# First time Hedgie owner, need some help with scared Hedgie.



## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

So I just brought back my first hedgie last night (Quillow Smith). The breeder had been able to carry her and even plopped her into my hands and she seemed ok.

When I got home, she did the standard hissing/chittering at me if I tried to touch her. But I held little pieces of cat food pellets out and she would actually come up and eat them out of my hand (and then anoint herself with the smell).

This morning she was great, she nibbled on me a bit and let me gently touch her cheeks/chin with my finger.

So I get back after work at 6. She's still asleep. I figure that's normal, 9:15 rolls around and she is still buried in her cage. So I figure it is time to wake her up. She seems extremely scared again, hissing and chittering while lunging a bit if I touch her. 


Im not sure what to do, if this is normal, how I should proceed. She did so well this morning. I dont want to push her to the point of scaring her, but I want her to at least get the chance to smell me, and let me touch her very gently on her terms a bit each day.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

It sounds like she's very sweet! It can take months for people to even touch their babies face once! Give her time to settle in, and yourself time to learn her habits. Some hedgies genuinely hate being woken up. 
As long as you have a day/night light cycle and proper heat in the cage there is no reason you need to worry about waking them up.


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

If she let you rub her cheek after just one night I'd say you're ahead of the game and doing just fine.  Give her a couple weeks to get used to her new home and keep loving on her. And post pictures.


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

I suppose I'll leave her alone then. I have the temp set at 72 degrees, which is sweltering for me...but I read you shouldn't go below that.

I have one of those tiny animal heating pads coming in the mail so she will have a place to rest at night that's warm if she gets cold.

The one thing I am concerned about is that her cage is in a quasi room adjacent to both my kitchen and my living room. She doesnt have any direct light on her, but obviously has it lit a bit even after dark (until I go to bed). The other concern I have is for the noise.

Should I move her to a different room? I have one on the next floor up that's even warmer than down here that would work, the only reason I havent taken her up there so far is because I want to hear when she wakes up so I can lay down at the cage door again and let her get used to coming up to me.


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

It needs to be a bit warmer, and a heating pad won't work because it doesn't heat the whole cage and it does heat evenly, so she'd be going back and forth between warm and cold and that could possibly cause kind of a shock and she may attempt hibernation. Plus it can cause burns.

Look into getting CHE lamps. Here's a great thread with lots of info about ways to heat: http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...-heating-your-hedgehog-s-cage-simplified.html

I totally understand the being roasting at 72 degrees, but a CHE will make it so you can have your room at a comfortable temperature for you while she stays nice and warm and it won't run up the heating bill.

And don't leave her alone while she adjusts. You should handle her every day, the more the better so she gets socialized and you guys can bond.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

It'd be a good idea to get a different heating set up than a heating pad actually. Most hedgehogs won't think to go someplace warm if they're getting cold, and night time is when most hibernation attempts happen, because they're out & about in the cage, not in their sleeping area with the heating pad. Heating pads can also prompt hibernation attempts when they go from the warmer area to the cooler area. A space heater or CHE set up would be a better idea. There's more info about them here - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...-heating-your-hedgehog-s-cage-simplified.html

Keeping her in the room you have her in now is fine, but you also want to make sure she's getting a steady amount of light each day around the same times - it'd be a good idea to put a light in that room near the cage on a timer. It makes it very easy to make sure she's getting 12-14 hours of light each day to avoid hibernation issues.

Edit: Woops, Abbys beat me! Sorry for anything repeated!


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

abbys said:


> It needs to be a bit warmer, and a heating pad won't work because it doesn't heat the whole cage and it does heat evenly, so she'd be going back and forth between warm and cold and that could possibly cause kind of a shock and she may attempt hibernation. Plus it can cause burns.
> 
> Look into getting CHE lamps. Here's a great thread with lots of info about ways to heat: http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...-heating-your-hedgehog-s-cage-simplified.html
> 
> And don't leave her alone while she adjusts. You should handle her every day, the more the better so she gets socialized and you guys can bond.


Warmer? Ack

I would like to try to handle her, but right now she wont let me get near without defensive displays.

I havent attempted picking her up yet because of how skittish she's been, and rather than taking a quill to the hand from a lunge Ive let her do her thing

How can I tell if she is attempting hibernation?


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

Is there a type of fleece liner or something you would recommend that could also help keep her warm? I just have standard bedding in there at the moment.


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

If you just pick her up in a blanket and let her sleep on your lap, that still counts as handling. She just needs to get used to your smell and feel.

Check out this thread for hibernation: http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/62-hibernation/18-hibernation.html

Fleece blankets/snuggle pouches would help so she has something thick and warm to sleep in.

(She's a cutie, btw!  )


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

Thanks for the help everyone. CHE setup ordered. Now Im paranoid she isnt moving because she's attempting to hibernate


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

This is what she has been doing all day minus the time period where I tried to get her to wake up (even now at 10:30pm):


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Haha, that looks about right. They like to burrow and have something to hide in, so something like one of those little igloos filled with fleece strips, or a fleece snuggle pouch are perfect. Several breeders here on the forum make and sell adorable fleece liners and pouches. Here are a couple of them:

http://www.quillsnthings.webs.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/tranquills
http://www.qcandf.com/


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

abbys said:


> Haha, that looks about right. They like to burrow and have something to hide in, so something like one of those little igloos filled with fleece strips, or a fleece snuggle pouch are perfect. Several breeders here on the forum make and sell adorable fleece liners and pouches. Here are a couple of them:
> 
> http://www.quillsnthings.webs.com/
> http://www.etsy.com/shop/tranquills
> http://www.qcandf.com/


Awesome! Will definitely get her some. I have a little wooden hut for her now (no fleece yet). I just put it in today, but seeing as she hasnt moved from her current burrow she hasnt noticed it yet.

I figure I will let her get acclimated again her second night here and then see if I can pick her up with a towel and have her in my lap tomorrow night.

Temp is up to 76 degrees now, the CHE lamps cant come soon enough.


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

haha love the name


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Also, if you haven't yet, read this guide. It's by LizardGirl (a breeder here) and is a great resource that can answer most questions that come up. It's free to download or you can purchase a print copy: http://www.westcoasthedgehogs.com/files/hedgehogbook/index.html


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

dlonelyboy said:


> haha love the name


lol, yea I had planned on getting a boy and naming him Quill Smith, but then she came along (and they arent easy to find in my area).

She waves her quills back and forth



abbys said:


> Also, if you haven't yet, read this guide. It's by LizardGirl (a breeder here) and is a great resource that can answer most questions that come up. It's free to download or you can purchase a print copy: http://www.westcoasthedgehogs.com/files/hedgehogbook/index.html


Thanks!


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

Well, woke up this morning to find her on her wheel staring at me. I let my hand in the cage with finger extended to let her get some smell for about 15 min. She lifted her head up and sniffed at me for a bit before progressing behind the wheel to get away from me. 



I do have another issue that Im trying to figure out.

Every other weekend I travel 5 hours to my girlfriends house and spend the weekend. I am trying to figure out what to do with my hedgie. Im thinking the best thing would be just to get a cat carrier and bring her with me so I can socialize with her each night.

I dont really have anyone willing to check so often on her at my house and I do not want to leave her alone.


How hard is this going to be on her?

The other option I have is leave her at my place, but some weekends she may be unsupervised for about 48 hours. I leave mid-day Friday and get back Sunday evening.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

If the alternative is leaving her unattended all weekend, I would choose taking her with you. You'll have to see if she gets carsick easily - if she does, you may need to work out other arrangements to make sure she's taken care of while you're gone. Otherwise, I wouldn't think it'd be terrible for her, if she's not a bad traveler. 

I would make sure you take her cage, and make sure whatever bedding that's in the cage has been there for at least a day or two, so it smells a bit like her/home. Make sure you'll have a good place to place her cage at your girlfriend's, especially if there's other animals there. If you won't have the heating set up before you go for the first time, make sure she'll also be warm there. Other than that, it should become pretty routine to her, once she's gone a couple times & gets used to the trip and the new place.


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

Lilysmommy said:


> If the alternative is leaving her unattended all weekend, I would choose taking her with you. You'll have to see if she gets carsick easily - if she does, you may need to work out other arrangements to make sure she's taken care of while you're gone. Otherwise, I wouldn't think it'd be terrible for her, if she's not a bad traveler.
> 
> I would make sure you take her cage, and make sure whatever bedding that's in the cage has been there for at least a day or two, so it smells a bit like her/home. Make sure you'll have a good place to place her cage at your girlfriend's, especially if there's other animals there. If you won't have the heating set up before you go for the first time, make sure she'll also be warm there. Other than that, it should become pretty routine to her, once she's gone a couple times & gets used to the trip and the new place.


The CHE set up should be here tomorrow I believe, I put expedited shipping on it because I want her as comfortable as possible.

My girlfriend has a shiba inu who is very quiet and unamused by small critters so he wont even inspect her after his first smell. There is a great place for her cage there. I think Im going to try and find someone to stop by at least on Saturday to check in, and save having her travel for last resort.


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

So I went out and bought some mealworms for her. I was thinking it might be a good way to get her to warm up to me, every time I come to the cage to see her, give her a mealworm.


I am not entirely sure how I'm going to do this tho as she seems to want to have her head constantly buried in the bedding away from where she could see or smell the offering. I'm thinking it's still a little too early to try to pick her up considering how defensive she gets if I actively move within 2-3 inches of her. Or should I suck it up and pick her up so she can see it's not a big deal?

I'm just not sure which would be better for her, if she sees my hand come within 2-3 inches of her she quills up on me, then Im unsure what to do other than try and wait her out and see if she will come to me.


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

well, I picked her up in a fleece scarf I have and wrapped her up in it.

We are sitting on the couch together. She's chittering away and quilling in the fleece ball in my lap.

Im gonna let her fall asleep in my lap, hopefully this will let her get used to me a bit.


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

She didn't like the mealworm. Glad I only got the 50 and not the 100. Maybe she was too stressed to want to eat it, but when it started wandering across the couch I put him back in the tub.


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## raurora (Sep 6, 2013)

I have to put them RIGHT in front of my hedgies face before hes all "oh! You are trying to give me yummy things, not kill me!" then I put some more a little bit farther away, and farther away etc


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

raurora said:


> I have to put them RIGHT in front of my hedgies face before hes all "oh! You are trying to give me yummy things, not kill me!" then I put some more a little bit farther away, and farther away etc


She nudged it with her nose and smelled it for sure.

I just figure she was shocked since it was the first time I picked her up without the breeder plopping her into my hands.

She became calm rather quickly...only took a minute or two. I let her sleep in my lap for an hour


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## raurora (Sep 6, 2013)

See? It gets easier!! I promise, I had the same thing. Then during quilling it felt like 3 steps back. You got this


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## powercage (Oct 2, 2013)

abbys said:


> Haha, that looks about right. They like to burrow and have something to hide in, so something like one of those little igloos filled with fleece strips, or a fleece snuggle pouch are perfect. Several breeders here on the forum make and sell adorable fleece liners and pouches. Here are a couple of them:
> 
> http://www.quillsnthings.webs.com/
> http://www.etsy.com/shop/tranquills
> http://www.qcandf.com/


Apparently http://www.qcandf.com/ is no more 

She sells via etsy now.


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