# Sugar's Story



## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

Heya all! I've been gushing about my new hedgie all over the FB page...but have neglected to share her story here! I picked up a new hedgie yesterday from a pet store. It was more of a rescue situation in my mind, her conditions were terrible...and she was a nervous wreck!

I took a trip across state last weekend, and that's where we found poor little Sugar, all balled up her her Ferret Nation flat, surrounded on all sides by ferrets. She had been in the store for over 4 months. Of course I had to hold her, and her nails! Yikes, no woman should have nails like she had! A mani-pedi was in order, for sure! She had no wheel, no heat source, a water bottle and crappy hedgehog food. She was right by the door too (drafty), so I'm really hoping that she doesn't develop a URI. Luckily, at this point she still had a hidie home and was on Carefresh. She seemed so sad, and snuggled right up when I held her. D'awwwww. Also, I learned that a 6 week old male had been kept with her, so she might be preggo! (We are on day 25 of baby watch, and her belly doesn't seem distended or swollen, but I'm still watching her weight.) Well, $200 is way to much for a year old hedgie...so, I had to wait until I could chat with the store manager.

Luckily, he was reasonable enough and we were able to take the price down quite a bit. I also managed to get a small sampling of the food she was on, a bag of CareFresh (just in case of babies), and a water bottle to help with the transition to a bowl. Well, this week, they must have moved her from the large ferret nation flat to a small aquarium.  She had no hiddie home, a tiny wire wheel, a little poo covered cardboard tube, water bottle, and Sunseed hedgie food. When we went to get her, she was burrowed behind her tube in a complete ball...no face to be seen! One of the workers came with a towel to pick her up, but I was already hold to ball of quills bare handed...he looked at me like I was crazy, and just laughed, "Not your first hedgehog, huh?"

I loaded Sugar up in her comfy, fleece loaded carrier and hit the road. She did well, despite the car ride being 1.5 hours long. Not a peep! Slept the whole way.  Well, after a quick weighing (420g!) we let her loose in her new home. She went crazy! She ignored the water bottle and went straight for the bowl of water, and man did she drink! She also ignored the Sunseed and gobbled down some Natural Balance green pea and duck. :9 She smashed herself under the wheel, splatted on her tile, and gave a big grin in her tube. I had to show her the igloo where she rearranged her fleece and slept until midnight hedgie party time!

She ate all her Natural Balance and even managed to poo only on her paper towel potty pads.  There was poo on the wheel...so I know she at least climbed on it! Yay! This morning, despite her being a fire ball of rage, I managed to clip the four worst nails...seriously, they were like a quarter inch! It was insane! Poor girl. Anyways, here are some pics I was able to snap while she explored her cage last night!









Iz a tube!









Luff mah tube!









Dis how wheel work?


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

so glad she found a loving home with you! and i must say she is ADORABLE! her little face in her tube  
and it's great that when given the option SHE knew what was best for her. she didn't want anymore petstore food.  
so cute!!


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## TeddysMommy (Apr 24, 2011)

I have this huge grin on my face from these pictures  She is so precious and seems like she loves you!


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

Hehe, she's selectively loving...like all hedgies. :lol: She's happily crawling around under a blanket I'm snuggling in, but as soon as I peek... *HUFF PUFF HUFF* ...haha, and the quills come up. Silly girl. She's prolly never been out of a cage for any length of time.  She seems perfectly content snuffing around under the blanket.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

She is simply gorgeous.


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

...and just for fun. More pictures from snuggle/ explore time!









Camouflage!









Hey! What's that?!









Couch?! Why I can no eat you?! Grrr!


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## FamilyOfExotics (May 19, 2012)

She is just the cutest little girl ever!! So glad you were able to give her an amazing home  She looks so happy! I love love love the picture of her laying down in her tube! :lol:


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## Ela (May 16, 2012)

Wow, she really is so pretty! I'm sure she knows that she's way better off now. =D


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## JessHog613 (Jun 20, 2012)

she reminds me so much of my Hudson! although, he's an apricot, but the personality similarity is there. he was so scared of everything when I brought him home, but now he's just happy to have a proper cage and good food, and plenty of cuddle time  she's gorgeous!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

She is SO cute! I've always wanted an albino to name Sugar.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

she is beautiful. keep the photos coming!


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

She had to be Sugar. She is such a sweet heart...but at the same time will give yah a good poke like a diabetic lancet! Hehe. I should have shown the poop-fest that I woke up to, lol. I'm so used to lil Brillo and his half dozen polite little poops. Sugar...everywhere! lol, all on the paper towel, but, wow! I was spoiled with Brillo. :lol: At least I know she has healthy poops!


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

She is adorable! I love her smile in the tube haha. She's living the good life now


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

Okay, this may be gross...but it cracks me up beyond all belief. So, Brillo is a very neat hedgehog. Even after an intense night of wheeling and kibble crunching, his cage is still VERY clean. Sugar, however, is a little whirlwind in her cage! :lol: Poo everywhere, crumbs all over the place, and choroplast ripped from the side of her cage. Whoever said girls were neater than boys is a liar! lol, I still love my messy girl.









Brillo's cage in the morning.









Sugar's cage in the morning. :lol:


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

she ripped the coroplast off the wall?!


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

Yeah! lol, it was held up with a zip tie too! That little snot! Haha, I put it back up, but with two zip ties this time...she is one strong hedgie! :lol:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

What a busy little girl she is. :lol: I love her light blue igloo. Where did you get it? I've never seen that colour before. It must be a new colour or not available here.


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

I picked the igloo up from PetCo...cause oddly enough, the PetsMart by me doesn't carry the medium sized igloos (just the tiny and ginormous ones). Haha, I love how her house is completely neat...but the rest, wow. :lol:


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

Okay, I swear I'm done with pictures for a few days, lol. She is just so photogenic!  (PS:She is sitting on my knees, lol)









Hey! We need to talk!









...'bout that bath...









...it was kinda okay. Thanks.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

raerysdyk said:


> Okay, I swear I'm done with pictures for a few days, lol. She is just so photogenic!  (PS:She is sitting on my knees, lol)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


cutest thing ever!!!!  how do you get your photos like that?


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

Haha, I have no clue! She is so photogenic! She'll just sit in one place for like a minute and give me the chance to snap a few with my Pentax Optio WG-2 (nothing special). Brillo on the other hand...he hides and is so turbo I can hardly get a decent picture of him, lol.


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

She is soooooooooo beautiful! Pink ears and nosie. The comparison of the two cages is hysterical!!!!!


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

She's so precious! So many photos of albinos lately, it's making me so jealous, lol! Albinos are such little lovers, and so pretty too!


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

Best save ever! I love her to pieces. The photos are fantastic and I love the photo comparison of the cages in the morning. Hee hee!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

She really is adorable. I like being able to see all her pictures together. There were some I hadn't seen before.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yaaaaaaaay Sugar's home!!!  I feel so late to this and everything, but I was up at the cabin without internet since Saturday...I'm so glad to come home to this amidst the bad news in the memorial section. She looks gorgeous, and I'm so glad she's settling in well!


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