# Archimedes' Photo Thread



## moxieberry

I figure I might as well put them all in one place from now on. I'm also going to toss the photos I already posted in here, that way they're stored with the rest of them. So, this is going to start out as a bit of a photo dump, hope no one minds!









The earliest photo I have of him, from his breeder's site. 3ish weeks, going by the day it was posted there.

And these are from the first time we visited to meet the breeder (Kim) and of course, him! 4.5 weeks in these:

















































And from the second visit (5.5 weeks):

































































And these are the first few pics I posted of him, from the first and second day he was home. He was 6 weeks, 2 days when we picked him up from the breeder.

























... and now that all the previous photos are compiled in one place, the next post will have new ones! Probably a lot of them, because I'm photo-crazy about my little boy. :]


----------



## moxieberry

7 weeks. Showing off the new white quills coming in.
















Demonstrating the 'no move' (taught by his breeder) - meant to make him cooperative to have his stomach, feet, etc. looked or touched whenever necessary.









7.5 weeks, with an octopus plushie I made. (Octopi = my mother Favorite Thing Ever.)








Sleeping and letting me get a nice shot of the pretty new snowflake effect.








The result of anointing with some asparagus, lol.

8 weeks (today!) - they're all taken in flash because we're hanging out with him in our dim bedroom:
































^ after trying to nibble on my copy of World War Z, haha.








Nose-pets from his daddy. :]








(The octopus makes another appearance!)


----------



## Melanie

Wow! That is the cutest baby ever!!! So sweet love the pics!

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk


----------



## tie-dye hedgie

Aww, what a handsome boy! I love his dark mask, too. 
Thanks for sharing these great photos with us; keep them coming!


----------



## cynthb

What a sweetheart!


----------



## Nancy

He is adorable.


----------



## EryBee

What a gorgeous face he has!


----------



## AL111

I especially love the baby pictures. He looks so sweet! What is the "no move"? Are you just scruffing him?


----------



## Rosalia

What a cute ball of quills 
Love the pictures


----------



## Claire12491

Wow, he is incredibly handsome. I love his coloring! And the "no move"...wish I could teach Oliver that one :roll:


----------



## moxieberry

Thanks everyone! :]



AL111 said:


> I especially love the baby pictures. He looks so sweet! What is the "no move"? Are you just scruffing him?


Nope, he's doing it on his own. His breeder began teaching him, and all her hedgehogs are trained to do it. He's just sprawled on his back chilling. So far he does it maybe half the times we want him to, and he won't always stay like that for very long, but we keep practicing. It pretty much involves scooping him onto his back and saying "no move", with a fingertip touch to the chest to reinforce the command. When he cooperates with it, it lets us touch/look at his stomach, feet, ears, and we also coax open his mouth to take a peek.


----------



## AL111

WOW, I wish my little guy would do that!


----------



## PJM

He has to be one of the cutest hedgies around. Some of those pictures just make me melt. 

I love the idea of the "no move". All Cholla's learned to do is poop on daddy. :lol:


----------



## LarryT

So many great pics!  Cute overload, thanks for sharing.


----------



## moxieberry

PJM said:


> He has to be one of the cutest hedgies around. Some of those pictures just make me melt.
> 
> I love the idea of the "no move". All Cholla's learned to do is poop on daddy. :lol:


Aw, thanks so much! I pretty much always have my phone on hand (iphone) and it's great for grabbing pictures of him whenever he does something cute/silly or I just feel the urge. So far I've been able to take a pic both times that he's anointed, but they both came out blurry, oh well. XD



LarryT said:


> So many great pics!  Cute overload, thanks for sharing.


You're welcome! There'll be plenty more of them soon enough, I promise! :]


----------



## Hedgehogger

Heeey nice shots of the little critter there! He's so small! I like the no move position which sorta reminds me of what mine does for a few seconds while she's wondering why I've plopped her onto her back. I think my hedgehog is defective as she refuses to ever turn into a little ball like others will do. Sheesh no cute ball pics for me!


----------



## moxieberry

Oh, silly little boy.

Archimedes got woken up while I was cleaning his cage, huffed at me, and ran through some of his poop. I reached for him to clean his feet, and he balled up and got poop on his face and visor quills. So, BATH TIME. He's super grumpy at being awake so early, and the bath, but at least he likes the new bag I made him! XD He's in there with one of my sleep shirts, after having been force-cuddled for the sake of getting warm and dry again. Of course I took a few photos!


































And while I'm at it, a few pics of the bag itself, which I completed last night! I wanted to make him one that's flat-bottomed so he can more easily stand in it when being carried (as suggested by my breeder, though she loved the design of the carry bag I made and brought with me to pick him up). This one also has a flap over the top that can be secured with a magnetic snap, because sometimes when he's being carried he climbs up to the top of the bag - which is mostly adorable, but occasionally a little problematic when I'm, say, carrying something and don't have a spare hand to make sure he doesn't jump out. XD

Not counting the flap (or the sides that pooch outward and add a little room), it's about 12" x 10" with the flat bottom 10" x 3". I made the strap plenty long enough to wear it across my chest, messenger bag style. It's also (kind of) fully reversible; the bottom part of the flap, where the snap is, is sewn so it be positioned two different ways to work no matter whether the snap on the bag is located on the outside or inside - if it's on the inside, the flap just gets tucked inside instead. Though, the inside is fully black fleece, whereas the outside is black and red, so I doubt I'll really be using it the other way.


----------



## shetland

Your hedgie is stunning! I could not get enough pictures of him!!!


----------



## moxieberry

shetland said:


> Your hedgie is stunning! I could not get enough pictures of him!!!


Thank you! <3


----------



## jerseymike1126

great pics and that bag is awesome...of course i bought one instead of making it :lol:


----------



## moxieberry

Lol. XD Yeah, well, you won't find anywhere to buy /that/ bag. I designed that one specifically for Archimedes. I'll probably be putting some normal hedgie bags and maybe one of those carry bags on my Etsy shop in the next few weeks, so maybe you'll get another chance to buy something instead of making it yourself. :mrgreen:


----------



## jerseymike1126

next hedgie i would be interested. pokey loves his pouch he has right now


----------



## moxieberry

Do you only have one? I have four hedgie bags and now two carry bags for Ares. But he tends to get things dirty, like peeing in the carry bag while we're taking him on a trip to a store, lol. So I made him multiple of everything, that way it's less laundry to it!


----------



## jerseymike1126

Yeah only 1. Dont go to petstore often so we dont use it often since we finished the whole baby hedgie bounding phase.


----------



## moxieberry

More! These were taken around 9 weeks, give or take a day or two.

























^ disgruntled after-bath face. He loves baths; it's the being-wet part after that he's not crazy about, haha.
















^ the bowl for getting weighed in.









Also, a video that I posted separately, but I'm sticking it in here too - more for me to have everything in one place than anything. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pErNYLkcGLA

p.s. I just reached the 200 image limit on his facebook album, lol. Time for a new one!


----------



## jerseymike1126

I had to stop putting up so many pics of my guy up or everyone would have defriended me on facebook...


----------



## jerseymike1126

Not sure if the link will work because its from a cell... http://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a. ... r=81400643
got about 170 pics...but my guy is a year older than yours!


----------



## moxieberry

jerseymike1126 said:


> Not sure if the link will work because its from a cell... http://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a. ... r=81400643
> got about 170 pics...but my guy is a year older than yours!


The link works but it's weird, kind of like a mobile version, but in my browser, haha. He's so cute, especially as a baby! I love the one where he's snoozing in your hand, toward the beginning of the album. Thanks for showing me the album!

Yeah, I'm a little photo-crazy. My iphone makes it so easy, so I've been practically taking photos every day. It's probably going to taper off now that my semester just started again - less free time, more cuddling him in my lap while I do work!

I have a friend who got a basset hound puppy 2ish months ago and is picture crazy too, just not quite as much as I am, lol. Her album for the puppy has 188 right now.


----------



## zombiewoman

You feel free to dump pictures anytime, he is so cute. Lisa


----------



## jerseymike1126

i thought so, linked it from my cell phone. my job is real slow in the winter so i am always on that thing. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 643&type=3

if you got 200 photos you def need to link more!

i was real photo crazy but i started getting complaints that their facebook feeds consisted of me posting hedgehog/monitor photos so i had to cut it back


----------



## moxieberry

zombiewoman said:


> You feel free to dump pictures anytime, he is so cute. Lisa


Thanks! I certainly will. :]



jerseymike1126 said:


> i thought so, linked it from my cell phone. my job is real slow in the winter so i am always on that thing. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.576715376415.2083409.81400643&type=3
> 
> if you got 200 photos you def need to link more!
> 
> i was real photo crazy but i started getting complaints that their facebook feeds consisted of me posting hedgehog/monitor photos so i had to cut it back


I've been just picking the best of them to put on here. Trying to not be to excessive, haha. Maybe if I start taking new photos of him less as I get more involved with my classes now, I'll just have the rest as a stash and occasionally post some of those.

So far I haven't had any complaints about it, and even if I did, it wouldn't really keep me from posting however many I want. My facebook is for me first, and my friends second. XD


----------



## moxieberry

Taking a quick respite from a looong night of homework to post another photo. My boyfriend just took Archimedes on a trip to Walmart - he now has a little clear plastic bin he rides around in with his blanket. Most of the photos Nick took while they were there were kind of blurry, but this one is so clear and gorgeous, I just had to share!

He's 12.5 weeks now. I actually have a handful of photos from about a week ago that I haven't posted on here yet, which I'll be sure to add soon, but I just don't have the time right now.










The un-cropped and full-size (HUGE!) original is here: http://i.imgur.com/Lj0eA.jpg

And, back to homework! Ahh, college. :]


----------



## SquiggyTheHedgie

So gorgeous!!


----------



## ThePliny

What a handsome little man!


----------



## moxieberry

Thanks everyone! Here's some more:


















































Of course, they all have the yellowish tint from the lights. The photo in my last post is probably the most accurate color-wise so far. Obviously we just need to take him to Walmart more, haha.


----------



## alyssinreality

His little cheek/blush patches are so cute!


----------



## vasogoma

He is like "I think I am going to cuddle here for a while" he even looks pretty comfortable x3


----------



## moxieberry

Oh, wow, it's been a few weeks since I posted photos. I'll have to get on that when we get back from our trip - though more likely I won't actually have time to take new ones until my spring break in a few weeks. Busy busy busy.



alyssinreality said:


> His little cheek/blush patches are so cute!


Thanks! I've always been in love with his mask. I think it's so cute how the patches aren't quite the same on both sides.



vasogoma said:


> He is like "I think I am going to cuddle here for a while" he even looks pretty comfortable x3


Yeah, no kidding. That's my scarf he has his face smooshed into - it's just cotton but it's sooo soft, so I don't blame him for enjoying it!


----------



## shaylynk

oh my heart. he is just toooo sweet. I really have to make some bags or something for gesso. I feel so bad, i feel like he should have friends and go on trips haha. When I'm out of uni I'll for sure get him a roommate and if it doesn't work out I'll just customize the C&C cage :3 I just checked out your etsy shop, do you sell hedgie toys and bags often? I can never find boy bags. And Gessos too much of a grump to be placed in a princess bag


----------



## moxieberry

I think right now all I have in my Etsy shop is jewelry. I have a few hedgehog things I had intended to put up for sale and keep forgetting - I'll have to try to get good photos of them soon. Besides that, I plan to make more bags (sleeping bags and carry bags) to sell, but I won't have time for that until probably the summer. College and editorial duties rule my life right now (uhg). I really wish I had more time for sewing, and I keep buying more nice fleece when I see it - wishful thinking, maybe! But, the instructions for how I make my hedgie bags are posted in the DIY section (under housing/accessories).

... also. I do have a pink and purple back for Archimedes, among other somewhat more manly ones, lol. XD


----------



## moxieberry

Finally another update! School and editorly responsibilities have been pretty much devouring my soul this semester. Most of these were taken during spring break, which was a week ago. Archimedes will be 6 months old in 5 days (on April 25th). About a month ago his mask started to get lighter, but the few banded quills he has (mostly near his head) are still very dark. He's 80% or so snowflake.

First time we took him out in the yard:

























I think he looks like a pointer dog in that last one.

At PetCo:









We put him in front of one of the igloos on a shelf and he crawled inside, then pouted when we took him out.









And, anointing with a piece of dog treat.

Various sleepy-cute pics:

































... yes, that's a toy truck he's cuddled with. And a very manly sleeping bag, of course.









Sleep-splat in my lap. I couldn't resist a butt pic!









And he likes to ride in hoodie pockets. This particular one was a little smaller than what he's used to, though...









He came with us to pick out a ceramic vase/jug for his cage. He made his preference clear.

Enjoy!


----------



## SquiggyTheHedgie

Great pictures like always! I love that one of him in the yard looking at the camera! I love seeing pics of Archimedes, hes so photogenic!


----------



## shetland

Archimedes is so handsome!! He looks fabulous in every picture. So many different types of photos. Thank you so much=I enjoyed every one of them!


----------



## jerseymike1126

His mask seems lighter?


----------



## moxieberry

jerseymike1126 said:


> His mask seems lighter?


It is - it started to lighten up about a month ago. His quills (the ones that even have any banding) are still just as dark, blackish with barely-there rusty colored edges, and his skin is still black. As far as I'm concerned he's still alg. dark gray, though more and more I'm realizing the color specifics are just a guideline at best, lol. We'll have our breeder (who's a IHA-trained show judge) make the call for sure at some point later in the year - we plan to enter him at the Anacortes, WA show which is in October.

It's really bizarre that his mask is two different colors now - the part over the top of the snout is sort of a dark-ish chocolate brown, and the algerian under-eye patches are distinctly golden-brown, not the same color at all. He's a conundrum. XD

Oh, and to everyone else who commented - thank you! I'll pass the compliments on to Mr. Egomedes, he can never get enough of them. ;]


----------



## Isismommy

He is really cute. I can't wait to see you guys again. I will be going to the show as well, with Isis and JuJu Bee.


----------



## moxieberry

Isismommy said:


> He is really cute. I can't wait to see you guys again. I will be going to the show as well, with Isis and JuJu Bee.


We'll definitely be seeing you before that! Probably sometime in May, and if not then, for sure during the summer. I have a study abroad program in Ireland during June, then Nick is going to meet me there and we're going to have a bit of a Europe vacation for a week or two. Once we get home in mid-July, we'll be visiting pretty often up until my classes start again at the end of August. After you left we were still there for around 6-7 hours in total - we love it, I just wish I wasn't so limited by college stuff right now!

Your girls are such dolls. <3 I love that you take them everywhere, like we do with Archimedes.


----------



## Isismommy

Do you have a sitter for Archimedes or are you going to try to take him with you...that would be so cool.


----------



## moxieberry

Nick's mom loves Archimedes and takes care of him when we're gone. We took a vacation to NYC back in March - I'm originally from there and my parents live there. So his mom took care of him then. At some point we want to figure out the details of taking him on a plane with us. That first trip we had already booked the flights and the airline only allows dogs/cats, and for this trip I think it would be too complicated to bring him into Europe - especially since it'll end up being three or four different countries.


----------



## raerysdyk

So adorable! I love all of the pics! Haha, his little spot on his splat butt! WAY too cute!


----------



## moxieberry

raerysdyk said:


> So adorable! I love all of the pics! Haha, his little spot on his splat butt! WAY too cute!


Thanks! Yeah, I've always loved that little freckle just above his tail.


----------



## jerseymike1126

jean i sent you a msg on fb but i figured you would get this first
you said you wanted some dubia, my colony is huge and i have a friend giving me another one for free...so i can def hook you up with some free dubs, just shoot me a msg and we will figure out how to do this.


----------



## moxieberry

jerseymike1126 said:


> jean i sent you a msg on fb but i figured you would get this first
> you said you wanted some dubia, my colony is huge and i have a friend giving me another one for free...so i can def hook you up with some free dubs, just shoot me a msg and we will figure out how to do this.


Thanks! Messaged you back on there!


----------



## moxieberry

A few more! He wasn't cooperating, he kept coming in close to my phone and making it hard to get good photos. Fortunately my boyfriend was taking them too.


























I have some of my own from this photo session, but my iphone is being finicky about letting me post those to imgur, so I'll get that done later.


----------



## sublunary

I love Archimedes, he's very hansom! And you take such gorgeous pictures. I really can't wait until the weather settles down over here, so we can go play outside too.


----------



## moxieberry

sublunary said:


> I love Archimedes, he's very hansom! And you take such gorgeous pictures. I really can't wait until the weather settles down over here, so we can go play outside too.


Thank you! Yeah, I was waiting so long for the weather to improve. We're still having some days when it's kind of semi-cold, too cold to take him out, and of course there's rain on and off. Lately whenever I see it's a sunny day I check the temperature immediately to see if it's warm enough to take him out. Honestly I'll take him out when it's in the mid-60s if it's sunny, then I just make sure he's in the sunlight. The longest I've had him out in the yard was about an hour, and half of that was spent with him in my hoodie pocket while we kept my boyfriend company - he was fixing something on his truck. I've done it a handful of times in the last few weeks and we've barely had any days over 70. He really enjoys it, and there have been no ill effects from having him in slightly cool temperatures for a little while at a time.

The first time he tried to anoint with dirt. I say 'tried' because he had gotten a bath the day before (from anointing with a red-colored dog treat) and I didn't want to give him /another/ bath, so I interrupted it and kept putting my hand in front of his face so he couldn't twist around and put the brownish froth onto his quills. Eventually he gave up, lol.


----------



## raerysdyk

I love his tongue! Oh my goodness! Hehe, so adorable!  I can't wait until it's warmer here so I can take Brillo outside!


----------



## PJM

He's adorable!! Loving all the pictures


----------



## coribelle

oh gosh is he handsome! I wish it were cooler here so I could take my little one out more often - we usually have high 80's to mid 90's, so I'd rather it not be too too hot for her haha. 
Love these pictures! Archimede's is such the looker


----------



## moxieberry

Thanks all! 

Coribelle - I'm not saying this from experience, just logic, but I think taking your baby girl out for a little while would be fine, just keep her out of direct sunlight and maybe take along some water. Hedgehogs can cope much better with too-hot temperatures than too-cold temperatures; they're originally from the desert. A short-term outing isn't going to hurt her. I mean, obviously you shouldn't do anything that doesn't feel 'right' to you, but that's just my opinion as far as the temperature thing goes. :]


----------



## coribelle

Hahah I totally agree -- I think that sometimes it just might be a little too hot for me though (; haha

I also live in an apartment, and I don't know what kind of stuff they put on the lawn. I don't know if I want to assume that nothing is there when there might be pesticides and such out and about.
Though when I get home for the summer I'll definitely take her out exploring! And I'll make sure to take lots of pictures too


----------



## moxieberry

coribelle said:


> Hahah I totally agree -- I think that sometimes it just might be a little too hot for me though (; haha
> 
> I also live in an apartment, and I don't know what kind of stuff they put on the lawn. I don't know if I want to assume that nothing is there when there might be pesticides and such out and about.
> Though when I get home for the summer I'll definitely take her out exploring! And I'll make sure to take lots of pictures too


I feel you there. I haaate hot weather. I'm originally from NYC, which is morbidly hot and disgustingly humid during the summer. Can't wait to see pics when you finally do it! I think some of the best pics of Archimedes are the ones outside - the sunlight is so flattering.


----------



## moxieberry

And some more!









On a trip to our favorite used book store. He occasionally likes to ride on my shoulder - also, he burrows into my scarf.









Sorry it's so blurry! But I still wanted to post it, I think the peeking is adorable. This is the vase thing we got him for his cage.









This is the bin we use when we take him to stores. It goes in the 'baby seat' section of the shopping cart and he rides around in it. It's also one of his favorite burrowing places ever.

















Flying hedgie!

















I love this one - the angle of it makes him look like the nubbiest little round hedgehog ever, lol.


----------



## raerysdyk

What a little peach! I'm so jealous that you can take him everywhere with no problem!  So adorable! I love the flying hedgie pic, hehe, he's just like, "Um? No, I want down pwease." :lol:


----------



## vasogoma

OMG the color faded so much, I am also in love with the new color :O The flying hedgie pic is stunning


----------



## moxieberry

vasogoma said:


> OMG the color faded so much, I am also in love with the new color :O The flying hedgie pic is stunning


Yeah, his mask faded to a gorgeous brown - I love the golden eye patches, how they're a different color from the rest. His dark quills and skin are still near-black though. And thanks! He mostly cooperates with however we want to handle him, so he just hung there with this look like, "... mama, what. The eff. Are you doing."


----------



## shetland

I love him in his vase!!!!!


----------



## Isismommy

I love the vase pics too.


----------

