# Mopsa! (photos)



## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

So today is Mopsa's first real day at home and I took her out to clean up her cage a little this evening. Here are a few photos I managed to take unobtrusively.

She seemed so quiet all night (I was anxiously unable to sleep), but upon an inspection of her cage, I discovered she came out and even ran on her wheel. That was a relief. She ate 6 kibbles of Blue Buffalo Kitten last night (what the breeder gave me) and I think she drank some water so I'm feeling like she's doing better than she appears to be - at least isn't too traumatized. When I woke up this morning, she was wrapped up tight in the little cloth blankie I made her.

She seems to panic when I come near her but I try to be really calm and not panic back. I think that is the best I can do at the moment, as it's only her second day here. She really does panic though, puffing and clicking. When I had her on my lap for a bit, she was in a snuggle bag and she wasn't balled up in it, but she was making all sorts of angry-like sounds without me even moving at all or making any noise. She didn't eat the mealie I tried to offer her as a reward for coming out...

Still, not discouraged! Rather, quite enamoured. She weighs 226.796g as of a few hours ago and is thus far Mopsa incredibly tidy and quiet.

No problems yet...except for I'm pretty sure that my light timer stopped working...

Here is Mopsa herself:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

She is adorable. It sounds like she is doing okay. It sometimes takes time. Eating and drinking are the main things.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Wow what a beauty you have there!  Looks like she was posing for those great pics.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Mopsa is beautiful! I really like your banner also. 

Just keep doing what you're doing, being patient & calm.


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## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

She's gorgeous! It's normal that she makes angry noises at you right now, it might take a while for her to get used to everything. But you have the right attitude and your patience will be rewarded.  It's such a great feeling everytime they show us that they trust us a little more.


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

beautiful girl!

i do really love her name.


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## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

Okay it's Mopsa Day Three.
Mopsa seems to be adjusting alright, though slowly. She will unball very quickly when I hold her and though she spikes up when I come near, she calms down pretty fast and lets me hold her. She also doesn't seem to have a problem with me reaching into her cage for cleaning, food purposes. 
She is astonishingly clean. I find about 2 full poops on her wheel in the morning and I'm not sure where the rest is going. I hear her digging about in her litter at night, though have discovered nothing that seems to be poop/pee in the litter upon gingerly searching.

She is not an incredibly calm person, which is what worries me the most. She doesn't get angry with me easily, but she does seem to, like, panic. As soon as she unballs she starts running. Her quills are down and she's not huffing so I'm not sure what it means. She just runs and runs if I put her on my lap, even if there is fleece there for her to hide in.

The first night she was in a snuggle sack on my lap and she sat and huffed the whole time. Now she will dig around in one and wiggle in it and not be upset with me, but other than when she is in the snuggle sack, she is basically never still when she's out with me. The other day she almost tumbled from my knee to the bed in her runningness while I was trying to keep her away from the edge of where we were sitting. I'm a bit nervous that she will hurt herself or that I am doing something wrong. I know she is not going to be delighted to see me, but I don't know how to calm her down. She is too run-y even to calm down for a treat. I made her a playpen last night to try to help, but once she was in it, all she did was hide behind her wheel and abruptly stop running...

She has lost quite a few quills (I'm collecting them) but obviously we won't attempt a bath or anything yet. I know she'll need time to calm down and that's fine. She's running madly at night and eating regularly about 7 kibbles.

PS:








a (very) rare still moment.


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Well the running and panic acting isn't strange or unusual since its only been three days, our spikey little friends are not fans of changing homes, so she's just nervous and unsure. You'll see changes as time goes on and she'll calm down, just keep doing what you've been doing, she'll come to learn that you are safe and build a trust with you, and over time she might not even huff at you in general.

Keep an eye on her weight and make note if its before or after she's gone to the bathroom. Also if she's running and panic acting when she's first out, and she has just woken up and hasn't gone to the bathroom, watch to see if she does, they do get kind of twitchy when they got to go. But I'm just thinking 7 pieces of kibble isn't a whole lot, but its not unusual for them to either not eat a whole lot or even go on hunger strikes when first coming to a new home, this of course means she'll shed some grams, but make sure at some point I'd say within 7 days that she starts to at least put on or level off with the weight.

But I wouldn't worry about her not being calm, its just new home jitters.


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Aww, she's a cutie! 
Seven kibbles isn't a lot, I agree with what Puffer's has said, about making sure she is going to the bathroom regularly.


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## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

okay, that makes sense - thank you. I mean, I did assume it was nervousness, but you know - as long as it's normal nervousness...

She sat in her snuggle bag on my lap for a long time earlier, snuggling about and burrowing, though not sleeping. That was reassuring.

So far she was 226.8g yesterday and the day before - I haven't weighed her today. I always weigh her at the same time, after my dinner.

She has never yet gone to the bathroom while I was here. Not on me or the blankets or in the snuggle sack or anything. The breeder did tell me she was litter trained, but I haven't even seen her go during the day in the litter - just on the wheel (two poos each of the nights thus far) every night. I'll have to try to pay more attention.


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## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

Today Mopsa slept on me - in fact, is sleeping right now. She is at the edge of her snuggle sack splatted out on my tummy. And I am ecstatic. I had to give her a foot bath yesterday because her nails were a little too far on the long side and I was really nervous, but she was pretty good about it. She was in a ball long after inside her towel, and ten sat unde rmy shirt for a while to get warm and then once I put the lights out she was running around and eating just fine, so that seems to have been okay.

Today she didn't run half so much, she let me hold her and explored for a little bit before finding her snuggle sack and settling in. It's the first time she's fallen asleep in her sack, not just burrowed in it.

She didn't poo on her wheel last night, but I found poos in the litter, so that is very impressively neat of her, I think.

Still struggling a bit with keeping my thermostat regular, but it doesn't go out of "safe range" ever, and today it's been way better, so I hope that will be okay.

She's quilling all over the place, but I hope the oatmeal shampoo and flax seed oil helped her out a bit from her bath.

It feels like progress. I'm so proud!

a few more photos:









slightly nervous










hopefully sleepy photos to come, but I can't reach my camera without waking her right now...


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## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

here we go!
my snuggly baby:


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## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

Awwwww, so cute! I love pics of sleeping hedgies.  I`m really happy for you that things are going well.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Awwwe! Such a cutie! Keep that camera handy!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Awww, that's adorable! She's so cute!  I wish I could get sleepy pics of Lily, but she's so sensitive to movement until she's deeply asleep, and I don't usually have my camera handy.


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## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

I took Mopsa to the vet today. It was luckily a pretty warm day, but I was obviously worried for her and snuggled her up in tons of fleece and hand warmers for the taxi ride. 
She was FANTASTIC at the vet. She didn't ball up at all, but was out and exploring within moments, all over the examining table. She only balled up when the vet held her and even then was poking out at him pretty fast. He said he'd never seen such a bold hedgie. I was very proud of her, being so sweet to us.

He said she looked very healthy and gave me a few pointers - it was a very pleasant experience and fun to watch the other people at the vet so interested in my baby (selfish of me, I know).

We're back home now and warm. Mopsa didn't seem too phased by the whole thing - we played a bit and then I let her go back home where as far as I can tell she's been running while I made cookies downstairs.

I'm really so happy with how she's doing - she's still grumpy with me when I wake her or if I move too quickly, but she never balls up longer than a few seconds with me, eats consistently about 35-40 kibbles a night and burrows in my lap. She has yet to quite understand her play pen, but that will come.

It's now been a week and a half since she came home and (knock on wood), things seem to be alright. She turned 9 weeks a few days ago - her tiny baby quills show up everywhere.

Anyway, I hope you don't mind the updates/photos. 
Here are a few more:









(I actually have to work quite hard to get a photo of her in a ball in time before she wiggles out of it. but here's a grumpy-girl.)

























much happier.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

What a sweetheart! I like the first & last ones the most. She's just adorable.


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## Tasha (Feb 24, 2009)

She's beautiful, lovely pics. x


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Updates and photos are always great! She's a beautiful little girl.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

She is insanely cute! Thanks for sharing!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

She is very cute.


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## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

Hello!
So it's been coming up to a month since Mopa arrived home.
So far things appear to be going really well. She's grown a lot and is losing most of her white quills, except for one long one right in the middle of her forehead. I am infatuated, of course, and she is...tolerant of my affections.
Actually, she's very lovely. She won't stay in a ball longer than a moment, and only ever after I lift her out of the cage. She never spikes at me once she's out, though she huffs and pops about quite a bit. She is very tidy and happy to fall asleep on me or climb around on my head or whatever she likes.

Here are a few images - they're not the best, but they do her justice at least.










Mopsa also has a brand new housemate, Edie:










(she's my roommates and don't worry - they are best friends from a distance only.)

I just have a few questions, if anyone sees this and has a moment to answer.

1. I am feeding her right now Blue Buffalo Kitten Forumla which is what the breeder had her on. I am planning to switch her to the Weight Loss Formula. She was born on Setpember 9, so she is 2 months and 16 days right now. Should I start switching her? I read in LG's book that it takes 5 weeks to switch completely. I've been feeding her a bit of the Weight Loss as a treat and she seems to eat it fine and not react or anything. I'm just not sure if she's ready to swtich. She runs a lot and doesn't appear overweight. She was 244g at the vet but I'm not sure what she is now because the scale I have appears to have malfunctioned (I'm off to buy a new one this weekend ><)

2. Another food question - the Blue Buffalo food has two types of kibble in it. One of them is brown and more common and the other is a bit smaller and blacker. I have been trying to figure this out so excuse me if it's obvious. Mopsa has started eating around the black kibbles at night, so they're left for me to find in the morning. I was worried that her leaving the black ones means she isn't having enough to eat. What I am wondering is whether the black ones are essential. Should I just leave them and give her only brown kibbles as she's mad about them? Or is there any way to get her to eat the black ones? I have hand fed a few to her, but that doesn't seem to change her mind. Any advice much appreciated.

(sorry to be long-winded)

3. One more food question! Mopsa spends a lot of time in her litter box. It's her favourite place. She has Yesterday's News and in the morning sometimes I find it moved about on the fleece. I am afraid that she is eating the litter. I have no actual proof that she is, but I am just worried that she might be given how much I hear her scuttling about in there all night. Is there any way to see whether she is eating it? Anything I should look out for? No signs of illness or upset tummy...? Am I over-worrying?

4. Last night when the lights were off, I was spying on Mopsa running and I heard her make...well, it sounded like a sound that sounds approximately like a purr. I wasn't bothering her so it wasn't addressed at me, but I didn't know that hedgehogs purr. Is this a sound I should be concerned about? Or is it happy like it is for cats?

Thanks so much for reading! 
<3


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Mopsa is just the cutest little thing ever. 

I don't know a whole lot about food, but I do remember a thread about the black kibbles & I think it's common for hedgies to eat around them. Larry said they tasted gross. :lol:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6827&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=black&start=10

I wouldn't worry about the purr, personally. My guys make little squeeks & I just love it. Wish they would be MORE vocal. I just love sticking them close to my ear.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

margolia.wind said:


> When I had her on my lap for a bit, she was in a snuggle bag and she wasn't balled up in it, but she was making all sorts of angry-like sounds without me even moving at all or making any noise.


What everyone on the forum has neglected to tell us new 'owners' is that hedgies can actually read your mind and know when you're thinking about moving, so they react to that. That and severe insanity are the only explanations to the hissy fits caused by events that happen only in their little, tiny minds. :roll:


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## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

so my cousin brought her fancy camera over the other day and took some portraits of a very wiggly Mopsa.I just thought I'd share cause she sent me the files and I think they worked out soooo beautifully.
She's asleep on my belly as I try to get through my readings for tomorrow - oh to be a hedgehog!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

So cute! I like the first & last ones the most. Just adorable.


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