# Angry hedgehog?



## CrossMyHearts (Jun 30, 2015)

Hi! A few months ago I purchased my very first hedgehog. I had done a lot of reading about hedgehogs and how to care for them prior to this. However, nothing I read has come in use with my hedgehog. She is a lighter coloured hedgehog named Willow and she has had two previous owners: the first owner that had her from birth, and the owner I bought her from. I am not sure of her age but I have noticed the occasional quill drop from her back every now and then so I thought perhaps that might be some sort of indicator. 

My issue is that I do not believe Willow spent much time around or with her previous owners. She is exceedingly grumpy and anytime I even go in the room where her cage is, she huffs at me and curls up in her log (her favorite sleeping place). She hates to be picked up and held, and any time I try to let her out to run around, she just finds a dark corner and balls up there instead.

This evening my boyfriend and I were trying to trim her nails and we simply couldn't do it. We bathed her first and she seemed okay with that, as her quills relaxed considerably and she sort of waddled around a bit (not her first bath since I've had her, but certainly the easiest yet). But the second we took her out to dry her off and trim her nails, she was back to hissing and puffing up her quills. It took ten minutes just to calm her down enough that we could dry her off so she wouldn't get a chill. My boyfriend tried to hold her for me while I held her leg to trim the nails but she was doing that twitching motion so much that it was nearly impossible for him to hold her with his bare hands. We're hoping to take her to the vet soon to get them trimmed but I really would like to find a way that we can do it ourselves.

Above all else though, I just want to find a way to make my hedgehog happier. She seems so angry all the time and I'd love it if I could get her out of the habit of hissing at me anytime I come near. I'm the lucky one too; she seems to have more of an issue with men than women. So, any tips?


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

She isn't angry..she's scared and trying to protect herself. She doesn't know that you aren't going to hurt her so she's doing what hedgehogs do when they are scared. It can take many months, even a year or more, for an adult hedgehog to become comfortable with her humans. All you can do is take her out every day for at least 30 minutes so she can slowly, very slowly, get used to you. Try taking her out every day at about the same time, keep the room dim as bright lights bother them and try to keep the noise level low. Set her on your lap and make sure she is covered up with a piece of fleece or something like that. They feel safer if they are hiding under something.

For the nail clipping try doing it in the bath. They won't usually ball up in water and often are so busy trying to find a way out of the water that they don't notice you clipping their nails.


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