# Hedgehog hasn't moved much since I brought her home



## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

Hello, everyone.
I just got my hedgehog last night, from a breeder who lives a few hours away from me. She is an 8 week old Albino. I live in Canada and is it about -20c here, and I tried my best to keep her warm inside the car. 
She was in a shoebox, filled with shavings and a wash cloth to cover her up. She dug around for a bit, then went right to sleep. When I got home, I cut a little door in the shoebox and placed it inside her cage, which is a large bin. 
I check on her every couple of hours and she is still inside the shoe box, sleeping. When I last checked on her she was awake, but still in the shoebox under her blankeys. I assume she came out during the night because she ate some food, and pooped in her litter box. 
I'm wondering if shes still in the shoebox because she's cold. I have to keep her in my bathroom until I find a lid for her cage, because my cat will try to jump in and my bathroom is the safest place, but also the coldest place. 
I gave her lots of bedding and little blankets in the shoebox, and I have a blanket under the cage, and a towel covering most of the top of it, and she's right by the heat vent but it is still pretty cold in there. 

I want to pick her up and check the temperature of her belly, but when I try to pick her up she puffs up and pricks me. Even through gardening gloves I can feel them. She is probably grumpy because she is quilling, but could this be why she is always hiding? I'm terrified of her going into hibernation. 
Although she wakes up very easily when i lift the lid of the shoebox.

I just don't want to bother her. And i'm kind of scared to pick her up. 

Any advice at all would be appreciated.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

Well you need to get a digital thermometer in the bin immediately. Does she have a wheel? 
She is probably cold. Being near a heat vent doesn't mean anything really... she needs to be kept above 72F, but no hotter than 80... You probably need a ceramic heat emitter or a space heater. 
What is the temp in your house? 

I don't mean to sound rude at all- welcome to the forum, honestly!
But it sounds like you weren't really prepared before you brought her home. That is why we are here to help... A shoe box is not adequate. You need a cat carrier to transport her. You'll use it more than you think.


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## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

I did my research for weeks before I brought her home. I made sure I had everything, made sure I went to a good breeder, and I asked all the questions I could think of. 
however my heater literally JUST broke yesterday and it will be a few days before it gets fixed. My bathroom is 70 degrees right now, I have a thermometer. But it still feels cold to me. 
I checked on her a few minutes ago and she was awake, and digging. 

Please don't assume that because I'm worried about her being cold, that I wasn't prepared. I just really didn't think my cat would be so interested in her. 
I also have a cat carrier, but the breeder gave me the shoebox to put her in because it was full of her shavings from the cage she was in with her littermates, so she could have familiar smells.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Everything Prickerz said is very much a no argument. Check that heat!

Beyond that, she is little, just a baby, who had her whole world turned upside down. Car rides are scary, new places are scary, new smells...well, those can sometimes be delicious, but can be scary. Usually you should let your hedgie acclimate for a full 24-48 hours before trying to hold and interact with them after they come home. They need to feel their cage is safe and theirs before anything else.

As for the "puffs and pricks", well, as I like to say, if she DIDN'T do that stuff, I wouldn't be sure you had a hedgehog. Read this sticky. http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/17-hedgehog-personality-behaviour/10-behaviour-expectations.html

Then, for more in depth information, read this book http://www.westcoasthedgehogs.com/files/hedgehogbook/download.html

She is hedgehog. Hedgehogs puff, pop, growl, jump, ball up, and everything else. The cuddles come later, with time and effort...and they're totally worth it. I had a guest stop by a few hours ago, and of course they wanted to see my boy. He did the whole spiel, jumped and hissed at them, was very upset for being woken up in the middle of his night.

Then, when everyone was sitting down, talking quietly, underneath his little blanket, he laid down on his back, with all four feet in the air, and slept. He slept so hard his feet twitched and he snored a bit. All of the anger and touch of fear my guest had from the "I AM HEDGIE HEAR ME ROAR" bits washed away, and she left my house a hedgie convert.

But the "roaring" never really stops.  It's just part of who they are.


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## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

I totally understand that, I don't expect her to like me right away, and I want her to feel at home. 
I left her alone basically since she's been home and I'm going to continue to do so until she is comfortable enough to wander around her cage.
And like I said, I do have a thermometer on her bin, and it is always at 70 degress, 72 when the heat is on. But it still feels cold to me. I don't know maybe I'm exaggerating slightly. 
But thank you Soyala! That definitely helps


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## Katten (May 10, 2014)

70 might be too cold. Can you turn up the heat, or close some vents in the rest of your house so more heat goes into the bathroom?


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

That IS too cold, actually. 74 is pretty much as cold as you want to let them get, 76 is better. (99% of the time, my guy actually gets overheated easily and does better at slightly lower temperatures) I'd get a CHE on her IMMEDIATELY, or at the very least a lizard heat light till you can get a CHE. Those couple of degrees is REALLY important to a hedgie, she might not be completely trying to hibernate, but could be right on the cusp and definitely in the danger zone. If you don't get her temperature up and quickly, she could get really sick, and if continues for too long, even die.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

You should start handling her now as well. If you wait for her to come out and wander around when you're there you might be waiting a long long time. She is going to ball up when you pick her up, there's no way around that. You can use a piece of fleece or a small blanket to help pick her up. Gloves are just going to make it worse as she can't smell you through them. Owning a hedgehog means you're going to get poked and its going to hurt and may even bleed but you still need to pick her up every day.


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## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

Lizard lights are very dangerous. I had one for my gecko a couple of years ago that shorted out and caught on fire. I considered getting one but I'm not home a lot and I can't risk that. 
I'm going to get a space heater this weekend. 
But like i said, my heater is not working and wont be fixed until friday.
But even with the heat working, my apartment is usually quite cold. I live in a basement apartment so there really isn't much I can do about it.
So until I get a space heater, Ive put her in a smaller bin, one with a lid with holes cut out. I've filled it about 4 inches with shavings for insulation, and I filled a hot water bottle, and burried it in the shavings, then I placed a large towel, folded up over all of that. I put in a thin layer of shavings, and placed my hedgie under the hide with her bedding. She is eating right now. And I have her in my living room where it is warmer.
Hopefully this will do until the weekend. 
However I was holding her today and her belly did not feel cold.


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## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

Since I've put her in the smaller tub, this is the first time she's come out of hiding to eat. I think she is warm now.


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## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

@nikki , I handled her for the first time today. I actually used to bra to scoop her up.
I then held her in my bare hands and let her crawl around on my lap for about twenty minutes. Her breeder told me that she's one of the sharpest-quilled baby hedgehogs that she's ever held, and I definitely believe her! I've held a couple hedgehogs in my life so I really didn't expect her quills to be so sharp. Do they soften, or become more dull as they get older?


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

That's great that you handled her today. Baby quills are sharper than adult quills so that will get better. I swear some babies sharpen their quills daily...lol


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Yay! I'm glad the temperature fixes seems to have really helped! The space heater will help once it comes in, I use one in my hedgie room too.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

Do you know why the light shorted out? That sounds strange to me... I work in a pet store and have seen it all! It can be scary and completely understandable why you don't want to try it again. A space heater will definitely do the trick, although you will still need a thermostat if one isn't built in! 

What kind of shavings do you use??


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

I never used a che or a lizard light either as i am concerned with fire hazard. I use a tip-over proof, safety proof space heater and have put a thermostat into her cage as well. On colder nights I bump the heater up. I also live in Canada and the basement is quite a bit colder than the rest of the house. I've bought our Penny upstairs because it is a bit easier to control the heat. i never had any major issues with the space heater except it runs quite a bit more in the basement and is harder on the electricity bill.
Bye the way I don't think i have ever heard of someone using their bra to pick up a hedgie with before! LOL! I think that is quite brilliant!


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## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

@Prickers, I think the light may have overheated. It was only a couple of months old so I'm not entirely sure how it shorted out and caught fire. But it was pretty scary! And I was using Aspen shavings, but she was sneezing today so I took all of the shavings out and put a folded fleece blanket in instead to eliminate any dust and I haven't heard her sneeze since. She likes to burrow under the blanket when she sleeps. I've been checking her belly now that I'm not afraid to pick her up, and it's always warm. 
I'm also putting her in whatever room feels the warmest, which is usually my bedroom. It's the only room in my apartment with carpet, I'm assuming that would have something to do with the temperature as well. 

@phoenix, I've never used a CHE either but I'm going to get one this weekend just to be safe. I'll probably only have it on while I'm in the room, just to be safe.
That way my electricity bill won't break the bank either. 
And I looked all over for something to pick her up with at first, because her quills poked through anything I tried, even gardening gloves. So I used a bra! And it worked wonders. It also really helps since she's usually in a ball when I pick her up. I highly recommend trying it!


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

As for the electric bill, a good pet lamp can be attached to a regulating thermostat. You put that in their cage and it actually turns the lamp on and off to keep the temeperature at the correct range. Just make sure it's a thermostat and not a reostat, reostats only lower the heat, they don't actually turn the bulb off. 

As for the bra, hey, anything that smells like you! And depending on what you've done that day, your bra might have a good load of smells, lol. Just be careful if your hedgie tries to chew or tear on the bra to try and get to the salt from your sweat. I know my last hedgie, well, he REALLY liked trying to climb down my shirt and lick cleavage sweat on hot days. I guess it was dark and smelly in there? Dunno, but if I wasn't paying attention, SCHWOOP there he was, and it's REALLY hard to get a hedgehog out of your cleavage if he doesn't want to come out!


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## Miss-penelope (Jan 20, 2015)

Oh my goodness! I panic whenever Penelope comes near my face, never mind near my cleavage! I'm not use to her prickles yet. I am only just starting to be able to pick her up bare handed. I'm a huge wuss. 
I'm sure I'll get use to it. Hopefully. Her prickles aren't so bad when we've been hanging out for awhile, her quills will be flat against her and I can pet her and pick her up without huffs and puffs. But she's quilling and I've had a few baby quills stuck in my feet. Ouch.


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