# To spay or not to spay.



## ashleemarie (Jan 4, 2014)

What is everyone's views on voluntarily spaying a female hedgehog. What are some pros & cons of doing something like this. 
I'm considering it, but I want everyone's opinions on the fact before hand. 
Also, if she's spayed, is there still a chance the surgery wouldn't work (say she plays with Shiloh, and he mates would I still run a risk of pregnancy. Shiloh has never shown ANY interest in Wilbur, and I'm not just spaying her so they can "hang out" without worrying of pregnancy. I'm just wondering)


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Having her spayed will totally eliminate the risks of reproductive cancers. There will be no worry about an accidental pregnancy because the parts will no longer be there. She will no longer be enticing to your boy.

The cons are the slight risk of complications during surgery. She may also gain weight after the surgery.

IMO, since you have a male too, the pros outweigh the cons. You will be able to have them out at the same time without worry or worry about someone else putting them together. You also won't have to worry about reproductive cancers that affect so many of our girls. :smile:


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

What Nancy said is right on the money.

Also, if you have it done while she is young and healthy the risks aren't so great as to wait until a tumor shows up at a later age.

If you wait, you'll have to deal with the risks of blood loss and anemia. Also the added possibility that there will be no symptoms until the cancer or tumor has spread beyond the reproductive system and it will be too late.

Having gone thru this recently--my Nara was 3.5 years old when she had her surgery--If I had to do it over again and I knew what I know now--I would have had it done when I first got her. She has had an excellent recovery but I was so worried.

ML


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

I've been thinking quite a lot about this lately and I find it a hard question... I recently bought a young female (I already had a male) and I've heard of preventative spays before. But my previous hedgehog died because he had a reaction to the anaesthetic which was a sudden loss and it was devastating. I wasn't fond of surgeries to begin with, but this has made it even worse. 
So I'm not sure if I can take the risk (and I don't know if I'm gonna breed them in the future or not - which makes it harder too).


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## AngelfishGirl (Sep 25, 2013)

Quick question -- if a female is spayed, than male hedgehogs wont show any sexual interest in the female?

How much does this surgery typically cost? And what are the chances that something will go wrong?

My boyfriend has a male, I have a female. And we want them to play with each other


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

I am not sure if it will affect the male in such a way but there is no need to let them play together. That would be only for your own fun. Hedgehogs are solitary animals and don't need to play with another hedgehog.


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## AngelfishGirl (Sep 25, 2013)

Yeah, it is more for our own fun. When we got him his own hedgehog, one big thing was that we wanted them to play with each other. However, the only available hedgehog within our price range was a male.
So if we were to neuter the male -- would he stop losing interest sexually? Or would it not matter who got spayed/neutered?

EDIT: My boyfriend's hedgehog's name is Loki.  I noticed your signature. I'm sorry for your loss.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Neutering is usually more difficult in hedgehogs than spaying. It'd probably be better to go with spaying instead, if you're going to do surgery on one of them. I'm also not sure about sexual interest or which would affect it more. I would guess neutering would be more effective for it, but that's just a guess & it's still probably better to spay instead. Just keep in mind that if they don't get along, you still won't be able to let them play together. And even if they do, the most likely outcome is they ignore each other anyway. :lol: Hedgehogs don't usually do "playing" much. (And I'm saying all that as much for others who may be reading the thread, not just you)

From what I've seen on the forums (not spayed a hedgehog myself), surgery can be anywhere from $300-500, depending on your vet, etc. You'd have to call your vet to ask what an approximate cost there would be. There's a risk with any surgery, with anesthesia involved. Hedgies (and any animal) can have a bad reaction to the anesthesia. I've seen Nancy mention that you can have a laser used to cut for the surgery, which usually is a cleaner cut and heals faster, but is also more expensive.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

It's better to have the girl spayed as there are more health benefits for a female than a male. The risk of a reproductive cancer in a male is minimal compared to a female. 

Once she is fixed, he should no longer have interest in her.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

AngelfishGirl said:


> Yeah, it is more for our own fun. When we got him his own hedgehog, one big thing was that we wanted them to play with each other. However, the only available hedgehog within our price range was a male.
> So if we were to neuter the male -- would he stop losing interest sexually? Or would it not matter who got spayed/neutered?
> 
> EDIT: My boyfriend's hedgehog's name is Loki.  I noticed your signature. I'm sorry for your loss.


Thank you 

I don't think hedgehogs really "play" a lot, at least not the ones I know. They're not very social animals anyway, and to be honest, I don't really see the point in putting them together.


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