# My silly Tonya...



## AnimeMutt (May 2, 2011)

Hello! It's been a while since I've posted, although I have referred back to these forums and found answers to a lot of my questions and concerns (as well as some entertaining reading). 

There are a few things that have me perplexed. When Tonya is in her cage, she ignores everything in there except for the food and the wheel. That goes for TP tubes, tunnels, toys, plushies... The odd thing is, if I have her out and present her with these same things, she seems to enjoy them. I even slept with a plushie in my shirt and put it in her cage. She annointed herself with it and hasn't gone near it since while it's in there. This behavior first exhibited itself when I moved her from her clear storage tub into her new home (built from modular storage cubes).

I am pretty sure that she enjoys her home. As an experiment, I left the lower level access panel open (basically a 14" X 24" door!) when I put her in after our "quality time". I pretended not to be watching (sitting in VERY dim light), but was ready to jump up and catch her if she tried to escape. After eating, she walked to the edge, sniffed around and went up the ramp to the "mezzanine" to take her "after breakfast nap". She had no interest in trying to escape even though she knew she could. She does not mind roaming as long as I take her out myself and pay attention to her. I should feel glad that I don't have Ms. Houdini on my hands, but it concerns me because it goes against most of what I've read.

I will say that after moving her into her new home she has adapted well. In the storage tote, she would pee and poo pretty much anywhere. Now that she's been relocated, she keeps the rooms and activities separate. The main floor has the bedroom (with her burrowing blanket) and dining room. I wasn't sure what to do with the mezz, but she's staked out her napping area. The gym/toilet is on the top floor, and it's the only place she ever evacuates. It's also the only room that has any shavings (except when she gets upset and shoves them down the ramp onto the mezz). I've read about hedgies not co-mingling eating and potty areas, but I didn't expect it from her because of her previous behavior.

One last thing... I should post this in a differrent part of the forums, but since I already have your attention... 

Tonya is getting HUGE! Not obese huge, but... well... BIG! She's almost too long to run in her bucket wheel without scraping her nose, and she's very tall. I can't give you an exact measurement (I'm sure I don't have to explain how difficult it is to measure a hedgehog), but I can assure you that she's much larger than she was when I brought her home at 1 year old.

I welcome any comments and suggestions. 

[attachment=0:195sbprv]Bath Time 2.jpg[/attachment:195sbprv]


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## Rainy (Jul 27, 2011)

I don't have any answers, but wanted to say that she's gorgeous!!


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## AnimeMutt (May 2, 2011)

Aww... Thanks! Harvey's a little cutie, too! 

I'd love to have one of those tickers for Tonya, but I didn't get much information about her from her previous "owner". I don't know when she was born (only that she was "about a year old"), where she came from (he got her from "someone in town")... Still, the only thing that matters is she's loved, being well taken care of (spoiled rotten!) and happy (in spite of the foot baths and nail clippings). :lol:


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

She's ADORABLE!!! Seriously, so cute!

My Zoey and Pepper are both like that-don't have any interest in toys in their cage, but if we put them on the floor or in the playpen, suddenly everything is interesting & fun. Go figure. I just thought maybe it's like kids, they lose interst in their toys, but if they go over to a friends house, suddenly the same toy is fun again. I don't know, but it's fun to watch. 

I did my ticker from the date we brought our hedges home-if that helps.


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## kelybely (Oct 19, 2010)

Very cute hedgehog nice coloring.


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## AnimeMutt (May 2, 2011)

PJ - Thank you for your reply! I feel much better knowing that she's not "defective"...  Seriously, though... I never thought about the whole toy thing that way, and it DOES make sense. I'm just glad she's not like that because I failed as a parent! 



kelybely said:


> Very cute hedgehog nice coloring.


...or lack thereof... :lol:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

She is simply beautiful.


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## AnimeMutt (May 2, 2011)

Thanks, everyone! I'm very lucky to have her, and I'd like to think that she's lucky to have me. 

By the way... You all have great pics of your hedgies! I've taken hundreds of pics of Tonya and only ended up with a few that are good. She has the uncanny ability to turn away at the exact moment that I press the button. Do you have any tips?

[attachment=0:3vnv9n0g]Tonya 1.JPG[/attachment:3vnv9n0g]

*Having a bit of breakfast, not at all expecting the "dip-n-clip" that was to follow...


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## PRINCESSDANGER13 (Aug 17, 2011)

AnimeMutt said:


> [attachment=0:ubjv9dfi]Tonya 1.JPG[/attachment:ubjv9dfi]


Amazing Picture..... I like how the red eye looks (the shine to it)... Sorry for being weird..... albino animals always were interesting to me


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## AnimeMutt (May 2, 2011)

PRINCESSDANGER13 said:


> Amazing Picture..... I like how the red eye looks (the shine to it)... Sorry for being weird..... albino animals always were interesting to me


Thanks! And, no... You're not weird. I kinda thought the same thing.


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## Rainy (Jul 27, 2011)

The only thing I can say about getting good pictures is to take tons of them and maybe you'll get a few good ones. Harvey and Izzy both turn away when I think about snapping a picture. I think it's the hedgie attitude in them.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

She really is lovely. I've never seen an albino in real life, but I'm finding myself more & more attracted to them. 

My biggest tip for pictures would be to just take a lot. I always have my camera by my chair for cuddle time. It's digital, so I take all the pictures I want & just erase the bad ones. 

Can't wait for more albino goodness!!

Sorry-was replying at the same time!


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

She's beautiful  I remember when I first started looking into hedgies the Albino ones kinda freaked me out a little bit, I don't know why either and I'm an adult so it seemed very silly to me how I felt. But honestly as the time goes on and I get to see more and more of them I can see their beauty. Now I'd count myself lucky if I ever had the chance to have one and find them very beautiful


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## AnimeMutt (May 2, 2011)

Thanks! I tell her how beautiful she is every night during our cuddle time. 

Monday night's earthquake was only about 2 hours from here. I was holding her when it hit and we both noticed it. I didn't feel the aftershocks, but she apparently did. Her cage was absolutely DESTROYED when I got up Tuesday morning! Since she's settled into her new home she's been somewhat of a "neat freak", so she must have been under quite a bit of stress to do that.

There's was one other thing she did the other night that I thought was both odd and cute. She was quietly squeaking while I was holding her, shortly before the quake. I didn't put it together until now, but she may have sensed it coming. Any thoughts?


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2011)

AnimeMutt said:


> Thanks! I tell her how beautiful she is every night during our cuddle time.
> 
> Monday night's earthquake was only about 2 hours from here. I was holding her when it hit and we both noticed it. I didn't feel the aftershocks, but she apparently did. Her cage was absolutely DESTROYED when I got up Tuesday morning! Since she's settled into her new home she's been somewhat of a "neat freak", so she must have been under quite a bit of stress to do that.
> 
> There's was one other thing she did the other night that I thought was both odd and cute. She was quietly squeaking while I was holding her, shortly before the quake. I didn't put it together until now, but she may have sensed it coming. Any thoughts?


My girls have only squeaked in great fear which was to the nail clippers and once when I scruffed Feral so I'd say its a good bet.


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## AnimeMutt (May 2, 2011)

PJM said:


> Can't wait for more albino goodness!!


Ask, and ye shall receive! I've created a pic thread in the fun section. 

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=13204


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