# Behavior development and owner expectations.



## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

It seems like there have been a bunch of threads lately about new hedgehogs and behavior expectations, e.g., "It's been two weeks and she still won't _____. When will she get friendly? Why won't she _____."

I totally get it. Everything is as totally new for the owners as for the hedgehogs and people want to know they are doing the right things, or the best things, and are unsure of everything.

I made a new mid-bath video today with Sophie because I think it demonstrates the long-view that we have to take with our expectations. Adjusting our thinking makes all things easier.

Some hedgehogs will come 'round to developing long-term behaviors easily - others, never. I think that most hedgehogs will come around a workable degree, for most things, over time. Owner behavior is the key. Consistency. Reliability. Patience. Your hedgie is watching you every day - and just as closely as you are watching them.

What Sophie has learned with her three-a-week mini-baths well illustrates most of her behavior developments. She hate, hate, hated the water at first. She was six weeks old. But we did it three days a week anyway. I started with a short period of time; just what she could stand without becoming panicky. I've always used a timer on the baths. It is a good tool. Over time, and hardly noticeable without specifically watching for it, she lasted longer and did better. Owners tend toward the same 'right now' perception of reality that hedgehogs have. Logging data and daily notes can tell the real story of incremental changes. This is something that we don't see or recognize day to day.

I see all these pictures and videos of hedgehogs looking so comfy on their back, and being petted, and looking so cute. But Sophie has never liked being on her back one bit, and has always immediately flailed her little legs like crazy. It isn't generally necessary to have her on her back, so I have never pressed the issue. However, I do inspect her belly and belly fur during every bath, whether she likes it or not - have done so three days a week from when she was 6 weeks old - and in just the last month or so (at about 22 months old) she has let me hold her on her back, without flailing for 15 seconds or so. This is a huge behavior change for her. It may signal that in the coming months she will continue to be more okay with this. I would love that. But I also know that it may take many more months - or that this is as far as she will ever adjust.

Sophie hate, hate, hated having her feet touched, her legs held, her nails inspected or clipped. But we did it three days a week anyway. Sometimes she was just too insistent, and for safety I would let her leg or foot go so that she wouldn't hurt herself. Because it has always been a very regular thing, nail clipping has never been big production. I clipped one nail today. She let me handle her legs, hold her feet, clip her nail. She did stick her head in my sight-line today, so it took a couple of attempts, but the video shows that neither of us was especially bothered.

Sophie hate, hate, hated being touched almost anywhere when I had her out of the water during her bath. From very early on she did very well with being held up against my chest, but everything else has taken a lot of time, understanding from the start that she might never come around to some things.

Now look at her. Her mid-bath petting has become a big deal, a highlight event for me. I get to pet her all over; her feet, her sides, a little bit of her belly, her nose, her head, her back . . . . My cup runneth over. This is the same hedgie that would flair her quills at the slightest touch. Having a thousand quills prick your chest takes some getting used to. Ha! She is still a total scaredy-cat. The slightest thing triggers her to flair her quills.

Patience, folks. Keep a day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month routine. Expect nothing day-to-day - but if you keep it up you might achieve major results someday. And you might not. But the odds do favor those who are consistent, patient, and without demanding expectations.

Nail clipping and petting session during mini-bath.
(9:35)





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This video, also taken today, shows how quickly things can change. Sophie is extremely shy about being out in the open, even when being fed her afternoon mealworms. Sometimes she just gets overly skittish and wants to hide and that is the only thing she knows. Right at the end today, she gets overly nervous - agitated - refusing the last mealie. It's like a switch was thrown. One second she was okay, and the next second she just wants to hide in her hedgie sack. When she gets like that, that's just the way it is.

Of course, once she is safely in her sack she happily gobbles down the last mealie. Grrr.

Afternoon pinky and mealies. 
(2:42)





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## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

Your videos won't load for me (my internet has issues with youtube in general, and won't play a lot of videos) but I think part of the problem is that in so many of the videos on youtube.. you don't actually see many grumpy anti-social hedgehogs... because no one really posts much of those, all you see are the uber-friendly super cute ones, and it's easy to expect that they're ALL like that ALL the time. Webster sure isn't. He's a different hedgehog when you wake him up vs when he's awake on his own. Webster also tends to bite when he's grumpy - I don't *dare* pick him up out of his cage the way many people suggest by putting my fingers under him, I'll use a blanket, and I can't really handle him until he's calmed down a bit, and even then I am always worried that he'll bite. He's also much friendlier when we take him outside in the grass than if we have him on a bed, on the sofa, or on the floor. 

Henry on the other hand, is like the polar opposite. He'll ball up a little when you wake him up, but quickly relaxes, and won't even raise his visor quills after that. He'll seek out attention and let you pet his face/chin/tummy, places I can't even touch Webster at all. I don't think I could make him bite me... he's super laid back (though I'm starting to suspect some of that may be illness related). Henry (assuming what I can tell of his personality is just that, his personality, and not something else) may end up being one of those super social super friendly hedgehogs... but I can never see the same happening with Webster, I can handle him, but as far as "progress" there has been very little of it in the 4 months I've had him - any progress made is just me learning how to handle him better, it really hasn't been him learning to trust me (or anyone else in the house, I'm literally the only one who can hold him). It's not as if I've done anything differently between the two of them, they were just very different from the start. Henry loves everyone. Webster likes to be left alone.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

A great reminder! I love the videos - especially the bath one. I cracked up a bit at Sophie's face while you were clipping the nail...I'm pretty sure she was giving the camera the evil eye. :lol: You do a great job with her though, and it shows.  Sophie's a lucky hedgehog!

I always wanted to learn how to make/post some hedgehog videos about care & behavior, but it was useless to do so with Lily...she was always a pretty calm hedgehog and though she was a diva sometimes, she was a total sweetheart most of the time. Lucky for me, unlucky for video making. :lol: If I end up with a grumpasaurus hedgehog via rescuing someday (all too likely), maybe I'll be able to make some videos then.

But yeah, there's always way more videos & pictures of the sweet, calm, good hedgehogs...and people should also keep in mind that only the great pictures get posted - all of the blurry, no-face-shown, and hey-wait-get-back-here ones get deleted. :lol: It always takes a bit of time, and more for some hedgehogs than others.


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

> you don't actually see many grumpy anti-social hedgehogs... because no one really posts much of those, all you see are the uber-friendly super cute ones, and it's easy to expect that they're ALL like that ALL the time.


sarahspins,

Super-good point about people's expectations being skewed by what they 'think' they know from YouTube videos and the like.

I would love to have comparison videos with Sophie (then and now), but in my first months with her I don't have any video of anything. She was always my first priority - way ahead of getting video when my attention needed to be entirely on her. I know a lot more now, and have more skills, so could probably do both for some things. I would like to think that is one reason that we don't see more videos of huffing, chuffing, biting, and the like. Owners have their priorities in order.

I have seen some 'bad hedgie' videos that should not have been made. They are not videos that document. They are videos that show owners scaring their little hedgies just to get video of them being scared. (Not a lot of these, thankfully.)

Also, some people probably worry (rightly) about internet mob mentality and backlash from people that don't have a clue what they are seeing or why it is being shown if the video is showing an unhappy hedgie.

Good point too about 'fixed personalities'. Sophie will probably always be super-shy, private to an extreme. I may not have described as well as I could have how amazing it is to me that she has come so very far with some behaviors. I was aiming my notes more at people who have had their hedgie for a week or a month and want to know what it is wrong. Most of these issues are 'owner error' and I just feel like I've seen quite a few of those lately.

I did get some horrific (to me) video of Sophie while we were at the vet for her 'every everything' exam when she was sick. She started out fantastic.
Proof: http://serenebreezes.com/Sophies-pictures/Sophie-167.jpg

Her patience ran out by the time the actual vet got to her.
Proof: http://serenebreezes.com/Sophies-pictures/Sophie-169.jpg

Poor thing. I did get some video of her after they were finished with everything. Note: The first of these four videos was shot after she had already been back with me for over 30 minutes. I'd held her (popping like crazy in my hand, ouch!), had her in her hedgie sack, done what I could for her in every way.
Proof: http://serenebreezes.com/Sophies-pictures/Sophie-170.jpg

http://serenebreezes.com/Sophies-pictures/Sophie-171-cr.jpg

Finally I decided that it would be okay to shoot some video, that it wouldn't be taking anything away from her. The longest of the four videos is only like three minutes. All told, she was balled up tight and chuffing pretty hard for well over an hour. It had to have been exhausting for her. It's an hour drive to the vet, so there was that too. And yet, when we got home she was totally fine, like nothing happened at all. Ha!


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## dylansmom816 (Oct 21, 2013)

Has anybody noticed a difference in behavior of a male vs female? Does one seem to be more tame?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

No, there's no difference between male & female. Either can have any kind of personality. The only slight difference is males will have boy-time (masturbate).


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## ceopet (Sep 20, 2013)

LOVE the bath video! 

How is her health doing? 

She is a cutie even when she is upset.


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

She is doing very well now. Getting her off of dry kibble and switching to an all wet-food, real-food diet has made all the difference. It took many weeks for her to fully recover from her cystitis. Gradually, the blood lessened and then stopped completely. Though average speed remains low for her, wheeling time has almost doubled. We're in pretty good shape I think.

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