# New Hedgie Behavior



## Katelinn1208 (May 24, 2011)

Hi there!,

I recently just adopted my first hedgie, he si 10 wks old, is albino, and named Alpine, Alpi for short  . I literally just brought him home today. I set up his cage with a nice tunnel for him to hide in, a food bowl, water bowl, 2 of my t-shirts so he can get used to my scent, and some toilet paper tubes for him to play with.

I know it takes time for a hedgie to start to trust you and get used to a new home, he is showing the usual signs of uncertainty like huffing and clicking when I was holding him while prepping his cage. However, I read you should leave new hedgies alone in their houses for 12- 24 hrs so he can get used to his new cage on his own and take the transition one step at a time. 

I left him alone while I went to work and class and fed him around 5:45. I came back at 9:00 and he had dragged his tunnel across the cage from where it had been, put half his food into water bowl (along with some aspend shavings), and the other half all over the bedding. 

I am trying to ease his transition as much as possible and am worried that he is doing these things because of the stress of moving an hour and a half away and getting a new mom. Does anyone know anything about these crazy antics? I'm hoping his "house rearranging" stops over time as he gets used to me. 

Has anyone else experienced their new hedgie doing this?? What'd you do about it? Is there really anything I can do about it?

Thanks so much!!! 
Kate


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Welcome to HHC! Congrats on Alpine! I think that's a great name - especially for an albino.

Don't worry too much.  Some of our "old" hedgies still like to party & trash their cages. I could be that he's exploring. Or he could just be messy. :lol:

Whenever my Cholla trashes his cage, I prefer to think of it like he just had a great time. I'm sure some hedgies will do it out of boredom, or frustration. Only time will tell if this is just an occasional thing, or if you have a party animal on your hands. 

Here's an older thread that covers a bit more....
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=9240&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=messy+cage

Hope it helps! Let us know!


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## beehivehedgie (Feb 13, 2011)

Hoggle sometimes likes to trash his cage too. I secure most everything down or to the cage because of it. He loves to throw his litter around though  He's just figuring things out is my guess  Or he tried to go fishing....one of the two.


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## darkestz (Aug 8, 2010)

Hedgies are playful little rascals. :lol:


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## Katelinn1208 (May 24, 2011)

He is so silly and threw another eager last night haha. I guess he either likes to party or doesn't agree with my interior desgin skills. But I'm happy he has so much personality  

Right now I handled him for about 45 minutes this morning, he was pretty excited and kept exploring everywhere, he loved climbing on me like I was his personal jungle gym, even coming right up in my face haha. He still scares and spikes up pretty readily at small movements though, but obviously my room is still new to him so I'm not surprised. 

Overall I think he is adjusting slowly but surely


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## Katelinn1208 (May 24, 2011)

Ok new question,

Alpine seems to be adjusting to me and his new home. He LOVES to explore my bed and the floor, even escaped this morning and ran around unsupervised while I was sleeping!! Luckily he didn't get hurt or stuck anywhere.

But now I'm confused, last night alpine was being a nice enough hedgie. He was exploring and climbing on me, even slept on me while I watched tv and even slept against my hand. His face and nose were pressed through my fingers, so adorable! But getting him onto the bed with me is a difficult task. He does NOT like to be picked up. I reach to scoop him up and he huffs and quills up like there is no tomorrow. The confusing part is once I get him he tries to unball himself almost immediately to start running around. 

I feel like he is starting to get used to me handling him as opposed to his previous owner who handled him regularly enough. But I wonder why he hates being picked up so much even though he explores and sleeps on me. I saw he lost a quill, does 10 weeks sound like a time when hedgies go through another quilling?? I know it's just one quill, that I know of anyway, it's hard to find white quills on tan bedding ha, But maybe he is starting to do that?

Any tips for helping me get alpine more comfortable with being held?? Also, even though it's great he LOVES to run around, I wouldn't mind if he just chilled out for a bit when I take him out of his cage, any ideas how to calm him down a bit??


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## darkestz (Aug 8, 2010)

Alpine probably isnt used to your scent yet, When you pick him up he must feel like he's going to be eaten or something. Same thing with spike before. Balled up every time I pick him up then would uncurl and explore. Just make sure he gets picked up at the exact same time everyday so he knows that by that time, you're going to be playing with him. It'll pay off.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

No definite answers for you - it's more of a wait & see thing.
Some hedgies will always ball up when you go to pick them up, others will get used to it. My Cholla always huffs atme when I go to get him out of his cage. But my Zoey doesn't much anymore. She just looks up, waits for me to scratch her chin & pick her up.
Same thing with running around. Some hedgis are explorers and will always run around. Others will settle in & just start sleeping on you. Only bad thing about that is when you want to play & all they want to do is cuddle.
:roll: 
Sounds like you have a normal hedgie.  Only time will tell what his personality will be.


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