# 1st time owner, lost baby hedgie!



## etoombs (Oct 23, 2018)

Hello, we recently got our daughter a baby hedgehog as a gift. It stayed one night in its cage and the next morning it was gone! We have been and are searching everywhere! Very concerned because she is only 6 weeks old and just weaned from her mother. Since we are 1st time owners, we are not familiar with just how mobile they are....can they climb, can they go up/down wood stairs, how long can she survive without food & water? She has been missing now for almost 3 days!!! Panicking and frantically searching. Any ideas or advice on how to find this sweet baby is greatly appreciated! We have food and water set out under beds, cabinets. Also, pretty sure that we heard her squeaking late last night. Sounded like it came from the kitchen/refridgerator area, pulled the fridge out, no baby hedgehog. Please give me some tips or advice on finding her quickly! Thank you!


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## Kolya (Oct 18, 2018)

Hedgies are most active late at night, so you might have to wait around past midnight when it's dark and quiet, as it's likely that your hedgie is hiding somewhere during the day. It's a good idea to leave food and water around everywhere in case she finds it - but are you feeding her what she was being fed prior to you adopting her? If it's a new diet, she may not recognize it. She's probably very confused but also wants to explore the house. Do you have a wheel/saucer? Maybe try leaving it out somewhere and see if your hedgie starts playing with it, you might catch her! Anyway I hope you find her soon, I'd definitely take her to the vet after though in case she ate something bad or got hurt.


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## Kolya (Oct 18, 2018)

And look in every nook and cranny possible, like between couch pillows, behind/under shelves, and anywhere that might be warm


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## etoombs (Oct 23, 2018)

She is eating the exact same food she had prior to our adoption. My daughter is enrolled in a small animal science class, which is where we got her. She was locally bred and so far raised in a classroom around teenagers. The teacher sent her home with the same food. We are concerned she will starve to death before we can find her? How long can they go without food? Originally, she was in a cage in a bedroom upstairs, but based on droppings and the sounds we heard last night, she is now downstairs...is that possible at such a young age?


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

Hedgehogs love dark warm places.She may be hiding in the bottom of the fridge.It is usually warm under there from the compressor that makes it work. You may have to take a light and look under it real close.Some models also have a drip pan under the front she might be hiding in.You might also try putting her hideout some were with the heater over it an in the morning she might be in it.Good luck.


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## Kolya (Oct 18, 2018)

It's definitely possible that she's gone down the stairs, hedgies (even babies, like mine) can be more agile than we think! It's also possible she might have gotten hurt in a tumble 😕
Is there a place the droppings were concentrated more? My hedgie often goes to the same spots he deems are "safe". I'm also not sure about how long they can go without food, probably your best bet is to leave little food piles scattered everywhere and check which ones are eaten from the most, could give a clue as to where hedgie might be!


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## etoombs (Oct 23, 2018)

Thank you for the advice. I will definitely set food out everywhere. At least if she is eating, I will have more time to find her. Hopefully, she comes out soon...we are very anxious to see her!


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## Kolya (Oct 18, 2018)

You're welcome, keep us updated!! 🙂


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## lilyluna (Sep 7, 2018)

Oh no that must be horrible! Hope you find her! Maybe you can leave out strong smelling stuff that’s safe for her to eat just to lure her and then place the food that she normally eats right next to it. Also, how did she escape? If her cage doesn’t have a lid on yet, you should put one on top of it.


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## Glenna (Sep 9, 2018)

If there is poop she must be eating something. This is going to sound strange but I have a method for recapturing escaped reptiles that may work for your hedgie.

Tonight before all the lights go out place long strips of duct tape on the floor in the areas you believe her to be in. STICKY side up. Place your food and water in such a way that she has to cross the tape to get it. 

She will get caught up in the tape but it can be removed safely by cutting away the excess and removing the rest with straight mineral oil on a cotton swab. Many an escaped snake or lizard have been recovered this way.

At the very least you will see if the tape has been disturbed or drug under the corner of something for a better idea of her hiding place.

G


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## etoombs (Oct 23, 2018)

It's been almost 1 week and we still haven't found her. I've cranked up the heat in my house to 75 degrees. I have set food out, complete with mealworms to entice her. I walked around a little after midnight last night to see if I could hear her. Nothing. I did notice that some of the food and almost all of the water that had been untouched Wednesday, had changed. Giving me hope that she is eating, she is just really good at hiding. Our house is 4k sqft.....so I'm having a really hard time narrowing it down to one area. All of the activity we've seen seems to be in the kitchen area. I've seen droppings under the fridge, so I've taken the vent cover off and set up a shoe box trap outside to try to encourage her into the shoebox. I've also slid a coat hanger underneath to try to get some movement...nothing. We are genuinely beginning to worry. It seems that every other day though, there will be some kind of change to give us hope. To answer the cage question...the cage was a loaner from the classroom. We got the hedgehog from my daughters small animal science class at her HS where they breed them. We had not planned on getting one, so the teacher sent her home with a cage from class. The bar spacing was a little too much and she got out during the night. I since have bought a cage with very tight spacing so that when we find her, she has what she needs.

The teacher also told us not to worry, that she would eventually come out. We are losing the bonding time and I'm worried she won't be very friendly. Any similar situations or advice????


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

I would maybe try sitting in the dark after everything gets quiet for a couple of hours with a small flashlight with a red lens (red plastic bag over the end works good) to watch for her. The red light will not scare most nocturnal animals.Our little one isn't active all night .She will eat ,run ,and then sleep for an hour or so and then do it all again several times a night.It may take a couple of hours but she will be moving some time.I liked the duct tape idea but I would ad a little jingle bell to the end of each piece so you could tell right away if she gets caught.Good luck we are all hoping you find her .We know how stressful missing pets can be.


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

Sorry to hear she is still missing, it's a good sign to see some of the food and water gone though. Are you keeping your heating on during the night too? This might encourage her to be more active. My boy usually becomes active not long after lights go out. Definitely think you're going to have to stay up for at least an hour after you turn lights off. Even just turn them all off from early evening (once it's completely night time) and like the other poster said, use a small torch to search for her. It's probably best to keep still though and wait for her to come where the food is setup, so your movement doesn't scare her off.

How about also buying some night cameras and setting them up in the areas where you've found activity to see where she is disappearing too afterwards? A long shot but might help give more direction to where she is hiding (you could use them afterwards on her cage like some people have anyways). I'd probably buy night vision goggles if it was me lol 

Hoping she appears soon, keep us posted.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I would start at the top of the house and check every room one by one. Look in all drawers, closets, corners and boxes or containers and under and in every piece if furniture. Once done a room close the door and put a towel or something similar under the door and move me to the next room. Once you are done one floor block off the door way with something solid. Keep each floor blocked off so you are sure she can't get back there. This way you can narrow the search to one floor.


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## Askeptosaurus (Nov 10, 2015)

Try leaving a pile of clothes you've recently worn next to the food and hope she decides to hide in it after eating. Do you have a sleeping bag? You could camp out in the room near the food and wait to hear eating.


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## Shabba (Dec 17, 2018)

My first post and I'm interested to see if there is an update on this?


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