? I have no idea how long they had the two in the same cage and if they mated. 

I know this is a lot but any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much.
Oh, I named them Peanut Butter(female) and Jelly(male). 
The male is albino and the female looks albino but she is white with a slight brown color to her. Both have red eyes. The attached picture is Peanut Butter. Jelly wouldn't let me take a picture of him.


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## PB&J (May 8, 2011)

Here's a picture of her cage that I just took. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Jelly's cage looks exactly the same. Peanut won't sleep in her tunnel she sleeps under it. She also flips that bed over and sleeps under that. Jelly actually sleeps in his tunnel. I know she uses the wheel because I can hear her in it at night. Not sure if he uses his wheel or not yet.


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## NoDivision (Aug 29, 2010)

Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you, but so far you are doing an AWESOME job! Using a t-shirt to pick them up is perfect, and you're doing just right by getting them out and socializing. They will probably take time to get used to you, but so far it sounds like both of them are doing pretty okay with socializing since they do unball and explore a bit. Just keep handling them  Most hedgehogs will always huff and ball up if they're startled, so don't be surprised if that never changes.

As far as the possibly pregnancy - all you can do is wait. Gestation period can be from 35-50 days if I remember correctly, so count the days from the time you separated them. If you get past 50 days, then you should be in the clear. If she is pregnant... well, I'll let an experienced breeder talk you through that.

As far as things you might want to change:

1) The bedding. Yes, you should switch to fleece. Carefresh is really dusty and can cause respiratory problems for hogs. 
2) We don't recommended water bottles for hedgehogs - they are not designed for hogs and can hurt their teeth. Get another heavy bowl for water. 
3) That cage is possibly a little bit small, but for now it's fine since it fits the wheel - you made the right wheel choice as far as pet store wheels, so that's great. But in the long term you may want to consider larger cages and getting Carolina Storm Wheels from Larry here on the forum - they are excellent!
4) You'll want to switch them onto better food. Normal pet stores have a very limited selection so I'm sure you grabbed whatever looked best - but check here for the foods we recommend viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15 (some good ones are chicken soup for the cat lovers soul, blue buffalo, wellness indoor health, etc. Basically you want no corn or fillers, real meat, protein of around 30% and fat no higher than 15%)

Also, you'll need to set up a light and heat source - check here for that viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4579


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

First of all - Welcome to HHC & congrats on your hedgies! It sounds like you will be a very good owner. Don't worry if there are some things to change, you don't have to do everything at one time. 
I love fleece much more than carefresh. It's less messy & not dusty. If you would like to ease into it, you can get some fleece for just 1 cage & see how different it is than the carefresh. But some people do use the carefresh, so if you can't change that, it's not a huge deal.

As far as the food, it would be a good idea to get another kind (or 2) of kibble to mix in, so there is a variety. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15 But it's good to do it gradually, so you have plenty of time. You will want to get them used to what you have now before adding anything new.

I see that NoDivision has beat me to it - so I won't go through everything else. 

As far as the tattered ears, you can get a bottle of flax seed capsules from the vitamin section of the grocery store. Poke a hole with a pin & squeeze a drop behind each ear (careful not to get it into the ear) & drip a couple drops on the back. You can squeeze a drop onto the food if you would like. When we got our girl Zoey, her ears were tattered. I used the flaxseed about 1 time every week. As they got better, I only used the flaxseed oil every 2 weeks. After a couple of months, she was all better. 

There's lots of wonderful info in the threads - you can search for things like biting & see what has helped others.

Ultimately, it sounds like you're doing a great job, keep it up, keep learning. Be patient and kind and hopefully they will both get more comfortable with you.

I hope it goes well, please let us know.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

My albino's ears were like that when I got her. I rubbed a little Crisco on them and on her nose which looked the same, and that took care of it. It seems to be more of an accumulation of dead skin than an old injury or anything.

A little nip to let you know she wants to be left alone is not an indication of a real biting problem...a determined biter will clamp down and you'll feel the jaw wiggling as it tries to take a chunk of finger out. They can and do draw blood when they want to.

If you do have a male and a female, then you've got to assume they mated. That actually might be some of the slightly darker color on the female...old blood from the male's chin. (hedgehog mating is not a beautiful thing...the male usually bites the spikes on the female's back and holds on for dear life while she runs around the cage trying to dislodge him). You probably should try to determine if you do have a male and a female, because it sounds like the people you got them from might not have known. If you have a container that's clear, like a glass loaf pan or casserole dish, you could have your boyfriend hold the container with the hedgehog in it while you look underneath, if they won't let you look at their undersides. A hedgehog with something that looks like an outie belly button is a male. Once you're sure about the genders, if you do have a male and a female, you should switch the female's bedding to aspen shavings (because you can't clean the cage for a while if she has a litter, and it will get to smelling really bad, even with the wood shavings, but would be intolerable with fleece bedding) and start counting days. She would also need the wheel taken out and a big enough hideout for her and babies.

If you do have a male and a female and they kept them together, then they've had litters together, even if they ate the evidence and the original owners just never noticed. So the age probably wouldn't be as much of a concern because this isn't a first litter. They might be wrong about the age too...does the female seem to have most of her teeth?


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## PB&J (May 8, 2011)

Thank you everyone for all of the help. I just got back from the store and got some fleece liners that I'll be switching to either tonight or tomorrow. 

As far as having all of the teeth I'm not sure. When she does open up and start exploring she won't let me get near her right yet. I'm just going to have to keep working with her until she gets used to me. 

I kind of live out in the middle of nowhere (literally) so I'll have to make the trip up to the pet store tomorrow to get better food and a couple water dishes. It takes me a half hour just to get there. 

I was worried about the fact I put her down after she bit me because I know with some animals they'll learn that they can repeat that behavior to get what they want. I also didn't want to get bit again though.

I'm going to try the flak seed rather than Crisco. I'm only hoping that they will let me get close enough to them to apply it.

Do they only need heat or do they need UVB as well? 
I have plenty of extra bulbs and domes for that kind of stuff. I have 3 tortoises and my boyfriend has 2 bearded dragons so we have tons of animal supplies laying around the house.

Should I take them to the vet? I found a local animal hospital that says they work with hedgehogs.

Thanks again


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## NoDivision (Aug 29, 2010)

They need light, but they don't need like, a UVB bulb like some reptiles. They need to have 12-14 hours of light a day so that they don't think it's winter and try to hibernate, basically. Most of us just use something like a desk lamp on a timer, that way it's not something you have to worry about, it's just automatic 

And yes, as soon as you can I would take them to the vet, just to get them checked out. Make a list of questions or concerns to take with you, just in case you forget anything.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

A vet checkup wouldn't hurt, since it sounds like they were neglected before you got them. And an experienced vet would be able to give you a better idea of the age, probably, as well as being able to check for gender.

I use ceramic ramekins from the dish aisle at Walmart. They're heavy, durable and my hedgies can't tip them over. They cost about a dollar each. I have doubles of them so I can run some through the dishwasher while using others. So if walmart is more convenient to you than the pet store, you might try those. I use bottles for the water though. 

I know Crisco sounds gross to some people, but it works in a pinch. I also use it to make up herbal creams and ointments for my family. It's inexpensive and shelf-stable. Flax seed oil is another name for linseed oil...that stuff in oil paints and varnish...so it doesn't sound that appealing to me, but that's just a personal issue.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Welcome and congrats!! Glad that someone like you picked them up!

If you think the female may be pregnant, you are better off keeping her on loose bedding, whether it be carefresh or wood shavings like aspen. This is just because if she does end up giving birth, this will make it easier to spot clean as you basically have to stay away from the cage until weaning, save for quick feeding and watering. Then after the wait period, you can switch her over to fleece.


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Sounds like you're doing well and have gotten a lot of good advice. heating and lighting schedules are the most important thing (12-14 hours of light but also 12-14 hours of dark and 72-80F air temperature in the cage, heating pads aren't good). Those cermaic heat emitters for reptiles work the best. Definitely check out that heating thread that you were given a link for.

Then work on getting them on some good foods (slowly). I wouldn't bother with the hedgehog food, it's bad. I do feed some hedgehog food (8in1 ultimate hedgehog food) in my mix, just because having one "junk food" isn't bad, but sunseed can cause upset tummies because of the bloodworms in it.

New foods should be added slowly, say a 7-10 day transition period and only add 1 new food at a time, that way you know if one food is upsetting the tummy.

Definitely check their sexes, it is possible they are the same sex. 








the one on the left with the belly button looking thing is a male.

As for the dry ears, I have it down to an art. What I do is take 1 flax seed oil capsule, puncture it with a safety pin, squirt the oil into a container. Then I take a q-tip and put so lanolin on it (Lanolin is a moisturizer that mothers use on their breasts when breast feeding and it works great for hedgehog ears). I roll the q-tip in lanolin, it very sticky, then dip it in the flax seed oil. I then scruff the hedgehog with one hand (with a glove on) - it's basically like scruffing a cat, dog, ferret, etc. Then I take the q-tip and roll it over the dry part of the ear. My hedgehog HATES her ears touched and I am able to do this. It only takes about 4-5 days of doing this once a day for the ears to get soft and smooth.

Best of luck! Feel free to ask any questions! Also go to the "babies and breeding" section and read all of the "stickies" (posts at the top of the thread) on babies and what to do if your hedgehog is pregnant.


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## connorshogs (Mar 24, 2011)

I would not switch to fleece with the girl yet it stinks when they have babys in is (asuming she prego its hard to spot clean after babys are born. I refuse to use fleece for that reason. Food I would switch to royal canin kitten for dad and mom you can get it online.any questions pm me and ill give you my number good luck im here if you need me. I would bring the dad to vet do not bring mom to vet yet if shez prego it could stress her to much.


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## Hedgehog Grove (Jul 21, 2010)

Everyone has covered everything pretty much so I will cover the "possible" pregnancy issue.

Firstly good that you separated the female from the male as soon as they were in your care. So now mark on your calender the day you separated them and count 60days from then, this is the longest gestation and safe period. 

It is likely that if they are indeed male and female and have been kept together that they have had babies before so hopefully if she is pregnant she will have a safe delivery but things can go wrong for even an experienced mom, so it is always good to be observant.

As per vet, you can take the male in to be checked over but do not take the female in, this will cause undue stress on her and they would need to gas her to examine her if she is not a friendly hog. This can be very dangerous to even a non pregnant hedgehog not to mention what it can do to a pregnant one. So leave her for 60days and if no babies after that time has passed you can take her in for a check up.

I would put the females cage in a room that is the most quietest and in less use. If she has babies she will need quiet and little disturbance for the first 2 weeks. 

Give her a nice big nesting area (igloo will work good). Take her wheel out now and only have her food and water bowls and igloo inside her cage. 

Leave her on the shavings since you can not clean her cage fully until the babies are fully weaned from her and out of her cage. After 3 weeks you can start taking ONE handful of dirty shavings and replacing it with a handful of fresh shavings (air a whole bunch out so they don't smell so woody) per day and no more.

You can take her out for socializing up until the point that she has babies then you must leave her alone for the first 2 weeks only going in to feed and water her as per her normal routine, try and keep to the same schedule that you do now so she knows what to expect and when. Talk to her when you go into the room so she knows it is you and will get used to the sound of your voice.

You will know if she has babies from the squeaking you will her coming from her cage with the newborns or noticing them while you feed and water her. If you hear babies then feed and water and then leave nothing else. No peeking what so ever. I know it can be hard not to peek but the babies lives depend on no peeking for the first 2 weeks. 

Now some moms will allow you to start handling babies at 2 weeks old but go by how mom reacts to your presence around the babies when you look inside the igloo (only when she is not inside the igloo) Start with picking up 1 baby for about 20secs and put back in (try to distinguish that baby from the rest). Many breeders use food coloring to mark the baby with a small drop.

If all goes well with the handling of that 1 baby over the first few tries on different days then you an handle another one for the same time and work your way up to all of them. 

If you have any questions or concerns you can PM or email myself, Nancy or HedgiePets (Deneen).

Good luck and keep us updated.


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## PB&J (May 8, 2011)

Thank you for all of the advice. I really hope that she's not pregnant but if she is at least now I'm well informed. If the babies come I will need more help for sure. I plan on building my own cages for them because I can't seem to find anything big enough that's only one level. I will most likely be getting one of the Carolina Storm Wheels as well. Even after reading every care sheet I can find I know that you can usually get the best & most up to date information through forums like this one. 

thanks again.


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