# Would getting a 2nd hog be too risky if...



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I would have to spend the money I have saved for the vet for my 1st hog to take the 2nd hog to the vet?

I may or may not have the opportunity to adopt/rescue a hog near me. I found it on Facebook... the girl wants money but I am going to try to convince her to just give me the hog without the aquarium, shavings and water bottle she uses for it :roll: based on the rationale that I will inevitably have to spend money on it for a vet visit (check up and Revolution for sure since she's on shavings). 

I have $350 saved up for Mildred right now. If the girl ends up wanting money for the hedgie, I will have to dip into Milly's vet fund to take hedgie #2 to the vet. I would obviously replace it and start saving up additional money for the 2nd hedgie, but it still makes me a bit nervous. Milly is just over 1 year old, healthy and active. The 2nd hog is 'around 1', overweight and has no wheel.

The only reason I'm considering this right now is because I have a second cage setup ready to go now and I am moving out of my mom's house next month, and into a place with plenty of room for a 2nd or even 3rd hedgie. But, money will be very tight until August or so after paying the security deposit & first month's rent on the new place, hence having to dip into my "Milly Money" as I like to call it to take the new hog to the vet.

Any advice?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Hmmm, that's a tough choice. Do you have a decent credit card locked up somewhere? ( :lol: ) 
But at the same time, it's like "arg... Must... rescue... from... stupid..." 
Well, anyone else in your area who might be interested in a rescue hedgie? That's another route as well. Make all the plans initially to take the hedgie, but have someone waiting as backup to take the hedgie if need be. 

You should probably really sit down and budget everything and what it will all cost. Extra supplies for the new one, random expenses for your new place, your own groceries, etc etc. Budget all that and see what you're working with. Don't forget about electricity and stuff like that for your new place as well, phone lines, etc etc. Then after all that, see where you stand with the money. How soon can you replenish the vet fund? etc etc.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I do have a credit card. Once I get through the initial setback of security depost+first month's rent, I'll have about $300 a month that isn't needed for bills, rent, gas, groceries, etc. If I spent $200 of my "Milly Money", I could replenish her savings account and save up an additional $400 or so in approximately 3 months.

Luckily, the only supplies I NEED for a second hedgie is one more clamp lamp & CHE, but that's only if the first heat lamp doesn't do the job (I bought a Christmas tree storage bin a while back as a just-in-case thing when I almost rescued a different hog, and slowly bought a CSBW, water & food bowl, thermostat, thermometer, clamp lamp, and CHE since then). I have enough fleece to have liners in both cages with one set left over, so I'd want more liners but it wouldn't be absolutely necessary to buy before maybe-hedgie would come. 

Part of me wants to see if I can get the hog and foster her for a while, get her cleaned up and socialized a bit, etc, but I'd hate to end up in a situation where I plan on being a foster parent and then can't find an adopter.


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## pickles17 (Feb 18, 2012)

I would say it's okay as long as you have a credit card with enough money on it to be able to use in case your first hedgehog had an emergency of some sort of the same time.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

I did exactly what you described... Po' Boy was not a planned adoption... I only had the $400 saved up for Kashi's vet visits when I adopted him... Because they both ended up sick with a URI (still don't know what the cause is for this because it was after his quarantine), and Po' Boy had to get his checkup, etc. Both of them have pretty much depleted my emergency fund... I think I have $80 left in there now :lol: But I think it's totally doable as long as you think you can pay off your credit card in a few weeks  It also depends on what situation you get your second hog from. Just be really careful about quarantining, etc. to avoid both hogs from getting sick and getting your vet bills to cost double!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Don't forget to budget time in too. Money is a lot, but time is an extremely important item. Do you have the time to invest in a proper quarantine for 4-6 (maybe longer) weeks? Even if they are the same sex, you may find yourself having to handle them separately, do you have the time to do that?

As someone who takes in primarily rescues, I can tell you that they are not always "cheap." I had one for 1 month who was supposedly healthy, had supposedly been to a vet recently, who I found out was not the sex it was supposed to be and had a large mammary tumor. She quickly turned into a $500 rescue in the first month of having her. 

I recently took 2 more rescues in, one of them developed a wound on her chest and required a veterinary visit last Sunday. She's healing now, but she had been home for 5 days and everything seemed ok. Then Sunday morning I was off to the vet. 

Yes I know it sounds like I'm trying to talk you out of it. But I'm not. If you can handle it, you'd be an awesome owner for a special quill kid. However, really think about what you are doing. We all have limits on what we can handle. Whether those limits are financial or time, we all have them.


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

Kalandra said:


> Don't forget to budget time in too. Money is a lot, but time is an extremely important item. Do you have the time to invest in a proper quarantine for 4-6 (maybe longer) weeks? Even if they are the same sex, you may find yourself having to handle them separately, do you have the time to do that?
> 
> As someone who takes in primarily rescues, I can tell you that they are not always "cheap." I had one for 1 month who was supposedly healthy, had supposedly been to a vet recently, who I found out was not the sex it was supposed to be and had a large mammary tumor. She quickly turned into a $500 rescue in the first month of having her.
> 
> ...


I couldn't have said it better. I have no regrest taking on Tangelo but it's a big decision and while I tought a lot about it, I wasn't prepared 100%. I was told I would get a girl, so I tought: Great, I'm gonne house them separatly byt they'll play together and save me 2 playtime session. Like everyone knows, it didn't eneded that way! I was lucky he wasn't sick (well the constant lost of quills left the vet and me clueless, but so far I only spent money on Revolution and X-Ray). Yet the vet bills where higher, but my vet gave me a 25% discount went I bring them together (that was valid for everything, even x-ray and sedation) and I didn't waste food anymore. I suggest weigthing pro and cons and cost.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Thank you all for the advice.  It's great to hear the 

I have definitely been weighing the pros and cons. I have the time, space and love for a second hog. I work a full time job, but half of my hours every week are paid overnight sleeping shifts as I do in-home care, so I have a lot of evening hours to spend with my hedgie/s. Milly likes hanging out with me during the day anyway. :lol: After I move to the new place, I'll be living with my boyfriend and I'll only be a few blocks from my best friend, so I'll be spending a lot more time at home. (I do a lot of driving & spend a fair bit of time away from home to spend time with my boyfriend right now since I'm living with my mom and she doesn't want him at her house :roll: )

Luckily, my brother just informed me that he sold some of my deceased father's things, which means I have $200 coming my way in the next couple weeks. I think financially I'll be okay, with $550 in savings, $2000 on the credit card and more money being set aside for hedgie funds in the next few months.

I'm STILL waiting on the girl to message me back about how much she wants for just the hog. It's been 24 hours since I messaged her about it on Facebook. After telling me she is selling it and not just looking for a good home, she didn't bother responding when I asked how much. *Sigh*


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Hopefully you can talk her into giving her to you. If not, consider it that it just wasn't meant to be. If this doesn't work out and you really would like a 2nd and want to go down the rescue route, I'm certain we can find you one.


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## Hillybean (Jun 10, 2010)

Yep, I agree.. just saw what state you live in. If this one does not work out I am sure another rescue hedgie can be located. 

I would try for a week or so to make contact..just in case something came it. If no replies again..then look for another  . As you know craigslist almost always has hedgehogs, you could contact the welfare society, or even hoobly and kijiji.  Hoobly and kijiji are normally for sale ads, but I have seen some rehoming ones.

Keep us posted!


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

The girl never messaged me back, so it seems to be a non-issue now. Poor hedgie.  I wish I could save them all.

I have officially decided that for now, any new hedgie that comes into my home will be a rescue. Maybe some day I will want another hog that I can get as a baby, but for now, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for rescues on kijiji, craigslist and hoobly. It seems like WI doesn't have many hedgehogs to be quite honest. I've seen one ad on craigslist for a 1 year old hedgie ($200), a 3 month old on kijiji ($300!!) and that girl on Facebook since the beginning of May, and I'm not just checking out my particular area, I'm looking at cities all over the state.

I did send my info in to the HWS 4+ months ago for the rescue stuff, but I never heard anything back. :?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Would it be a possibility for you to consider Michigan hedgies too, if a train could be made for transportation? I know Kalandra's got her hands full right now, and I can't take any anytime soon, even though I really wish I could. :? We seem to have a lot more hedgies looking for homes than available homes in-state lately.


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## rodeoRcer87 (May 5, 2011)

There was just a young male on Madison Cl


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Lilysmommy said:


> Would it be a possibility for you to consider Michigan hedgies too, if a train could be made for transportation? I know Kalandra's got her hands full right now, and I can't take any anytime soon, even though I really wish I could. :? We seem to have a lot more hedgies looking for homes than available homes in-state lately.


Kelsey, if I could get help with transportation that would definitely be a possibility. Like I said, I have a whole second cage setup sitting in my closet and now that I'm moving, I'll have a room that can be a hedgie room so a quarantine hog can be in my bedroom and Milly can be in the hedgie room.



rodeoRcer87 said:


> There was just a young male on Madison Cl


When was that? Madison is one that I watch closely as it's only an hour or so away from me and the only thing I have pulled up in the last month with a 'hedgehog' search is video games, lol.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

hanhan27 said:


> Lilysmommy said:
> 
> 
> > Would it be a possibility for you to consider Michigan hedgies too, if a train could be made for transportation? I know Kalandra's got her hands full right now, and I can't take any anytime soon, even though I really wish I could. :? We seem to have a lot more hedgies looking for homes than available homes in-state lately.
> ...


Awesome! I'll let Kalandra know as well then, that we have a possibility for a Michigan rehome if we get any more coming up soon. I'm going to be a bit busy for the next couple months, but if something does turn up, I will do my absolute best to help with transportation! As long as I had a day free, I could drive at least to Chicago, or just past it if you wanted to meet just outside of Chicago on the north side (if you can get that far).


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Good to know. I had one contact me last week, which I told to come here and to contact HWS. I cannot take in another permanent resident right now. Sadly the one who contacted me stated the hedgehog was very defensive and would need lots of socializing work.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I can get to Chicago! I'm not too put off by the thought of taking in an unsocialized hog and I will have the time for a more 'needy' rehome. Kelsey, if I do end up getting a Michigan hedgie, I would love to meet you!

Keep me in mind. I have way too much love to be in a one-pet household!


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