Hedgehog Central banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

not new to hedgies just a few questions

6K views 46 replies 16 participants last post by  Nancy 
#1 ·
Hello everyone as many of you know a few months ago I had to re-home my hedgie Lena Bean because I didn't have the time to give to her. I am now able to give more time to Sonic and I got a 6 week old little girl last night. I named her sprinkles. she is a salt and pepper color. I know that she will have her adult color after she quills at 9 weeks. I got a few questions since I have never had a young hedgie and when I got Sonic he was 2 yrs old.

last night she ate 3 tablespoons. Is that normal?
What do I have to look forward to when she quills? I know grumpiness and dry skin.

I know everyone is going to say lets see some pictures so here they are:


 
See less See more
3
#2 ·
Well first of all congrats on your new little one. Now I am not at all an expert considering I have only had Angel for 6 days now but Angel is around 6 and a half weeks old(6 weeks when I got her) and she eats up a storm every night(acttualy watched her last night). So all in all it sounds just like how much Angels has been eating. Also your new hedgie has a beutiful coat of quills on.

Best of luck with the new hedgie,
HedgeHopper
 
#3 ·
I ordered her a Carolina storm bucket wheel. the wheel in the picture is Sonics wheel that I put in her cage. When I get my taxes I will be getting Sonic one as well. She is a healthy little girl, I only paid $50 for her. I had a choice between her and her sister. When I picked up Sprinkles she was really calm and did not huff. Whereas I picked up her sister she put her quills up right away.
 
#9 ·
I agree with Christemo. I'm not great at colors, but her mask and quills definitely aren't dark enough to be salt & pepper. I'd say brown or maybe chocolate? A lot of breeders will say salt&pepper to make it easier, or for advertising purposes. She's very cute, but if she gets cranky after quilling and becomes less friendly, I hope you still plan on keeping her for her entire life instead of rehoming her as well. It doesn't seem right to me to rehome a huffier hedgehog and get a new baby a few months later.
 
#13 ·
Lilysmommy said:
I agree with Christemo. I'm not great at colors, but her mask and quills definitely aren't dark enough to be salt & pepper. I'd say brown or maybe chocolate? A lot of breeders will say salt&pepper to make it easier, or for advertising purposes. She's very cute, but if she gets cranky after quilling and becomes less friendly, I hope you still plan on keeping her for her entire life instead of rehoming her as well. It doesn't seem right to me to rehome a huffier hedgehog and get a new baby a few months later.
Why would she be cranky after quilling. I would think after the quilling has taken place she would go back to normal. Also I am pretty sure Sugargliderlove said in the original post why she rehomed Lena Bean so not trying to be mean but read the full post before making comments.

Good day as always,
HedgeHopper
 
#14 ·
Thank you Hedgehopper, now I am able to take out both Sonic and sprinkles and spend time with them. Where as before when I had Lena Bean I had just started college and it was really time consuming and I was not able to give her the time she needed. With that being said let stick to what I posted about which is what to expect during her quiling and the amount of food she is eating. I weighted her yesterday she weighs 170.5 grams.
 
#15 ·
You don't always get to control what people say on your topic, unfortunately. And I know why she rehomed Lena Bean, and I still don't agree with it, especially when suddenly there's more time, a month and a half later, to get a nice calm baby hedgehog. College in general is expensive and time-consuming and you may end up having trouble again later in terms of time or having money saved for vet care for two hedgehogs instead of one. Just things to think about.

Sometimes hedgehogs get very cranky and don't handle quilling well. It's rare, but some do stay huffier and less friendly even after quilling - once in awhile it can change the hedgehog's entire attitude. That's why you can't depend on how babies behave 100% of the time, since it can change as they age. It's not common, but still something to keep in mind. While she's quilling, give her oatmeal baths to help her skin feel better.

The amount of food is fine - babies eat a lot and usually slow down as they get older. Keep free-feeding her and just watch her weight for any signs that you need to adjust the food for a different fat percentage.
 
#16 ·
I've never measured by the tablespoons, but just for comparison, as a baby my boy ate around 100 kibbles. Nowadays he averages 30 a night.

I'm not going to comment on the rehome then buy new baby, as Kelsey already covered it. We''re all in college here so we can also attest to the lack of time. I know I'm usually at school from 8am-6pm pretty much everyday. And sometimes even longer. I will definitely admit that my boy doesn't get nearly as much cuddle time as he used to, and that's just 1 hedgie and 1 cat. I can't imagine the time for 2 hedgies, 2 cats and I think 6? Sugar gliders. I commend you for the time you spend, cause if I did that I'd probably only get 3 hrs of sleep daily, if even lol When it comes to midterms and exams, I don't even see the light of day XD

As for colour, try to get a really good picture under white light. I see way too much rust coloured edges and she looks just like my boy, who is a chocolate. Real salt and peppers are very rare and are literally black with no rust coloured edges.

As for cranky, between quilling and hormones, baby's personalities can change drastically. I know there have been owners who had the sweetest baby, who then turned into a terror to handle. It happens, that's why we always stress that before you buy a hedgehog, you must be prepared to deal with a grumpypants(lol) because it can happen. And hence an entire board on behaviour.
 
#17 ·
I go to college online so I spend most of my time online in my classes and doing homework. As far as vet bills my parents help me with that. we have 8 sugar gliders, 2 dogs, a cat, a snake and 2 hedgies. Since I am able to manage my time more since my classes are not that time consuming now as before. I stay up late till like 11:30 pm now so I am able to play with everyone and I no longer have a social life outside of my house so that gave me more time as well. Sonic eats 1 1/2 TBS a night and Sprinkles eats 2 1/2-3 TBS a night
 
#25 ·
It's not so much the possible "oops" that people are refraining from commenting.

They're all still trying to get over how you spent 2 months trying to rehome Lena Bean, and in less time than that you suddenly have all this free time again. Conveniently when this "breeder" advertises online and selling babies for $50. THAT is what people are still wrapping their heads around. THAT is the elephant in the room that no one dares comment on because they are afraid of overreaction.

Hedgehogs are not necessarily social critters. They are perfectly happy in their cage with good food, water and their wheel. They don't NEED human interaction. My boy has gone for weeks without human interaction other than baths and nail clipping because I've been very busy with school and because I've become highly allergic to him. (I need allergy pills even when cleaning his wheel). But he's also older and I would never jeopardize his well being. It takes all of 10 min per day to ensure he has his necessities. (And a lot of breath holding when near his cage).

If you had just rehomed Lena Bean and left it at that, we would have respected you for realizing you were overburdened. But to turn around in 6 weeks and buy a new baby is a betrayal to Lena Bean.
 
#26 ·
you can say what you want, when I re-homed Lena Bean I barely had time for my dog. Now that I am not as busy with school and other things I am able to give more time. Yea I feel bad that I re-homed her but there was nothing else I could have done at the time. You guys here do not know what other things I had to give up because of the lack of time. You sit there and bash me all you want I DONT CARE. I care about my animals and I dont need to justify myself to any of you. With that being said now I see why people are leaving this site because of the way people treat each other. There are a bunch of people who think they know it all here and I am frankly sick of it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top