How much do you spend on your Hedgie on a weekly basis?

[Fateless]

I want to know how much you spend on your hedgehog on a weekly
AND a monthly basis?
(This is after the initial cost, meaning, after the cage, wheel, food dishes, water bottle, the mandatory things were bought)
But, can you also list what you're spending money on (food, bedding, treats, etc).

I'm hoping a lot of you answer, so I, and other future hedgehog owners can know the average cost for a hedgie on a weekly/monthly basise

Thank you!!

I have 3 hedgies now and on a monthly basis non impulse buys I spend maybe $70 for treats and fruits and what nots

Impulse is impossible to weight it can be high sometimes

Medicine I don't think anyone can really give you a general idea cause each vet varies so much

For Instance one vet may not charge a visit charge for revolution and it may only be $15 while other charge your a visit charge which typically ranges $40-$60 and full price on revolution which is around $35 to $40.

[Fateless]

Originally Posted by TWCOGAR

Medicine I don't think anyone can really give you a general idea cause each vet varies so much

.

I'm just asking there's, if they do that, it doesn't need to be included though, i was just listing random things to consider when answering,

[ProjectParanoia]

Well, it depends. I've only taken Delia to the vet once, for a check-up, because she's in tip-top shape. I got a discount on that because it was combined with our three dogs. $60

Sometimes I buy her toys I see around, and I make her cozy things when I have free time. And I buy her mealworms (about $3 for 50). And blueberries. Let's not talk about the price of blueberries.

Usually, though, I won't have to spend anything on her in a week. I buy the big bags of her food, and they only have to be replaced every 6 months or so. The kitty litter usually lasts for 3 months. The foods are a bit over ten dollars each and I don't remember how much the kitty litter is.

[Nebular]

The only real expenses I have for him are meal worms which are refilled about every 2 weeks, so that comes to a whopping $6. Apart from that, he'll get a small piece of chicken if I'm having some, and I'll use paper towels to clean his wheel, but those are things I buy for my own need anyways. My paper towel use has gone up quite a bit since I got the little monster, but a roll still lasts quite a while and they're not expensive at all, so he's not exactly hurting my wallet.

The biggest expenses I found were the ones I had never thought of - the increase in my electric and heating bills. In the summer there's no difference, but in they are a little higher in the winter since I now need to keep my place at a higher temperature and use a space heater to make sure it doesn't get too cold in his room. It wasn't a massive jump, but it was one I hadn't thought of until I got the first bill after getting him.

[Hedgieonboard]

Hard to calculate, as long as they aren't in need for medical attention the biggest costs I feel are with heating and ac. It's hard to calculate that but it's possible to add 20 or more dollars to the electric bill, a lot of factors contribute to this though so no way to know for sure til you get a couple bills in. For me I just compared before I got them to after since I save mine a little while. Food is another big chuck of the bill but it does last a long time, seems like a lot of bags are right around the 15 dollar mark per, so if you have a few 45 dollars plus when you do have to restock. Meal worms are pretty much free for me because I started farming and I use stuff we keep stocked like oatmeal, carrots etc. Landry detergent for the liners lasts so long that it's not even really worth factoring it in really. So if I got everything right from the beginning and no medical attention needed I really don't spend anything other than a little extra to the utility bills and restocking detergent and food once in awhile.
One other thing that helps is to place some food in an airtight container and everything else in the freezer, it will make that food last a lot longer and then you can thaw out when you need to refill your container.

For impulsive things I won't count, mine is fabric and I'm always making new things like that for them lol

[Lilysmommy]

Usually the only thing I buy for Lily in a week or month is baby food, wet cat food, and maybe insects. I usually have to buy crickets once a month, but hopefully won't have to buy mealworms again, since I just started a farm. Crickets cost about $10 a month, baby food is probably around the same. Then sometimes I also have to buy a new bag of food for her, though that's maybe every few months (the different ones in her mix run out at different times), and I had to buy a new CHE bulb last week, which was $35.

[Fateless]

This is all very helpful!
I'm really happy with the amount of answers, and hope more people post theirs too.

[Kalandra]

It is going to vary greatly depending on the age and needs of your hedgehog and possibly even the time of the year.

Most costs are pretty minimal, where it will get pricey is when you have a sick hedgehog to deal with. You may not have any medical bills for several years, and you may run into them early. Hedgehogs are pretty healthy creatures, but they hide illness. Because of this once you start to notice signs of illness they usually are very sick and the cost and time it takes to treat them can be pretty high. I expect to pay about $100-$150 each time I visit the vet. This cost range is based on visits to different veterinarians in Michigan. I have seen people in other areas report 150-200 average. That cost is just for the basic exam, a medication or two and a basic test or two. It doesn't include x-rays, surgeries, or anything that needs sent to a lab. Each of those can cause that price to double or triple very quickly. With a sick hedgehog, you can quickly go through $500-1000 in a month.

Hedgehogs really do not cost that much to feed. You can buy a $9 bag of food and it will last the hedgehog for many months. I prefer to mix 3-4 types at once and it costs me roughly $50 every 4 months on food. This amount of food will typically feed up to 3 hedgehogs for 4 months. With only 1 hedgehog you will waste food, but again its not that costly.

Treats: Mealworms, I raise my own so the cost to raise them is basically the time it takes to keep them clean, and for new oatmeal and carrots for them. With 3 hedgehogs I would go through a 500 mealworm container about monthly. Check with your local petstore to see how much they cost at your store, the cost can vary from location to location. Fruits/vegetables, I pretty much just feed the hedgehogs what I eat normally. If you opt for baby foods, the cost is going to be higher, but they are very convenient.

Heat. I am going to mention this one. Depending on how you plan to keep your hedgehog warm, it can be costly. Running a furnace or space heater to heat the entire room can be pricey. This is my preferred method as I typically have had more than 1 hedgehog at a time and having CHE setups for each cage isn't practical (plus you need an electrical outlet near the cage).

Bedding, cloth liners are going to be your cheapest option and the safest in the long term. Once you spend the initial cost to buy the liners you just have a load or two of extra laundry each week.

[SquiggyTheHedgie]

For me Squiggy doesnt cost anything weekly really lol. Aside from the startup costs and medical bills, the most i spend on him in a week is about 6 dollars for mealworms. Monthly, id say about 20. I dont use fleece liners since im kinda poor, so I bought a 7 dollar 30 pack of puppy training pads and just foldthem to fit inside his cage and that works just fine plus, I only have to change his liner about once a week, so one pack of potty pads keeps for about a month or two. As for heating, my apartment is all bills paid, so I dont have to pay for water and electric seperate like most people. We keep our apartment at a constant 75 degrees. Since I live in Texas, we really only get about 2-3 weeks of winter so on the few days its cold, we have a full space heater to keep him and us nice and toasty