# A Comparison



## SouthernSweet (Jul 25, 2012)

Now that I have had Clark for 5 months (he's about 7 months old! wow!) I wanted to look back on the experience I have had with him versus with my sweet Quinnlee, who has been with me for almost a year now.

Q: Has a preference for cuddling when out of her cage.
C: Has a preference for running around, exploring and chewing on things.

Q: Will come and greet me if she is awake.
C: Will huff and fuss when I go near the cage.

Q: Only accepts mealies as treats.
C: Doesn't like any treats.

Q: drinks almost a whole bowl of water in one night.
C: drinks 2/3 of what Q drinks, tops.

Q: Eats all her kibble.
C: Eats most of kibble, doesn't touch the crumbs.

They make different noises when they eat & drink.

Q: Poops in her "pooping corner" and pees on her wheel.
C: Poops everywhere, pees everywhere. (everywhere also = everyone) Poop smells terrible unless he gets regular probiotics.

Q: Does well with paper towels as litter.
C: destroys paper towels purely to annoy me.

Q: Like sleeping in or under a snuggle bag in her Hagen Dome.
C: Doesn't like the Hagen Dome, sleeps in a snuggle bag.

Both would sleep under their fleece liners if they could get away with it.

Q: handles food and changes just fine.
C: Gets bloated and gassy with food and routine changes.

Q: Rarely raises her quills or balls up.
C: balls up at everything unless you let him run around where he wants to.

Q: HATES pedicure day. She has started biting when she get's really upset about it.
C: Is tolerant of pedicure day, puts up an occasional fight.

Q: lets me know when she needs to poo.
C: poops everywhere all the time without warning :roll: 

I love these guys  But anyhow, a comparison of how very different my two little ones are. Perhaps this might be useful to potential owners to see how varied hedgehog behavior can be.


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

Haha! My two sound a lot like your two lol. Prim only poops on her wheel, and even then it's not all smushed in and is very easy to clean. Ivy poops EVERYWHERE (and on anyone) and pounds her poop into her wheel, making it a total pain to clean. Ivy only really puffs if you mess with her while in her blanket. Prim will not puff if she recognizes your scent or is comfortalbe with you (it takes her a few minutes to adjust to new people), regardless of what she's doing. 

I love them both and I love that they are both different!


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Haha, this is great! Piglet seems to be potty trained for everywhere EXCEPT his cage. His cage is a free-for-all, but he's never gone potty on me (knock on wood), and when I let him run around he only poops either under the couch or under the tv stand.

I always like reading about other people's hedgehog's personalities. It's reassuring to know that some of Piglet's weirdness is totally normal.


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## Alyybear (Nov 8, 2012)

WOW! They are totally different! Thanks for sharing 

My Nimitz is a sweetie, but he still freaks out a little bit at random things. He hasnt pooped while out in a while, and I am SO happy he has outgrown the constant baby pooping 
He doesnt mind strangers, and gets really excited about food time. He poops on the wheel but it is easy to clean if I keep on top of it, and he tends to only poop on his litter tray (YAY!!) despite me putting 0 effort into trying to litter train him LOL

He puffs up initially until he gets used to the sounds etc happening in an area, and then he'll just curl up and sleep, or come out and explore. I've very laid back about his interactions, and let him do what he feels comfortable with. He is a terrible liner diver


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

abbys said:


> His cage is a free-for-all, but he's never gone potty on me (knock on wood), and when I let him run around he only poops either under the couch or under the tv stand.


Son of a nutcracker! Why do I always have to open my big mouth and jinx things?? Technically he didn't poop ON me, but it's bad enough. He was snuggled up on the couch cushion, nestled under my shirt towards my back. I didn't realize he was fidgeting because he was pooping until I got up and noticed the smell. He had pooped on the couch, and since I was slouched down my shirt had ridden up a little and IT SMEARED ON MY BACK!!!!!!!!

EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's not enough soap in the world...


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Hahahaa I love this! Abbys - you should still consider yourself lucky... you haven't suffered until you've managed to step on a quill and get poop down your entire chest. Milton's a real gentleman. Here are some of the main comparisons I've found with Milton and Penny!

M: gets on his wheel by 11 pm every night like clockwork, no matter what.
P: I have never seen her wheel, only cleaned up after it.

M: goes to sleep and stays asleep until waking up for wheel time again.
P: wakes up numerous times during the day to eat and make a lap around her water dish.

M: loves nothing more that to get wrapped in fleece and snuggle. 
P: has to be exploring all the time, but stays within 5 ft of me and runs back to my feet.

M: has to be under or inside fleece to sleep.
P: will proudly splat wherever she is, and loves her igloo.

M: loves all treats, and will try any new thing offered, but won't eat his food crumbs.
P: cleans her food dish and poops in it waiting for more, but will not take ANY treats.

Things they have in common are a love for biting sweatshirt strings, liner diving, pooping on the couch, and surprisingly they both love being taken on trips to places like class and work!


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## SouthernSweet (Jul 25, 2012)

Haha I love this forum, you guys always make me laugh  Hedgehogs are always such characters!!
'
Piglet never fails to amuse with his timing 

I like your comparisons SpikeMoose!

"and poops in it waiting for more" :lol: 

Alyybear, Nimitz needs to help my Clark out, he never got over the "constant baby pooping" D:

@JulieAnne: Is Ivy new? I haven't been on in a while and I think last time I was you just had Prim  if so, congrats!


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

SpikeMoose said:


> P: cleans her food dish and poops in it waiting for more, but will not take ANY treats.


I love this! And I'm definitely thankful that he hasn't pooped down my shirt! Of course now that I've just said that he'll probably do it tonight...



SpikeMoose said:


> Piglet never fails to amuse with his timing


Seriously! The same thing happened when I wrote on a thread saying that Piglet still hadn't discovered "boy time" yet, and a few weeks later he was going at it like crazy.


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

SouthernSweet said:


> @JulieAnne: Is Ivy new? I haven't been on in a while and I think last time I was you just had Prim  if so, congrats!


Aww you're so sweet for noticing lol. She is new!!! I've only had her for about a month but yes I have a new baby!!!

Here is "her story" lol viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26658

I love seeing how different they are and seeing what they have in common! It's so much fun.


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## Kelcey (Mar 28, 2013)

Shamus has pooped on my arm, on my pants, on my belly, on my chest (in pets mart), and in my hair TWICE. And peed in my lap once. He is still just a baby though (4 months).


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

@Kelcey EWWWW!


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Kelcey wins!


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## Kelcey (Mar 28, 2013)

Awesome ! I never win. I don't mind being pooped on. I just don't want him to pee on my bed and have to wash everything . I'm going to take a bath anyways so, no big deal if its on me. His poop only smells for 5 seconds and it all comes off when I pick it up unless I smoosh it by accident. Wasn't even hard to get it out of my hair once I found it.


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## AlexONeil (Nov 14, 2012)

I think I want to play this game! We have four hogs, but we just brought the fourth home a couple weeks ago. While he is an adult, and set in his ways, we're still learning what they are. So I may only have three for some comparisons.

Houdini: Waits to leave his home until the light has been off for at least fifteen minutes.
Cinder: Waits for a half hour.
Renny: Doesn't wait, wakes up whenever he darn well feels like it.
Indigo: Up and moving within five minutes.

H: Eats a consistent amount of food each night, never snacks during the day (except for bath days)
C: Some nights he eats twice as much as normal, other nights he barely touches his food. Doesn't snack.
R: Eats roughly the same amount of food each night, but snacks throughout the day. Some days he moves his hut so the food bowl is cuddling with him.
I: Eats a consistent amount, occasionally snacks, will almost always snack after being handled.

H: Wheels for most of the night, occasionally takes a snack and nap break.
C: Wheels for about 45 minutes a night.
R: Wheels for half the night in 15 minute intervals.
I: Wheels for a couple hours on end, calls it a night around 4am.

H: Does not like being handled, unless I am sitting on the couch not moving. Then he will run around on me, the couch, and the sleeping dog.
C: Loves to be held, loves to cuddle.
R: Wants to go see everything, and to heck with what we want.
I: Likes to cuddle on his terms, hates being on his back.

H: Loves to sample treats, but will eat mealies for the rest of his life if we let him.
C: Does not like treats.
R: Will eat a couple mealies, but would rather stick to his kibble.
I: Loves mealies, haven't tried any other treats yet.

H: Used to poop solely on and around his wheel, but now he poops wherever, and we shouldn't care. The more we clean up, the more mess he makes.
C: Poops on and behind wheel. Sometimes he leaves poop art on his hut.
R: Poops on and behind wheel. Always leaves poop art.
I: Poops wherever he darn well feels like it.

H: Sleeps on or under his sleeping bag, almost never in it.
C: Sleeps under his sleeping bag, almost never in it.
R: Usually sleeps in his bag.
I: Sleeps on or in his sleeping bag. Two nights out of the week, he liner dives.


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## SouthernSweet (Jul 25, 2012)

love it, Alex!  You have such wonderful brats.


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## AlexONeil (Nov 14, 2012)

SouthernSweet said:


> love it, Alex!  You have such wonderful brats.


Thank you! I think brats is the key word there.  They like to trash their cages, except for Cinder, just to annoy me I think.

All joking aside, I think I have delightful boys, and I wouldn't change a thing about them.


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