# males



## tine (Feb 18, 2012)

Does anybody on this forum keep males in groups?. if so how many and have you had any problems.


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## Guest (May 22, 2012)

no one active i believe keeps males in groups. 

as a general rule hedgehogs should not be kept together unless they are breeding or in rare situations 2 female litter mates or a mother and daughter can be housed together

otherwise its dangerous as hedgehogs are naturally solitary creatures, they will fight often to the death if housed together

males are also alot more terirotiral so the chance of fighting increases greatly. so its very risky


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Females are risky, males are darn near impossible. Hedgehogs are solitary creatures naturally, so they really don't need a "friend" to keep them company.


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## pickles17 (Feb 18, 2012)

I haven't seen anyone here who has kept males in groups. Most people aren't willing to sacrifice the life of one of their hedgehogs for the sake of them living with another.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

i had my current boys together when they were younger, but it didn't last long. they did great at first, but quickly got on each others nerves and started fighting so now they are only together to play on special occasions like holidays when i have all the animals out together during the day. one will ball up and won't come out if the other ones is in the play pen with him so it's really pointless to try to get them to play nice together  

don't try it please. it only took a split second for one to chomp down on the other and refuse to let go and that was after they had been playing together everyday for weeks or months (can't remember exactly how long), it's not worth the risk. keep them in separate cages if you have more than one male and take them out at separate times to play/cuddle. also make sure you wash your hands and possibly change your clothes before handling the other one (some are very territorial and will freak if they smell another hedgie especially another male on you, but others are fine).


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## cheldy (Nov 20, 2011)

I once left my male at a friend's house for the holidays, and she has another older male. They were kept in separate cages, but during the evening they shared floor time. My hedgie was pretty small then (two or three months), and the other male would run around after him, but not necessarily to hurt him. He'd get close and squeak at him, and if you picked the younger one up, the older male would follow you around :roll: . My friend said she thought the older male was trying to court/mate with mine, but I think it must have been more of a domination thing.
They were not housed together, and I think if they would have been the older one would have dominated the other, causing stress. I wouldn't recommend keeping two males together though. Probably mine got out of it with no injuries because he was still a youngster.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

It isn't just stress you have to worry about. There have been male hedgehogs who have fought to serious injury, including death. I remember one who was disemboweled by a brother he had always lived with. One day they just turned on each other. And it isn't just males you have to worry about, I have a female here who will bite other hedgehogs. Sometimes they really do just want to be the only hedgehog.


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## rodeoRcer87 (May 5, 2011)

All of my girls are housed separate, and all my boys in pairs. I have NEVER had an issue. The females are in buns and the males are in ferret nations for more room. I will switch if someone has an issue, but so far so good  All of the boys also "grew" up together and are planned in pairs according to age.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I hope you have additional cages ready for if they start fighting.


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## kittyeats (Nov 23, 2011)

If you did put two males together, but I don't think it's a good idea, they would fight, as others said. BUT, most of the fighting would happen at night, and if one got really hurt, you might be asleep.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

rodeoRcer87 said:


> All of my girls are housed separate, and all my boys in pairs. I have NEVER had an issue. The females are in buns and the males are in ferret nations for more room. I will switch if someone has an issue, but so far so good  All of the boys also "grew" up together and are planned in pairs according to age.


I think the risk is much higher than any benefit to the hedgies. In fact the only benefit I see is to you, less cages to clean. Its dangerous and shouldn't be recommended to anyone to try. I wouldn't want to risk waking up to a dead or injured hedgie.


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## rodeoRcer87 (May 5, 2011)

Thank you for your input, I appreciate different and all opinions and will keep them in mind. Yes I do have plenty of space as my hedgehog half of my house can hold well over 200 individual cages. Im good with 30  But have more bins if needed. The ferret nations are nice, and being that I have 4 I decided to not put them to waste, and house two males per level. That being said, two hedgies in one cage is cleaned MUCH more then one hedgie in one cage, and they tend to make a bigger mess in the FN, even with all colorplast sides, they still manage to poop on the carpet. This makes more cleaning for me, so no it is not for the "benefit" of cleaning. Again, thanks for the input


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## Guest (May 23, 2012)

if they are in ferret nations anyways why not just keep them seperate, ferret nations can be adapted to make 2 seperate cages

why risk them fighting if you can avoid it?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Lilyhogs said:


> if they are in ferret nations anyways why not just keep them seperate, ferret nations can be adapted to make 2 seperate cages
> 
> why risk them fighting if you can avoid it?


I think they mean that they house 2 males per level, which means 4 males per FN...............


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## Guest (May 23, 2012)

having 2 males on one level of a ferret nation isnt really giving them much floor space once you add 2 wheels and igloos, i dont think that part alone is very fair


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## rodeoRcer87 (May 5, 2011)

I could put six igloos in with the boys and not one will use them. They are all mischievous liner divers, I can fit two ingloos in and two wheels, but since they will not, no matter how many fleece scraps I use, go into the igloos, I use hedgie bags. And they still feel the need to liner dive. This makes it easier to fit the wheels AND since I make my own wheels, I find it fairly easy to fit them in. Especially when I can convert floor heights to fit the wheels. I can promise that my two boys in one level of a ferret nation have way more space then the girls in the storage bins. Each hog has a wheel, regardless. They do not fight, let alone even huff or puff at each other. In fact, if I do take one out the other is generally waiting for him by the door, sorta silly but I think they like each other. Now, many breeders use shavings for convenience. I use all fleece. Except under the wheels, I put paper bedding, the recycled new stuff. I have a heck of a lot of laundry weekly, but I do it for health. 

Now, I only responded because someone asked a question. Not to get attacked on my ways. DAILY I disagree with a lot of the things I see on this forum, I mostly read, and rarely answer. This is why. I do not question your methods, and I do not criticize any of you. I simply answered a post. I did not create a post asking for suggestions. When I do, please feel free to answer in what ever manor. I went to school for and have my bachelors in Agricultural Education with a focus in animal sciences. I also have my minor in animal sciences. I spend my days teaching high school students how to care for their animals and how to be successful at it. I have 4 horses, 2 pigs, 3 dogs, 2 ferrets, 18 quail, 5 barn cats (2 with kittens nursing, was told they were spayed, guess people lie, that will happen next), 2 birds, AND 30 hedgehogs. People think that I am mildly nuts. I show and train my horses, I rescued my dogs and train many for others, I also rescued the pigs, ferrets, birds, and quail. Me and my fiance love our animals, and do not have kids and will not because that would hinder the care of my critters. Please do not assume that the best interest of my animals is not there because I house males together. If I see a concern, it will change but until then they are fine. 

Please do not respond to this, is you want to respond, please give the original poster they answer to the questions that they are asking, I don't want to hijack this post any longer...


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## tine (Feb 18, 2012)

dont keep my adult males together was just a general question, that for all the replys.


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