# PLEASE HELP!! Shes become crazy! ):



## turnhiphead (Sep 1, 2012)

I have become quite concerned with my little hedgie, I got her about four months ago from a pet store, as I dont have any breeders close to me. She was great! Very nice, barely raised her quills, loved to sleep next to me but slowly she started to change. At first I thought she was just very excited and wanted to run free and maybe she was just an explorer. I had made a playpen for her and she would have fun and run around, but she would still cuddle with me. 

But after a while, I realized she started acting different. She wouldnt let me hold her without trying like crazy to get away. While in her playpen all she would do is try to get out. Then, whenever I would come near her she was huff, puff, and jump and speed off as fast as she could. Whenever I would try to take her out and hold her she would squirm as much as she could and try to get out. One time she ran so fast she fell right off the couch before I could catch her! she actually has now fallen off twice )):

I cant go near her anymore without her huffing and puffing at me, I try to spend so much time with her yet she seems to be getting more and more distant. I feel like shes uncontrollable, like, i just cant handle her! 

Im just wondering if something might be wrong with her :/ If she got hurt when she feel, or something else but I have no idea! I dont know what to do or whats wrong but its hard not to lose patience, as a try for hours a day with her.


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## Lussy (Feb 3, 2012)

I wouldn't be so worried although I understand your frustration, but you know, hedgies are "not ordinary" pets and you need long time to build up a nice bond (and believe me, when it's done then it will make it up for every effort and time you had spent on her!!).
I would suggest to pick her up every day and hold her wrapped in a little towel that little by little will take her and your smell, then keep her next to your chest, preferentially where your heart is and cuddle her quietly letting her fall asleep upon you.
it might take weeks or months...but little by little she will recognize your smell and she will get accustomed to this handling and sure she will puff and huff less.
and also, with my Unariccia this has helped a lot, when you try to pick her up, don't do it all in a sudden coz for sure this would scare her and as a instinct reaction she would prick up her quills, but first put your fingers close to her nose so that she can sniff them and very gently move them and scoop them under her belly.
good luck and keep us posted


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## turnhiphead (Sep 1, 2012)

I feel like she does know my smell though, when i first got her, I put my shirt in her cage, and she would snuggle up with me and sleep, and i could hold her all the time. Now, i cant even hold her for even less than a second. I try to hold her to my chest but she'll try to climb up and run away.
Im trying to put more time with her, and hopefully she will like me again!
Maybe she is just used to me and wants to run and explore and doesnt want me bothering her while she does it. She just never used to jump or huff and puff at me, she barely used to jump at loud noises, but now, everything seems to scare her.
Maybe after quilling she changed, but I have no idea how old she is, I tried asking the pet store but they kept saying theyll get back to me. 

Thanks for the reply!!


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

They can change while they are quilling and after quilling. Did she go through a quilling with you? Do you see any signs of quilling now? My guess is the pet store got her when she was just weened (I think that's 5 or 6 weeks) so depending on how long they had her she would be at least 5 and a half months now. So it is possible she is quilling. That being said sudden extreme behaviour changes are not a good sign and can sometimes be the first sign of health problems. You'd be grumpy and try to get away too if you were feeling sick. Has the rest of her behaviour been normal (eating and running on her wheel)? Has there been any other change, are you transitioning to a new food? Did you recently change her set up? Does she have enough heat and a good light schedule?


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## Lussy (Feb 3, 2012)

well...I'm telling you this that, in my humble opinion, was an extraordinary discovery!
usually Unariccia has always looked to go much better with me than with my boyfriend...I can put my hand or any of my fingers even right under her muzzle and she would never ever bite me...she would move me aside, she would wiggle out of me when seriously annoyed but never even the hint of a bite.
instead, all the contrary, with my boyfriend she always seemed a bit less comfortable and we always believed it was coz he had handled her less than me or coz we also read somewhere that apparently hedgies go better along with female humans than male (no clue on what basis this was proved)...anyway...2 nights ago we made a striking discovery...since up here in the Netherlands is getting very cold, we were in bed and as usual Unariccia was dozing under the blankets on my chest. then I asked my boyfriend to lend me some of his special hand cream he's accustomed to put every now and then when his skin condition gets worse. well, wanna bet what was Unariccia's reaction to my hands and fingers then????
she totally changed behavior...from quiet and semi-asleep she started hopping, huffing and attempting to fully bite my fingers!!! never seen such an attitude towards me!!! she was really defensive and nervous....and we finally figured out that most probably her usually-not-really-friendly behavior against my boyfriend was actually due to this particular smell or element that that special hand cream contains (utterly odorless to us!).
so, my point is....couldn't be that your hedgie is also sniffing something really bad that your nose unfortunately cannot discern? 
did you start using any hand cream or body lotion or were u prescribed any kind of medication concerning the skin??
don't know...pure speculation but really, Unariccia's reaction was utterly unexpected!!!
hope this could help you somehow!
keep us posted


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## turnhiphead (Sep 1, 2012)

When I first got My hedgie the pet store said she might be around 3 or 4 months old, and I did go through a quilling with her. She was less grumpy during her quilling though :/ I was thinking about taking her to the vet just to make sure if anythings wrong. She seems quite energetic, still runs A LOT, eating fine, good light schedule, but I have changed her home around as I was expanding it. 
I dont think I have changed anything that would concern my scent, like lotions or anything. But could it also be that her daily schedule sometimes get messed up? Since I started university, sometimes Im at school late at night and might not get home til 11. I usually wake her up at 9 everyday, but often now I cant and might not wake her up until 11 or so.


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

I thought the same thing, that it could be a lotion because when I had my first hedgehog Snoball she acted that way whenever I put on hand lotion. I also thought that it could be quilling. She could be holding a grudge against you for not taking her out when you are supposed to! I know that both of my hedgehogs have held grudges when I did something terrible like leave them with a sitter! :shock: Well, good luck finding the cause. She probably just has tons of energy and wants to run like crazy. I know my Daisy is the same way. I trained her to "be nice" by only feeding her at night. I think that she's pretty hungry when she wakes up the next day and so she comes to the cage bars looking for food around dusk. I give her a snack and then she starts running in her wheel like crazy. After I eat my dinner I put a piece of kibble on the back of my hand by my wrist and she has to crawl out of the cage into my hands to get it. Then I take her out with minimal huffing/puffing. If I just reach into the cage and grab her she freaks out. Also, if I wake her up she freaks out so I figured the best time to get her out is when she's already up. I know that if I free fed she would probably not wake up when she does and it would be harder to get her out of the cage.
Anyway, sorry for rambling, but food seems to be a great way to train all animals, and in my experience it works for hedgehogs too.
-Susan H.


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## Bromicon (Oct 7, 2012)

My boyfriend has had his Hedgehog for almost 4 months now. We both take care of him and he's used to our smells. If you buy a small rodent bed(will look like a dog bed) and have him sleep in it and just carry it around and when you're sitting down, place him down on your stomach or your lap and let him fall asleep. He gets used to your smell as he sleeps. Our Hedgie is somewhat used to us now. He gets a little freaked out because of the new smells everyday. And make sure your hands don't smell of food. Make sure to always wash your hands preferably with the same soap each time so your Hedgie know it's you.

-Bromicon's girlfriend, Sarina ~


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## turnhiphead (Sep 1, 2012)

I think that Im going to try the same idea about the food thing. She doesnt really put up her quills when i pick her up but she just wants to get out of there! And yeah, maybe shes unhappy with the messed up schedule since I cant take her out at the same time everyday, 

I would like to try take her out in a little bed and let her sleep, but for some reason she wont do it anymore. She used to sleep with me but now if I take her out, even if shes in a snuggle sack, shell climb out and try to escape! 

I just wish she would calm down little outside the cage, she runs so much in there that she gets tired and lays down. Even if I pick her up when shes tired she will still try to get out of my hands until I put her down and she will lay.


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