# Have I done something to scare my hedgie, or is this normal?



## bamafan2112 (Sep 11, 2008)

I'm going to start this off by saying, I have not had Biscuit for 3 weeks yet. I know, I know......he's not supposed to much care for me yet  But the thing is, over the first two weeks of him being with me, every day there was an improvement (sometimes dramatic) of how he interacted with me. It was nothing like what I expected, he would crawl on me, sleep on me, sleep in my clothes as I would wear them (haha....he tickled when he moved), let me pet him some, sleep in the worn t-shirt I have for him in his cage, and really took me by surprise with how quickly he took to me.

Unfortunately, that was for the first two weeks....the last week or so he seems to be behaving more like expected. Defensive, rolling up in tight balls when I try to pick him up, lots of hissing, scared of my movements, and doesn't sleep in the worn t-shirt I keep in his cage any more. When I have him out of the cage, he seems scared to really do much of anything. He'll eat some food if I put it in front of him, but he doesn't play with toys and explore like he was. 

I'm worried that I might have done something to scare him from me (what, I don't know). Is that a possibility? I guess I would chalk it up to him just acting like a hedgehog should, but him not sleeping in the t-shirt in his cage like me was has me wondering if he is associating my scent with something negative. Thanks for any input!


----------



## roseykrh (Aug 30, 2008)

My Bella did the same thing. Friendly and adventerous and very social for the first 10 days or so and then suddenly changed to huffing and popping, rolling up, she doesn't play with anything whether she's in her cage or in her playpen, everything you mentioned. When I do pick her up and she doesn't roll, she just scrambles in an effort to get away from me as quickly as possible.

Now I'm no expert because Bella is my first hedgie and I've only had her for 5 weeks, but I believe the way she is behaving now is perfectly normal and the friendliness I experienced at first was just a freak glimpse into the sweet personality she will have once we become socialized to each other. Just be patient and continue letting your little one get to know you. We've all heard the stories about "my hedgehog hates me" and that's exactly what is happening to you and your little guy right now. Think of it this way, if you are a small child and your mom sends you to the park with a stranger and this stranger lavishes all sorts of extra attention on you and buys you new things and gives you your favorite foods then you are going to have a pretty good time. But after a while you're gonna realize how much you miss mom and your old clothes and your old bedroom and even though this stranger is still being super kind you just want to go home. That's the way I try to think of how Bella feels. Maybe it was fun at first, but now she realizes she's homesick and it will take some time and patience to help her through it. Probably the same thing for Biscuit.


----------



## Hedgiepets (Aug 21, 2008)

I do not know the exact age of your baby, but they go through a quilling at 6 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks. There behavior almost always will change while quilling. Sometimes a nice warm bath with Aveeno oatmeal bath will help.


----------



## Hedgie17 (Aug 28, 2008)

yes quilling could be the cause of grumpy behavior in those 3rd or fourth weeks


----------

