# Bathroom Habits



## MandLM0 (Jul 23, 2012)

First I guess I should introduce myself on the forum, as I'm new here. My name's Lisa, and three days ago I brought home my first hedgie, Rogue, and I am already in love. I did all of my research before deciding to contact a breeder, and I felt that I had pretty realistic expectations for my new friend. I am puzzled, however, by her affinity for pooping and peeing on me. Not just for anyone who picks her up, but for me specifically.

The first day she was home no one handled her. We let her rest in her hedgie bag undisturbed, hoping that she would begin to feel more comfortable. 
On the second day, I finally pulled her out of her hedgie bag to play for a while. I woke her up, took her out of her bag (which I removed from the cage so she wouldn't try to hide back inside of it right away) and let her explore her cage undisturbed. She ate a bit, had some water, and just sniffed around for almost ten minutes before trying to hide underneath her cage liner. I figured that meant that she was done attending to her needs, so I picked her up to socialize a bit. Before long, she pooped and peed all over me, all at once. I was kind of expecting it, so I just placed her down in her litter pan and went to clean myself off.

On the third day, last night, my boyfriend came over to visit with her. I did the same thing as the day before. She ate, drank, and poked around her cage but did no "business." So my boyfriend picked her up and played with her in his lap for about 20 minutes. Then he handed her to me, and she immediately began to poop. I placed her in her litter box where she finished the deed. When she exited the pan and started back around the cage, I picked her up again. Before even two minutes had gone by she peed all over me. It was a lot of pee, too.

The happy news is that, when she's left undisturbed during the night, she does a stellar job of only pooping in her pan or on the wheel. Which is nice. But I am curious if hedgehogs ever develop preferences or associations of what humans to go to the bathroom on, or if I'm just taking a couple coincidences too personally.


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## JaimieG (Oct 2, 2011)

My babies were never handled by others so I can't answer your question but it is quite funny. Maybe she's marking you as her momma!


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## Tabi (Jun 24, 2012)

Maybe she feels more relaxed with you to "let go" haha


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm guessing it's just unlucky coincidence. :lol: Babies do poop and pee a lot, and have poor control over it. When they gotta go, they gotta go. Sometimes they don't always catch on to potty right away when you wake them up, before you pick them up, and you have to try again to place them in their litter box until they go. She'll probably grow out of it after a few months, the best thing to do for now is to continue trying to place her in her litter box when you first get her out and hold her on a blanket with kleenex nearby.


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