# Do You Ever Get Tired?



## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Please be advised, this is a rant from frustration, anger, and not a touch of sadness. 

Do you ever get tired of answering the same questions over and over? 
What can I do for quilling! What can I do for liner diving! What food is best! Why is an aquarium bad!
Over and over, and no one ever seems to read the stickies. I get so frustrated.

Over and over-
Oh, I'm so worried but I don't have any money to go to a vet! I also refuse to rehome with someone who CAN give them adequate care because...I LOVE THEM! I would be so sad without them...even if they are suffering and in pain because I am broke.

Over and over-
Ooops! Surprise Babies! Teehee! What do I DOOOO!

Over and over-
I researched and researched but I still know nothing about hedgehogs. But I researched! 

Sorry, just a rant because I spent an hour in a fight with some teenager who LOOOOOVES her hedgie, he's her best friend...but he has an obvious raging skin infection with massive quill loss and she can't take him to the vet. I want to scream, that's not love for the animal, that's love for yourself. If you really love that god dang hedgehog FIND IT MEDICAL ATTENTION OR A NEW HOME! ANYTHIGN ELSE IS ABUSE FRANKLY!

End rant. Thank you.


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## Authra (Apr 23, 2015)

I get it and I understand, I have had similar events happen. I try to read every sticky I can but sometimes it's good to get others opinion if it's nothing too serious. I'm sorry you were dealing with a stubborn kid


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## lifequards (Mar 28, 2015)

This took an unexpected turn haha


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

Also people who ask a question and then don't follow the advice. ARGGHHH!


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

The worse part, for me, is that it is all animals all the time!! I have a huge group of animals in my house, we total 14 from a crested gecko to 5 dogs. I'm part of a forum or group for each one and there is always someone at least once a day who asks what is wrong and doesn't like it when the answer is go to the vet.  Or when they say they don't have the money... UGH! I'm a pretty broke college student and I manage to vet my animals. Sometimes I eat cardboard for a week but I do what I have too.


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

I agree with your frustrations! When I have something come up I research and read and look for the answer or similar situation FIRST, then ask when I can't find a good answer (or go straight to the vet first!). It seems like a lot of people just ask first even though the answer is often pretty easy to find, or they should be rushing to a vet. That's my rant.

But we are here and answering these questions over and over and offering advice, in the nicest way possible, because we love these little creatures and want what is best.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

It bothers me more if people don't ask questions and end up with a sick (or even dead) hedgehog. I'd rather answer the same question over and over again. 
But yes, it can be tiring. One of the questions I hate the most is 'I just got a hedgehog and it sleeps all day, will it be like that forever?' If you don't even know you just bought a nocturnal animal you really did not do ANY research at all.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Speaking of rants! Who did this?!?! My sister found this picture floating around tumblr.



Please, please do not let ferrets be near any prey animal. They are carnivores with huge prey drive. They are used in ferreting overseas because of how good they are, this ferret can attack that hedgehog at any moment.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

At least I'm not alone, heh. I just want to have a copy/paste "there's a sticky for that" "there's a sticky for that" "HOLY FLAMING POOP STICKS READ THE STICKIES! ESPECIALLY THE ONE WITH THE TITLE ABOUT YOUR QUESTION!"

Desiree...I can't even. Nope, refusing to see what you posted.


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

Wow, yes, ferrets and hedgehogs are not playmates. yikes. One of my hedgehogs was around a ferret once and she got terrified!


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Trying to find the post on tumblr but it's a lot of ferret tags to through. I feel that I, at least, need to warn her about the dangers.

ETA - Sent her this message 

Hi, I know you probably don't care about what someone on the internet has to say but the picture of your hedgehog and your ferret together makes me super nervous. Ferrets have such a huge prey drive and they can easily hurt your quilly baby. We humans are really slow compared to are furry friends and if for some reason your ferret decided to latch on both animals could end up hurt. I own both animals but I keep them far away from each other. I just wanted to warn you. Hope you have a nice day.


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

Thanks for trying. 

The stress that hedgies feel in less than optimal situations can't possibly be good for them--whether it is noise, light, too cold or too hot, wrong food, stress of other animals, no exercise and so on.


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## lifequards (Mar 28, 2015)

They post those pictures for "cuteness". I'm sure the owner doesn't leave them unattended haha.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

That's the worst part, posting these kind of things for 'cuteness' and attention :???:


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Desiree said it in her note, ferrets are lightening quick. There is almost no way that a human a foot or two away could stop the ferret from biting the hedgehog if it decided to. Then both animals will probably have severe injuries.

That comment...right there...is one of the things I was talking about. That picture, by definition of the danger of the animals, IS NOT CUTE! 

ARRRRRRRGH!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

A lot of people try to brush things off that are stressful for animals by saying that it's not going to last long or that it isn't actively physically hurting them or they haven't died. Heck, I had the previous owner of two of my hermit crabs tell me to stop stressing out about humidity because "Well, I forgot to mist the tank sometimes, and they didn't die! They're so hardy!" :roll: Stressing an animal out is never a good thing - sometimes it's necessary, for vet visits, bathing, etc. In those occasions, you make sure it goes as quickly & painlessly as possible, and try to make the animal as comfortable as possible until it's over with. Regardless of whether a situation is only going to last a few seconds or a few minutes, if it's not necessary & it will cause the animal stress (and potentially worse), then it's not okay.

Ferrets with hedgehogs is something that always infuriates me in no time at all. Every single time I see something like that, I instantly think of Acacia, the first hedgehog I tried to rescue after I joined the hedgie community. When I went to pick her up, the teacher who owned her had her out on a cold metal table with a ferret. The ferret wasn't actively harassing her, but was bouncing around & being playful & hyper as ferrets are. Acacia was in a shaking ball, constantly hissing, absolutely terrified. She was so scared that she latched onto my hoodie sleeve when I scooped her up, and didn't let go for the 10-15 minutes I was talking to the teacher.


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

If you want to be "cute" get a stuffed hedgehog toy.

Hedgies are real animals with real feelings and fears. Our duty as their caregivers (we really can't "own" them!) is to put their comfort, care and safety above everything. If you are not able to do that, then wait until you can.


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## MeyMey (Apr 28, 2015)

*The Truth!*



DesireeM81 said:


> The worse part, for me, is that it is all animals all the time!! I have a huge group of animals in my house, we total 14 from a crested gecko to 5 dogs. I'm part of a forum or group for each one and there is always someone at least once a day who asks what is wrong and doesn't like it when the answer is go to the vet.  Or when they say they don't have the money... UGH! I'm a pretty broke college student and I manage to vet my animals. Sometimes I eat cardboard for a week but I do what I have too.


This is so true I go to college too and its hard to have to skip on things like movies or road trips but I make sure to set money aside for my pets and go to great lengths to save money on things like building supplies for the cage. It gives people who are my age (in their 20's) a bad rep. a lot of people say I am a rare person because I take such good care of my pets. It shouldn't be rare if you really love an animal you will realize how much work it is and you will sacrifice a weekend when your dogs hurts its foot or if your like me spend months slowly gathering supplies for free and be fully prepared BEFORE getting a pet! Its a commitment, it doesn't have to be this terrible bad story of well I didn't have any money or I gave the pet away.


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## Authra (Apr 23, 2015)

MeyMey said:


> This is so true I go to college too and its hard to have to skip on things like movies or road trips but I make sure to set money aside for my pets and go to great lengths to save money on things like building supplies for the cage. It gives people who are my age (in their 20's) a bad rep. a lot of people say I am a rare person because I take such good care of my pets. It shouldn't be rare if you really love an animal you will realize how much work it is and you will sacrifice a weekend when your dogs hurts its foot or if your like me spend months slowly gathering supplies for free and be fully prepared BEFORE getting a pet! Its a commitment, it doesn't have to be this terrible bad story of well I didn't have any money or I gave the pet away.


I know what you mean the woman I got my two rescued hedgies from ( the foster mom) got them on a whim. She thought it would be really easy to take care of them and when she realized how much care they need she wanted to "adopt" them out she had them for a whole nine days. I got them because I know what it takes to care for them ( other then the possible babies) and I knew I would have them until their last day on this earth.


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## lifequards (Mar 28, 2015)

Making posts about this might drive away new hedgehog owners from joining this forum.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

As much as I want all the hedgehogs owners to come and get all of our great hedgehog information, if someone is scared because we are telling them that two animals shouldn't be close together then I wonder how much they would actually listen to us in the first place.

I take a ton of pictures of my animals. Less now that I'm just about to finish college but when I do, I make sure the animal is not stressed at all. The one time I took Harvest, my crested gecko, out to take pictures I got about three done before I realized now wasn't the time. I take pics with my Iphone if he is out or my camera in his cage because he is just to stressed out of this cage. Yeah, I would love to get great picture with a nice background but it's not worth it. He will get better with age, he's a juvenile who is all jumpy which stressed us both out. 

I have a blog that I run based off of my animals alone and I know how much my pictures get passed around. I would never post something online without a huge disclaimer about animal safety if I was doing something controversial. I have a picture of my kit, Tundra, with our Great Dane puppy. She's bigger than our other dogs at 9 months old and she is on the bed with a smallish ferret. My sister is just out of camera range in case someone gets to nippy. We don't allow the ferrets or the dogs to bite and the dog is not allowed to paw. We did this multiple times before I was able to get pictures. Was it safe? Yes but it was always in the back of my head that something could happen. Ferrets are social creatures and often get along with cats and dogs with supervision. Neither the ferret or dog was stressed. There is a huge disclaimer on this photo that warns against the dangers of introducing two animals (including animals of the same species) and how I handled the situation because I would never want someone to see the photo and throw their dog and ferret together and it end horribly. I am just super conscious about what I post on the internet for that reason.


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## lifequards (Mar 28, 2015)

I'm talking about the main point of this thread. 

Imagine this, you are 13 years old again. You have just gotten yourself a new hedgehog buddy. Something goes wrong, "Oh no! What more can I do to heat up the room that my buddy is in to make sure he is in the best health possible?" Google it. Come across this forum. Decides to join because, hey, I can interact with other hedgehog owners. No problems here right? Goes to post something and reads a title on another thread named "Do You Ever Get Tired?" Clicks it. Reads it. Decides to never post on this thread in fear of being socially humiliated. 

The end. Hedgehog never gets the help it needs.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I'm pretty sure that if they don't see the many threads on heating they won't see this one either. If this thread is all that it takes to stop them from posting then I would believe they probably aren't going to pay attention to any advice either. No one is trying to humiliate anyone they're just trying to get the point across that most questions can be easily answered by searching the forum or just reading the stickies.


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## lifequards (Mar 28, 2015)

Yes, I understand that but some people, including myself, don't feel comfortable asking any questions on a forum in fear of being humiliated. 
It's okay to ask the same questions, just ignore them before you over work yourself. That's all I'm trying to say.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

...sorry, gotta say, 99% of the 13 year olds I've ever met should NOT have a hedgehog. They don't have the responsibility or level of dedication a hedgehog needs. Also, with no income (and at 13 there's no way they can have a steady legal job) they can't fulfill many of the hedgehogs needs. 

So yeah...back to my first post, loving an animal means doing the best you can for THE ANIMAL, not for yourself.


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## lifequards (Mar 28, 2015)

I knew someone was going to say that.
I'm actually 14 years old and there is no way for me to hold a steady legal job. I earn my own money through online business. I don't ask for help from everyone. 
I agree, do what you need to do to help your animal. If you can't afford one, don't get one. I don't care how "cute" it is. But it is best not to underestimate somebody young because I have more responsibility than my 33 year old sister.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Ok honey, you've communicated your thoughts on the topic. Keep in mind that on top of being a reference for people with questions, the forum is also a community of contributors that are on here very regularly to answer questions. It's perfectly alright to occasionally want to vent a few frustrations with those of us that would understand them. It's not that anyone here does not want to answer questions for people (even if they are the same ones over and over again), it's simply that it can be a little frustrating when they are the exact same questions multiple times a day. And that's ok. If this topic isn't something you enjoy reading, then that's ok. But it's not necessary to try to make other people feel bad either. Posts like these happen every once in a while and it doesn't seem to slow down anyone with questions at all. Please try to understand the point of view of the other posters.


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## lifequards (Mar 28, 2015)

Dear, trying to communicate a simple solution. I have just the same rights as you. 

Besides, not trying to make anyone feel bad.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

You were just being a bit circular with the conversation. You kept coming back to the same thing over and over again and basically ignored everyone's response to you. Just want you to know that yes, you were heard, it's time to move on


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

I have about 25.000 followers on my blog, do you know how many questions I get? And how many of these are the same ones over and over and over again? And I answer each and every one of them. 

Doesn't mean it can be highly annoying when you get a question from someone who clearly has done no research at all (or when people think you're Google. Honestly, some things are just one search away. It's that easy). Questions are fine, but people should have some common sense and do their research before getting an animal.


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## SarahAlwaysWins (Dec 19, 2013)

As a member who ghosted through the forums for a year and a half before actually posting from my account, I don't consider this post to be offensive or deterring.

In fact, I think it's necessary. I didn't ask any questions, but I was here _constantly_. Any time I saw a food I was considering, a treat, a treatment, a vet, a breeder, etc. Pretty much every question has already been asked and answered by someone else. People need to be encouraged and reminded to look at the stickies, since they're usually clearly titled and very informative. 99% of the questions I had were easily answered by using the search bar or reading a sticky. It's really not that hard and people are still asking the same, very basic questions over and over again. If something hasn't been asked before, or wasn't answered to your expectations or needs, there's nothing wrong with asking again.

That being said, it's very important that every question, no matter how simple, is answered politely and without hostility. As was previously mentioned, a snooty or rude response to an honest question _can_ discourage someone from asking something else, but it's easy to politely direct towards a sticky.

I also agree that if they're not looking at stickies or using the search tool or using the site:hedgehogcentral.com search narrower on google, then they're not likely to stumble across this post, so it's not really a concern.


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

At any given time there will be 2 or 3 threads about "does my hedgehog have mites?" "Is this a good food?" "How can I make my hedgie to stop hating me?" And then several about not needing heating because their home thermostat is set to 72 degees. 

The problem is that often really serious issues can get pushed to the bottom. I do try to answer any question that I have experience with. 

Sure seeing this may "scare" someone away, but us old timers are just commiserating with our friends. This thread is not going to come up in a search for any medical issue. There are many people on here I consider my friends because we have gone thru so many of the same experiences and they are always here to give advice and support. 

The information on this board about raw feeding and nutrition cannot be gained anywhere else.

Believe me, the people here will be around to help when your hedgie is seriously ill and you have to make decisions.


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## blueyedblonde18 (Jun 2, 2015)

Being new to the community its hard to find answers to questions when there are so many I have. I keep having to look up part of the question and if I do find a thread that has part of my question and I want to add on it turns out the thread is old. It is much easier to ask all my questions in a lump together and you can read and answer what you can. 

On the other hand not taking your pet to the vet is horrible. Especially when you decided to take the commitment of having that pet. And I totally get your rant for that. That is someone being stingy with their money and not truly giving love and care for there new family member.


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