# New hedgie & treats



## Slash (Apr 21, 2011)

Hi, I brought home my hedgie this Thursday and the pet store I got him from says he is about 6-7 weeks. How old do they have to be before they can receive treats? We're still trying to let him get use to his new environment but also want him to get use to us as well. He is so cute and usually curls up and huffs when we get close, but as soon as we pick him up, he immediately uncurls and is extremely active so it's hard to leave him alone!


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

I have babies that age and they're already eating treats. They love cheerios and cooked chicken. We're going to try strawberries today


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Because he is new, personally, I would wait 2 weeks or so before giving new treats to avoid upset tummies from new food AND stress of a new home. 

And since it's highly possible that the pet store was feeding crap food, a diet change may be in order before you should even be thinking about treats. 

That being said, if the pet store gave mealies and such as treats, then it will be fine to continue giving mealies as treats, etc etc.


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## Slash (Apr 21, 2011)

Thank you guys so much for responding! The pet store was giving him Marshall ferret food and we got him some Blue Buffalo weight control and we have been mixing them but I have noticed that he has been eating mostly the Blue Buffalo. I was not expecting him to be such a poopy butt! How do you guys deal with the smell? We clean his cage every morning to get it to smell decent but it doesn't seem to be enough. We have a Chinchilla and 2 hamsters and have never had a baby with soft poop before...


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Slash said:


> Thank you guys so much for responding! The pet store was giving him Marshall ferret food and we got him some Blue Buffalo weight control and we have been mixing them but I have noticed that he has been eating mostly the Blue Buffalo. I was not expecting him to be such a poopy butt! How do you guys deal with the smell? We clean his cage every morning to get it to smell decent but it doesn't seem to be enough. We have a Chinchilla and 2 hamsters and have never had a baby with soft poop before...


It's probably the ferret food that's causing some of the smell. Ferret food usually has too high of protein, which I think can make me the poop smell stronger (not sure though). If there's the main ingredients are fish, then that could be part of the issue as well. Babies do poop a LOT though, and the poop does smell when it's still wet, so the smell may not go down too much even after switching the food. Hopefully it will though!


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## Slash (Apr 21, 2011)

We looked and the ingredients and the first 3 are Chicken by-products(organs only including liver), herring meal, and corn. It also has 38% crude protein and 18% crude fat. The Blue Buffalo one I got him has 28% crude protein and 9% crude fat and the first 3 ingredients are deboned chicken, chicken meal, and oatmeal. 

We have already gone through a bit of fleece...how do you guys wash them? We have cut up pieces of fleece that we put in his PVC pipe and in his igloo on top if his snuggle disc aside from the 2 layers on the bottom of his cage. Do you just put it in with the rest of your laundry or separate them? I definitely don't want it all over my clothes but it won't be enough for a full load by itself either and I would hate to have a pile of stink sitting there for over a week...


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

I just wash fleece with the machine set for a small load. Strips or small pieces should go in a mesh bag before they go in the wash.


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## Slash (Apr 21, 2011)

We tried to hold him this morning and he did the usual huffing and clicking but when we picked him up, he would crawl all over us except this time, he pooed everywhere and even peed once! We tried it again later today and he pretty much started pooping everywhere again! >.< I just don't know what I can do to get him to get use to us if I can't even pick him up with him pooping everywhere.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Welcome to the world of hedgehogs. Everyone here has been pooped and peed on regularly perhaps even daily and even multiple times with multiple hogs. The first time I ever held my boy at the breeders, he promptly peed on me then curled up in my hands to sleep. 

First things first though, hedgehogs are nocturnal, so waking him up so many times throughout the day can be detrimental to his health. 

Now for the pooping thing, what most people do is wake their hedgies up about 15-30min prior to handling. This time is usually spent spot cleaning and feeding, perhaps even wheel cleaning while your hedgie slowly wakes and wanders around. It would also be wise to dim the lights at this point as well. Usually, most will have done their business and this will help cut back on you getting pooped and peed on, but may not stop it 100%.


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## HodgepodgeHedgehog (Apr 3, 2011)

Immortalia said:


> what most people do is wake their hedgies up about 15-30min prior to handling. This time is usually spent spot cleaning and feeding, perhaps even wheel cleaning while your hedgie slowly wakes and wanders around.


okay, so how do i get my hedgie to STAY awake  :!: :!: :!:


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## Beanie (Jun 9, 2010)

First off, baby hedgies to poop and pee SIGNIFICANTLY more than adults. I would say by the time my baby was about 4 months old it had leveled off a lot. However, if I wake him up to come out, I do let him walk around for a few minutes so he can get his business out. Still happens time to time, but not every time. 

Second, baby hedgies sleep a lot more than adults too  I think I remember Watson being up for maybe about an hour or two a day at first, all over the place. Also, we have a tendency to catagorize the personalities of hedgehogs: you have cuddlers, exploreres, and hufflers. So if you have a cuddler on your hand, there's a good chance that when you take him out, he just wants to cuddle up and go to sleep. That may change as he gets older, but for now take it as a blessing :lol: The best thing is to make sure he's getting enough time to sleep during the day without interruptions and that the room he's in is getting 12-14 hours of light. Then, by the time it gets dark, it should be about time for him to wake up, at least for a little bit  

Hope this helps some


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## Beanie (Jun 9, 2010)

Also, congrats on your new hedgie and welcome to HHC!


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## Slash (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks! I actually work at night so I sleep pretty much all day as well while the rest of the people I live with are at school/work. The reason I tried to get my time in with him in the morning is because I come from work at 8am and try to do all of his cage cleaning then (after he runs over his crap on the wheel all night). Since this post, started leaving the poopy wheel as is all day and clean it around 8pm before I get ready to go to work. 

2 days ago, I woke his little grumpy butt up to clean his cage and he ran around his cage and did his business which was great because I was going to clean his entire cage and replace his fleece anyways. I kept him awake by cleaning one thing in his cage at a time and didn't put it back in his cage. Eventually, it got to the point where he was waiting for me to come back patiently and it took me about 20 minutes to clean his cage this way but it was COMPLETELY worth it cause my boyfriend and I both played with him for about an hour and he didn't poop or pee once!


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## hedgiegirl1214 (Jan 14, 2011)

Slash said:


> I was not expecting him to be such a poopy butt! How do you guys deal with the smell? We clean his cage every morning to get it to smell decent but it doesn't seem to be enough.


 I use an unsented baby wipe after I'm done with the wheel. Just make sure you dry the wheel up after with a paper towel. Good luck!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I find it's easier to always have a blanket or towel on your lap, just in case there are any accidents.
As far as keeping them awake once they are up - I don't know. Obviously, if it's during daytime, it's their normal sleeping time, so they would want to sleep. But I find that even when we get our hedgies at night, they will eat a little, explore a little & then prompty find a cozy spot (usually under my hand) & take a nap. That's fine with me. I like cuddling.  I tr not to take it personal - like I'm boring or anything. :lol: Some hedgies are explorers & other are more the cuddle type.


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## Slash (Apr 21, 2011)

I use to wet a paper towel to try and scrub it down but it seemed like I was wasting a bunch of paper towels since by the time I can get to it, the pooped would be dried onto the wheel. So now, I find it a lot easier to fill up the sink with some mild soap and let it soak or a bit so when I go to rinse, everything just comes right off. 
As for Slash, I don't think I would really categorize him as either a cuddlier or an explorer. He is the grumpiest little thing when he first wakes up and as he gets going, he will be come super active to the point where I can't hardly keep up with him(I didn't know hedgies were so fast!) He will then find a comfy spot and lay there and eventually fall asleep which I would think is also good, especially for a hedgie newbie like myself, because as they are sleeping, they are getting use to your scent. But then and again, he's still young and we haven't had him long so perhaps he may change a bit as he gets older...


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## YellowPlanetarySeed (Dec 8, 2009)

I put my baby in a bin while I clean his cage and before I hold him. As soon as he starts walking around he does his business and gets it all out of the way. It's like he knows it's his potty box or something. Then I know he's empty for the moment! I always expect "accidents" though and make sure to wear something I don't care about or have him on a towel or his fleece.


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