# My hedgehog is scared of everyone!



## sss8765

Ive had my hedgie for a couple months now, but I can't seem to get him calm!. He is scared of me and everyone else and you cannot go close or touch his spines , or he will go in a ball and hiss. Does anyone have any ideas on how to calm him? I've tried looking eveyrwhere for ideas but I can't find anything that works!


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## Christemo

Could be his personality. Some are just scardy cats... er, hedgies.


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## PJM

Don't give up! Try different things to see what works better. What I do is have a blanket for them to hide in on my lap while watching TV at night. I will usually put my hand in the blanket, but not touching the hedgie. That worked great for Pepper. She was fine being touched - but only if it was her idea. Only now, will she let me touch her face (after 5 months or so), but only after I've given her a mealie. It can be a slow process. 
It really is an exercise in patience and persistence. 
It may also help, when you have him out, to make slow movements, talk quieter, have him covered - that may help to make him more calm.


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## chelsea.kang

I plop mine in his snuggie sack for the first half hour he is out and just let him relax. Quiet reading or TV with volume on low. Then I will bribe him out with mealies or crickets. I throw a towel down on the bed and one over me and let him adventure around for a while. I stay VERY still and quiet. Occasionally I will talk to him before I move to get another treat. Despite my warning he will still hiss at me but the bribes have helped him unball quicker and become more curious in his constant search for treats. Eventually he will splat somewhere on my stomach and fall asleep. Some are definitely chickens. I think Marvin will always huff and puff when I move or make noise when he does not think I should. But with patience and lots of crickets he's learning to get over the disturbance more quickly. Hopefully this helped. 

Note: He will not come out if anyone else other than me is watching him.


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## sss8765

Thanks for the help!


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## ilovehedghogs

i understand when i got jim form his old owner she had him for 6 months and didn't handle him that much and left him in a dark room for the most part . mines personaltily was and stll somewhat is is like yours ,i just snuggle him for an hour a day about he loves that oddly for not really wanting to be touched .
we let our out for a bit everyday and i just sit on the floor and talk to him eventually he started coming over to me and his dad and check us out and he doesn't mind as much when we touch him,there are still times he doesn't but that's normal for his personallity , like chelsea kang said above lol don't move that much or make loud noises at least till u see he less nervous during this process.


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## jerseymike1126

someone adviced me to put a shirt of mine in his cage for him get used to my smell and that worked well for me...the snuggle pouch also worked great for me. just spend lots of time with it and hopefully he comes around


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