# Getting a hedge! From a pet store?



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

Hi there! Im getting a hedgie of my very own soon, and theres a local pet store that has them for $220. Now, I havent been there to see them yet, like how theyre housed there and stuff, but I just have a few questions.

If the place is privately owned is it more likely to take better care of their pets?

If I get a hedgie from a pet store (because I would very much like to, rescue it from being in a store and stuff) Im afraid of it dying shortly after I get it, so I need to know how likely this is, I really dont want to spend that much only to have it live like a month or two.

There is one breeder around here, but theyre out by niagara falls, which is about an hour drive, and my parents flat out refuse to drive me out there, the pet store is only 15 min away. 
So any advice would be awesome! Thanks!


----------



## Equinox96 (Dec 20, 2013)

I can't answer your questions but I would like to share my findings. Petstores sell to make money, good breeding sell because they love what they do and love hedgehogs.

Also, make sure you know everything you can about hedgehogs and what they need before going in the petstore. They will probably try and sell you stuff you don't need and won't have what you do need.


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

Equinox96 said:


> I can't answer your questions but I would like to share my findings. Petstores sell to make money, good breeding sell because they love what they do and love hedgehogs.
> 
> Also, make sure you know everything you can about hedgehogs and what they need before going in the petstore. They will probably try and sell you stuff you don't need and won't have what you do need.


Oh yes, I've done plenty of research! Im actually going supply shopping ahead of time so I can just bring him/her home and everything will be set already to put him or her in the new cage. That way if they try to sell me stuff I can also just be like "Nope, Im all set but thank you" Otherwise I know from past experiences, theylle keep telling you of things to buy until you end up with junk you dont need, and nothing you do need.


----------



## Equinox96 (Dec 20, 2013)

I really liked reading this post: http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/10-general-questions/28-general-hedgehog-care-faq.html 
it was very helpful and lets you know what to expect.

Also, at the very bottom of that post, they is a really good (free) book to download, it covers _everything!_


----------



## GI-JOE (Sep 22, 2013)

Caughtinthegrey, I sent you a PM.


----------



## BellaandEdith (Nov 22, 2013)

Hello  
congrats on getting a new hedgie! They are such great little animals. I don't know where you live, but as was stated above, most pet stores sell to make money. Also, people often think they are rescuing hedgies from pet stores, but the fact of the matter is, when you adopt from a pet store, they just bring more of that type of animal in! 
The other options (other than a pet store) is a local shelter, such as an SPCA, Humane Society or community Rescue organization. Also, you may have a breeder in your area! 
definitely avoid Craig's List/kijiji. 

P.S. even privately owned or specialty pet stores are a better option that chain stores!

I have rescued a hedgehog and run a re-homing project in Alberta. So I can definitely help you out with any rescue questions if you decide to go that route! 

Hope this helps


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

BellaandEdith said:


> Hello
> congrats on getting a new hedgie! They are such great little animals. I don't know where you live, but as was stated above, most pet stores sell to make money. Also, people often think they are rescuing hedgies from pet stores, but the fact of the matter is, when you adopt from a pet store, they just bring more of that type of animal in!
> The other options (other than a pet store) is a local shelter, such as an SPCA, Humane Society or community Rescue organization. Also, you may have a breeder in your area!
> definitely avoid Craig's List/kijiji.
> ...


Yeah theres only one breeder on my side of NY and even theyre too far away, I dont drive so I have to rely on my parents, and they said that theylle take me to the pet store to get one but they wont drive all the way out there to get one. Theyre letting me get one, so I wont push it.

The fact that they are privately owned makes me feel better, I haven't ever been to this pet store though, if I have, I dont remember it, its in a mall, but its not a chain store, so Im assuming that means its privately owned?? I dunno. Me and my mom might go check it out tomorrow, if it seems like a badly taken care of place, or you know what I mean, then Ill keep encouraging the breeder idea, otherwise I really dont want to push it and have them change their mind. I might be 18, but its still their house.


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

This is the pet store that Id be going to, If anyone was wondering. http://www.honeyhillpets.com/index.php


----------



## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

(The careguide Equinox was talking about.)


----------



## sweetergrrrl (May 5, 2009)

Petfinder.com is sometimes an option to find adoptable hedgehogs. It is a site for adoption groups to post animals that need forever homes. I have seen hedgies on there also.


----------



## ceopet (Sep 20, 2013)

Are there any rescues or shelters near you? What about rescuing one from there?

When you buy a hedgehog from a pet store...privately owned or not...you are giving your money to the pet mill industry...which is a very cruel endevor to support. Sure you might be saving the one hedgie you buy...but with the money they get from the one you are allowing them to put three more in it's place.


----------



## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

*pet store hedgies...*

I have to say, both of my hogs have come from pet stores, and currently I have a little rescue from a person who went away to college and could not take her. Sola (the rescue) would be an excellent pet for a new hedgie owner. She is 3 years old but she is full of energy! a very tiny girl, etc. So, there are some rescue hedgies that do not have "issues". That being said, my friend from the Hedgehog Welfare Society rescued her from a Craigslist post. Not all hedgies posted on Craigslist or other sites like that are poorly taken care of.

That being said, with you being new to hedgehogs I would recommend if you go that route to rescue from someone who can place you with the *right* hog. In other words, one that has not been neglected or abused or has "issues" which might be more appropriate for someone w/ more experience.

OK, I am getting off topic. There are ethical issues to consider, but in my opinion the pet store hedgies need love too. If you go there, and you feel good about the place and they look healthy, boys and girls are not being caged together, etc. then it is better for them to go home with you than someone who will loose interest and neglect them. I know how you feel about the pet shop hedgies.

My Daisy was at a pet store and I first saw her in mid-May. I later returned at the end of August and she was still there. I wanted a hog, so I got her. They have since gotten a few other hedgies in. I know that she came from a "supplier" and that it is bad to promote that, etc. At the moment the same store has a little male there who has been there since last summer. He is tiny and very friendly and I feel so bad about him being there - but I figure he is clean and has food, etc. and it is better that he stays there than ends up w/ some crappy owner. Besides, hopefully the fact he hasn't sold will discourage them from getting any more in.

I would say go with your gut, and if you find one you like then go ahead and get him/her. Just make sure you get pet insurance (through VPI) which will cover any medical expenses that come up. It is around $80/year.
One thing I just thought of is that $200 is alot to pay for a hedgehog. Maybe if the breeder an hour away is substantially less money your parents would find it worthwhile to drive up there.
Good luck whatever you decide.
-Susan H.


----------



## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

I wanted to edit my post but it appears I no longer can - I just wanted to add that it is not likely a hog from a pet store would die in a month or so! If that is the case then there is a serious problem at the store. My first hog, Snoball, lived for 3.5 years which I think is a fairly normal lifespan. She did develop breast cancer though and the vet bills were...ahem...lets just say I think your parents would die of a heart attack! That is why I urge you to get pet insurance regardless of where you get your hedgie. You never know what can crop up, especially in their older age, so be prepared and save yourself a lot of heartache and stress. It is an inexpensive thing you can do, even as a young person!


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

Okay, so we went to the pet store, and I asked a bunch of questions:

The family privately breeds their own, they stay with their mother until theyre old enough to be sold, and theyre usually sold before they even get to the store. Theyre the only certified store around here that can sell them, and so I felt better and put a down payment, about half, for a baby hedgie! She or he, will be ready to come home on the fourth! So excited!

The problem now is: They insisted that I use hedgehog food. And they call you 3 days in advance to come in and buy supplies. He also insisted I use bedding, and not fleece, and said that under no circumstances can we use the plastic bins (you know what I mean right?) as a cage. Now, I would go against his advice, because Ive talked to many hedgie owners, but my mom wont let me do that, and is forcing me to listen to everything they say because "they know best" and he told us not to listen to the internet. Im not sure what to do :/ I tried explaining it to my mom that they probably just want money, but she wont listen. I mean the next time I buy food I can switch but I don't want to be switching his food like that. So Im not sure. I feel like I'm trapped.


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'd ignore him and keep working on your mom. If this is really where you want to get a hedgehog, you can always do what they say when you go to get your baby, then work on convincing your mom on what things you want to switch later. Switching food isn't a big deal if you want to do it later on. As long as you do it slowly, over 2-4 weeks, it should be just fine. I know breeders often have stipulations about what kind of supplies owners must have, but that's irritating that they're insisting on options that aren't necessarily the healthiest or most cost-effective choices for you and your hedgehog. Is there a particular hedgehog food they're insisting on? Most of them are complete crap and could very well be dangerous.

Do you think you could get your mom to read this? http://www.westcoasthedgehogs.com/files/hedgehogbook/download.html It's the best hedgehog care book available, up-to-date and very thorough. It has information on hedgehog food vs. cat food, as well as bedding and different cage options and whether they're acceptable. If she's willing to read that, it may help convince her that other options are acceptable and may even be preferable for you guys.

Edit: I had the same issues with my mom wanting me to listen only to the breeder I got my hedgehog from (who wasn't bad...but again, feeding hedgehog food, wood bedding, and I wasn't told that a heating set up was pretty much a definite necessity) and being very doubtful when I found the forum and start changing things. I argued her down though & told her that I was doing my research and that one breeder's not going to know everything. Everyone has different practices, there's not just one way to do things. Some people might like wood bedding better, yes...but that doesn't mean it's the best & doesn't mean liners shouldn't be used. I agree that the internet can very easily have harmful information (and is often the case with hedgehog - there's unsafe temperature requirements listed all over the freaking place :roll, but a forum is nice because it has many people, usually at least a handful with quite a bit of experience, and everyone can weigh in with their opinion or what they do, so people can choose the option that works best for them.


----------



## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

*weird.*

Well, that is a bit odd. What food exactly is he insisting you purchase? Not all hedgehog foods are terrible, but some are really not good. Take a look at the ingredients and let us know what food it is.

As for the cage and bedding, that is not a big deal. You can put your hedgie on CareFresh bedding and he/she can be in a cage. That part does not concern me. He probably thinks if you keep the hedgehog in a bin it will suffocate or be overcome by urine fumes, etc. but then again, maybe he just wants you to buy a cage from there. In any event it is not a huge deal.

As for the food - just let us know what it is called. Does he have various foods for sale at the store? Some are just too low in fat but are otherwise good. You could make up for that by providing lots of meal worms...

I highly recommend you have your mother take a look at this site, especially the home page. The site has been around a good long while (since the 90's I believe) and the man who started it is very knowledgeable. In other words, it is not just a bunch of newbies running this forum. Otherwise, have her look at the book that was linked. You can feed hedgehogs lots of different things...chicken, hamburger meat, fruits and veggies, etc. to supplement their diet.

Good luck. 
Susan H.


----------



## ceopet (Sep 20, 2013)

Still doesn't sound like an ideal situation especially if they are pushing you to buy more stuff from their store...They sound like BYB to me. In all honestly I would look for a hog somwhere else :-/ No good breeder sells to a pet store or sells through a pet store, they have no way of screening potenial adopters or keeping in touch with them after wards.

Carefresh is very dust I wouldn't use it with any animal. That is just me.


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

I already put half down and its non refundable, so Im getting it from them, kinda have to now. And they dont sell to the pet store, the people that own the store breed their own, they dont have them often at all, I just got lucky that there were babys left ready to go home on the fourth! (they breed almost if not all their own animals, they had baby bunnies in the store with their momma, so cute!)

He didnt really insist on a specific brand he just said "You cant believe everything you read online, were up to date on all the information about them, like theres still some people feeding them cat food!" But for all we know, he could be very misinformed himself and not know it, because when youre trained at a pet store that this is the way to take care of a pet, youre trusting that theyre training you correctly. Im just afraid mostly hes going to try to get us to buy like a guinea pig cage or something for it, but I really want to do a C&C cage, and I dont want to spend $30-$40 on a cage Ill never use because they made us buy it. 

We also get a free vet visit with them too. I forgot to mention that, its a free vet visit within the first week of bringing them home, to make sure theyre all healthy and stuff. Which is something I like, and really appreciate. If the hedgie doesn't come up healthy they refund your money, and you get to keep the little guy. So I feel much better about that too


----------



## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

So let me get this straight, did you speak to the owner of the store, or to an employee? You can feed your hedgehog whatever you want. I am sure your mother would agree. Also, just tell them that you plan to make a cage for the little one. Anyway, if you do end up purchasing hedgehog food, just make sure it is made w/ whole meats, not bi-products, and does not have corn or other "fillers" in it. I am sure there is a sticky on here somewhere concerning ingredients. There is a sticky on here regarding hedgehog foods, which ones are better, etc. It is just that at least in the case of the Vita Exotics Sunseed food the fat content is exceedingly low. Baby hedgehogs, especially need more fat than that. Just read up and try to use your better judgement.
Since you will be taking your new pet to the vet, you can talk to them about these issues too. I am sure your Mom will at least listen to the vet. 
-Susan H.


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

shmurciakova said:


> So let me get this straight, did you speak to the owner of the store, or to an employee? You can feed your hedgehog whatever you want. I am sure your mother would agree. Also, just tell them that you plan to make a cage for the little one. Anyway, if you do end up purchasing hedgehog food, just make sure it is made w/ whole meats, not bi-products, and does not have corn or other "fillers" in it. I am sure there is a sticky on here somewhere concerning ingredients. There is a sticky on here regarding hedgehog foods, which ones are better, etc. It is just that at least in the case of the Vita Exotics Sunseed food the fat content is exceedingly low. Baby hedgehogs, especially need more fat than that. Just read up and try to use your better judgement.
> Since you will be taking your new pet to the vet, you can talk to them about these issues too. I am sure your Mom will at least listen to the vet.
> -Susan H.


Im not sure if he was the owner or just an employee, he was the only person there, its a small store. Yeah Im gonna build him the cage anyways, and talk to the vet about food. Im not sure if they require you to buy the supplies from them specifically in advance, all he said was that they would call 3 days before so we can go there to get supplies. And thanks for the tip on the hedgie food!


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'd suggest reading over this sticky and doing some research of your own regarding food - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...3034-beginner-s-guide-hedgehog-nutrition.html Honestly, vets aren't much better than (many) pet stores when it comes to knowing nutrition and which foods are best. They don't get a lot training on nutrition in vet school and many don't bother to do much more research on the matter, so it's common for them to just insist that hedgehog food is better without looking at the ingredients or anything else. For cat foods, many of them push foods like Science Diet and Royal Canin because those companies give them money for advertising for them. The foods are both much more expensive than their medium-to-low quality is worth.

As far as I know, there isn't a single hedgehog food that doesn't have corn in it, plus other fillers, and poor protein sources. Many hedgehogs do great on cat food, you just have to find the one that works best for you in terms of ingredients, calorie content and fat content. Babies do need higher fat, like Shmurciakova said, so that's another problem with hedgehog foods.

I used to work at a pet store. I'm sure it varies store by store, but often if workers are specifically trained on how to read ingredient labels and nutritional analysis, they have no clue what they're talking about in terms of food, no matter how convincing they sound. Most of my coworkers didn't have a clue what they were talking about before my store finally gave us online training. The managers would just tell us which sections of the food shelves had low-, medium-, or high-quality food, and most of my coworkers didn't care to inquire past that.


----------



## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

dont worry too much about it, there are bad hedgies and good hedgies.

here in canada animals are 'donated' or 'sold' to pet stores by local breeders, so, the hedgehogs around here, come from reliable breeders.

Rose lived for 4 years and i got her from a pet store, she was pregnant though. so heres what i suggest

examine the hedgehog: look for any signs of illness, disorders and conditions. put the hedgehog down to observe its walk to be sure there is no wobble or limp. ask the pet store employees about age, sex, and health, as what bedding they use and what theyre feeding them. check the housing. is there any blood? what color is poop (you can tell a lot about a hedgehogs heath by poop) does the hedgehog have any sores on his feet or genitals. are the eyes clear and nose clear? check the breathing. if you want, you can schedule a vet check up to be double sure but i can understand how expensive is it. watch the hedgehog for a week after you buy it, and if there are any concerns, tell the pet store you bought it from.


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

I have an update! My hedgie will be coming home on the 4th or 5th, it depends when the other people show up to get theirs, because its in order of who put down their down payment first (I was second last..) 
I went to the store today to get supplies, and I got everything I need, even a nice heat lamp, But Ill have to get a thermometer for the cage (like the ones they put in reptile tanks, I can use that right?) The woman who breeds them was there, apparently she works at the pet store too, she gave me the link to her facebok page so I could see the babies, I feel so much better after talking to her, she loves her hedges so much, and she even asks to keep her updated on them as they get older! She also will trim their nails free for you, there was someone in there getting their hedgies nails trimmed today! So I feel much much better about getting one from there! No hedgies are ever kept in the store, theyre just sold through the store. So thats just an update!


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks for the update! 

Yup, a reptile thermometer would work, but even just a digital thermometer with a probe from a store like Walmart would work fine. Reptile thermometers tend to be pretty expensive. Don't forget to make sure you have a thermostat to control the heat lamp, and that you got a CHE bulb that doesn't give off light, rather than a reptile heating bulb that gives off both light & heat.


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

Oh gosh :/ looks like Ill be making a trip to the store, they sold me one that gives off light for nocturnal animals, the guy there told me it would be fine, it was only like $3 for the bulb though, so its not a major loss! And thanks! Ill just get a thermometer from walmart then!


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yeah, it's okay for some hedgehogs, but many hedgehogs are bothered by the light and will be less active. So it's usually best to just go with the CHE. 

Just to forewarn you, a CHE bulb will be more expensive - they're between $30 and $40 for a bulb. But they do last for around a year, if I remember correctly. A thermostat is also around $30-40, but you should only need the one to last his lifespan, hopefully. I had good luck with mine & it lasted for as long as I had Lily & still works (as far as I know).

Since you had a different kind of bulb, also double check your lamp before you head back to the store and make sure it's rated for use with CHEs. That's important, since CHEs get much hotter than usual reptile heating bulbs, so if the lamp isn't meant for use with one, it can be a fire hazard.


----------



## hlsiefken (Jan 23, 2014)

You can also use a space heater for heat, but it will heat the whole room.That is what I am doing since we have other critters that will benefit from the boost in heat in the room they are all in. It's more cost effective and Target has their heaters on clearance right now. Anyways, congrats! I'm a new owner as well.. Mine will be coming home next weekend!


----------



## Caughtinthegrey (Jan 22, 2014)

I do have a space heater in my room too, but yeah the box says I can use CHEs with it  So well see, if it bothers him/her Ill go out and get a CHE ^^; If its what shes using there, they might be used to it. Hopefully thats the case!


----------

