# Big, mean Hedgehog



## whispy1990 (Oct 19, 2011)

Hello, all- update on Quilliam- he is now about 12 weeks old. He is HUGE (I'll post some photos later, but he seems bigger than most hedgehogs i've seen) and extremely grumpy. Unfortunately, I had to leave him with a pet boarder for the past couple weeks while away for Christmas vacation. When I came back, he is even grumpier than normal. Most sounds, even if from across the room, make him intensely Huff. If my hand goes near him, he huffs and clicks loudly and even "growls", a sound that seems like a deep growl or even intestinal gurgling, because he is so upset. Every time I try to pet him he tries to hurt me.

I am legitimately afraid of him at this point, as I am afraid he will bite me hard or quill me every time I go near him, especially since he's huge. I think the boarder fed him way too many mealworms and he got big on them. He can still roll completely in a ball, so It's possible he's just naturally a big hedgehog. It's just discouraging that he is the way he is. Do you have tips on what I can do? I try to pick him up and put him in my lap, but he seems to hate it.


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## chelsea.kang (Dec 2, 2011)

He's probably been a little stressed having to change homes again. Don't be afraid of him though, remember he is still much smaller than you can cannot inflict any significant harm. Make sure when you take him out things are very quiet and a dimly lit to dark. You can bait him out with some crickets. Do not hand feed the crickets, just kind of place them on you or a little outside his snuggle sack to encourage him to come out and be a little more curious. It will take some time for him to regain his trust, don't be discouraged. I took mine to the vet after having him for a month and it was a big set back but most come back around eventually.

In terms of weight. ( ) = Overweight I I = Healthy and ) ( = Underweight. 
Signs of obesity will also include thigh rolls or your hedgie may look like he doesn't quite have enough quills to cover his body.


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## JustOnePost (Dec 27, 2011)

12 Weeks and you haven't seen him for a few weeks?

Your Quilliam has no idea who you are and his behavior sounds normal, socialization takes time and a lot of bonding typically. While it is true some hedgehogs will bite if you wish to attempt to change this behavior you need to interact with your hedgehog daily. Did your hedge sitter handle him at all? if not or if improperly this could be why he is even more so grumpy. 12 Weeks is very young still and I don't think your hedgehog is over weight at this point don't buy into pictures healthy hedgehogs vary greatly in body frame/weight ranging from 250Gs to 1100Gs will no trouble balling up or health issues associated with obesity.

The important factors are your hedgehog not having fatty legs and being able to fully ball. if both are true then he is probably a health size and still growing if truly only 12 weeks old 

Don't worry your hedgehog is simply being himself and its up to you to show him you are no threat


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## Hedgehog lover01 (Jan 10, 2012)

TO bond with him were a shirt all night then put it were he sleeps **** get use to ur sent to get him to let you pet him fiill up the tub with watter and let him swim also **** lose wieght if you have any qutions pm or eamil me i hope this helps i had a grupy hedgehog he has sharper quils then most but now hes relly relly nice


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## JustOnePost (Dec 27, 2011)

Hedgehog lover01 said:


> TO bond with him were a shirt all night then put it were he sleeps **** get use to ur sent to get him to let you pet him fiill up the tub with watter and let him swim also **** lose wieght if you have any qutions pm or eamil me i hope this helps i had a grupy hedgehog he has sharper quils then most but now hes relly relly nice


As has been mentioned *twice* before by other members in other topics when you have mentioned this, swimming is not something a majority 99% hedgehogs enjoy and should not be used as a weight loss program, in addition this is a baby growing highly doubtful the baby is obese at this point in time. YouTube is the main place that makes people believe hedgehogs like to swim and while that one certain hedgehog did most do not and should not be stressed with a bath tub filled higher then they can walk unless its very clear they enjoy it and even they closely supervised as it can cause them to catch a chill or get a URI from inhaling water through their nose


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## chelsea.kang (Dec 2, 2011)

Hedgehog lover01 said:


> fiill up the tub with watter and let him swim also **** lose wieght


No no no to the swimming idea. It is inhumane. JustOnePost is correct in saying you should let your baby gain weight right now. He's essentially in puberty, its time to grow grow grow. Free feed your hedgie healthy food and make sure a hedgie friendly wheel is available so he can get the exercise he needs.


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## whispy1990 (Oct 19, 2011)

Thank you for the replies. I am hoping he comes around, but he was never a "friendly" hedgie to begin with, but he was a lot better than he was now. Here are some pictures- I'm mostly nervous about the odd gurgling/growling sound that I haven't heard before. I'm also concerned that he is too big for a 12 week old hedgie. The boarder said she took him out each day to explore, but he was grumpy with her as well and hated being picked up. 

You're right though- he is young and it may take a while to re-bond with him.


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## JustOnePost (Dec 27, 2011)

You may have a very anti-social hedgie who just has their natural genes of solitude greater then most do however never give up use fleece to pick up and handle and let your hedgehog sleep on you.

He is a big one get a digital scale that weighs in grams and monitor his weight however he may just be a bigger hedgehog I know breeders who have had litters where some hoglets will spring off the weight charts fast 

My boy is only about 390G less in weight then my next smallest a 480G female and she is much bigger then him, so they vary quiet a bit


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## Fuzzyferret8 (Jun 15, 2011)

My Biscuit is about the same size as Quilliam. She's not overweight but she's just...big. When I got her she was also VERY grumpy, now she still is a bit shy but I can handle her more easily now and she trusts me a bit more. Just don't give up, I'm sure he'll learn to trust you after a while


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Hedgehog lover01 said:


> TO bond with him were a shirt all night then put it were he sleeps **** get use to ur sent to get him to let you pet him fiill up the tub with watter and let him swim also **** lose wieght if you have any qutions pm or eamil me i hope this helps i had a grupy hedgehog he has sharper quils then most but now hes relly relly nice


Please dont pm or email members for advice, if they happen to give bad or incorrect advice you won't know and no one will see it to correct the information. Posting on the forum is the best and safest way to get advice.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

What kind of food are you feeding him? I don't recognize it in the bowl.


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## whispy1990 (Oct 19, 2011)

I'm feeding him a combo of chicken soup for the cat lovers soul, a little purina kitten chow (his breeder fed it to him) and I've recently been trying to integrate a lower fat hedgehog food as well, Sunseed vita exotics hedgehog food. My sister has a hedgehog as well, and hers eats the hedgehog food i'm trying to incorporate, and her hedgie's poop is much less smelly and easier to deal with than Quilliams. Her hedgie is also very friendly. Mine gets messy, but the poop has been much more manageable since he got a little older. He is also very picky and he will pick every bit of his old food out of the bowl and refuses to eat anything else. 

He has recently started trying to bite me as well... when I pick him up, he tries rolling in a complete ball. I can't pet him at all anymore, even when he is exploring, when I used to be able to just fine. Almost makes me wonder if the pet boarder did not handle him nearly as much as I was led to believe...


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## Quinn (Apr 24, 2011)

Take out the Sunseed Vita exotics. That food isn't good for them. Also, you should tell your sister that that's not the best food choice for them. Stick to high quality cat food. 
Some hedgies just don't like to be pet. Let him get more comfortable first before you do that. One of mine, Sasha, is totally calm until you touch his quills. He freaks right out. I can touch his feet and side but if anything touches his quills he loses it. lol


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Take out the hedgehog food, unless he actually eats it, though it's doubtful. This hedgehog food won't harm him like some of the others, but it's also not very nutritious, but is fine when used as a junk food in combination of a good quality cat food. I'd take out the kitten food as well and then start to introduce another low fat cat food. 

Did the boarding place board other types of animals? 
If dogs, then obviously the loud barking during the day would have stressed him out. I've never seen a quiet dog boarding place besides one, where I brought my dogs as they were never locked up and had 3 acres to run around and sleep inside the persons home on her couches and bed. 
If other small animals, probably just even having the smells of predators like ferrets or cats can trigger stress as well. So you have to take all this into account. 

Have you put worn tshirts in his cage? Also have several large fleece sheets/blankets with you when you go to pick him up. Cover him with some folded fleece and just scoop the entire bundle up. That way, your hands are safe. Then, just plop the bundle in your lap. Don't try to touch him. Just sit there, watch some tv, then scoop the entire bundle back into the cage. Have spare fleece with you while sitting so if he crawls around, you can still safely pick him up and plop him back in your lap if need be. 

It'll probably take months, maybe even an entire year. It may be that his personality is just like that and there's nothing you can do. 

Good luck!


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## cthom (Nov 15, 2011)

That Is One BIG Hedgehog :shock:


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## whispy1990 (Oct 19, 2011)

Yep, he is a big boy. I'll try to stop using the hedgehog food. It's weird because my sister's hog loves it, is a healthy size, and seems very happy. I tried telling her about the cat food and she ignored my advice- and somehow ended up with a healthy hedgie with more... regulated bowels. haha.

I'll try incorporating a more low fat cat food. Any suggestions? He absolutely loves Chicken soup, but it's pretty high fat (20%). I could try the light version, but I'd also like another brand to add to his mix as well. He is very picky! Eats nothing I offer except Chicken soup, Purina kitten chow, and mealies.


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## cthom (Nov 15, 2011)

as for food, i tired switch my hog to new food and i had alot of trouble. he had really bad diarreha even after switching slowly and very bad constipation... he stoped eatting and running on his wheel even, so i switched him back to sunseed and havent had a problem. hes a great weight, regular bowels and healty appiteite. runs on his wheel agian, like the fourum says its not recommended cuse its not good food, but some hedgies just have sensitive tummies i gusse...


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## HappyHedgies (Feb 17, 2011)

Yeah the Chicken Soup comes in the Adult formula and the Adult Light formula. You want the Light formula because of the lower fat %. Our hedgies love it!

He is probably old enough and big enough to be taken off the kitten food now and probably get rid of the Sunseeds. Probably add another high quality cat food to the mix (light or senior) be sure to stay with the lower fat %'s There is actually a downloadable list of great cat foods you can feed your hedgehog and you can just mix your Chicken Soup with one of those. Here is the link http://hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15

Yeah it didn't seem your hedgie got all the attention he deserved or needed. Maybe he also wasn't warm enough? How was the environment he was kept in? Maybe his internal clock is messed at the moment, not enough day light/night time hours?


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