# anointing



## mcwojo (Dec 29, 2010)

Do all hedgehogs anoint and at what age do they start. Hazel hasn't done it once to my knowledge and she is 10 weeks old.


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## rivoli256 (Mar 1, 2009)

I have one - & I have had him since he was 3-4 weeks old - who has never anointed. He is just not ever gonna do it. He is over 2 years old now. My other 5 participate in the event - some more than others. I have 1 that seems to want to make it an Olympic sport, 1 that is warming up to the idea a lot these days, 1 who used to do it more, & 2 who can only rarely be bothered with it. Mine are all rescues. But my non-anointer was my first hedgie & I thought he must be weird (ok, well he is but that is beside the point!  ) or something was wrong b/c he didn't do it. I don't know if maybe his species doesn't do it/do it as much. He is an Egyptian Long Eared. I had a couple other Egyptian Long Eareds for a brief period of time & they didn't ever do it either. My Africans all do. Who knows?  That's my long way of saying your little one is not alone in her preference not to anoint. 

Ashley


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

Each hedgehog seems to anoint for different smells. Mine has only done it twice in the first week that I had him (at 6 weeks old). The first time was when discovered the smell of my shirt shortly after getting him home. The other was when he encountered the smell of the shower gel on my hands. He hasn't done it to any of those smells or any other ones since. What triggers it in one hedgehog may not trigger it in another. They all react differently. If yours isn't anointing, she may just not feel like it. At least it's not a cause for concern. Maybe she just likes being neat and clean.


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## hercsmom (Jul 6, 2010)

Hercules is a year old, we've had him for 7 months, and we have never seen him anoint. I'm pretty sure he doesn't do it because I never find the stuff on his quills.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

My Cholla hardly ever annoints. I believe the first time we ever witnessed it, it was with a shoe. 

If you would like to see it, you can try to introduce him to different things. Like a shoe, or cilantro. Those seem to be popular. You may end up with a green hedgie!
But, I wouldn't be too concerned. Some just don't do it.


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## mcwojo (Dec 29, 2010)

Thank you everyone for your replies. As long as I know that some just don't I can deal with it. I would prefer she not and I don't think I want to make her do it so I'll leave it at that!


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## Quilled1 (Dec 29, 2010)

PJM said:


> You may end up with a green hedgie!


I was wondering what that green crap on Emma's quills were when I first got her! My dad said it was probably poop...maybe it was since I've never seen her anoint.


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## R3d foreman (Jan 1, 2011)

peter does it with blueberries


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