Some general questions from a potential owner!

[LunarFlame]

Hey guys! I am new here and doing my reasearch before I get my own hedgie. It won't be for some time before I get one, but I like to learn lots ahead of time before I get a pet

One of my...well, my boyfriend's concernes, is the smell.
I have owned a variety of pets. Ferrets included. Before I got my ferrets, I researched and while I knew they could smell, I was reassured by a number of people that with proper cleaning and food they would not have a strong odour...which was beyond false. This did not go over well with my boyfriend who is very sensitive to scent. I would appreciate HONEST information about hedgies I currently have a dwarf hamster who has a very mild smell and is not of a concern to the boyfriend. I just want to know how a hedgie might compare, smell-wise. I am really good about keeping cages clean, so it is mostly just the general odour I am concerned about.

Any other resources you all think I might want to read would be great as well! I'm sure I will have lots of questions.

[2SloSHOs]

I have to say my Hedgie doesnt smell like much of anything LOL The only smells i get out of him are the fresh poops, which you cant really smell if you arent hovering over the cage. I have my Hedgie set up in my room and there are no noticeable odors he is giving off so you should be okay.

I also wanted to add i'm using pine shavings as it soaks up the urine a little better, and if you like the smell of wood its awesome. Otherwise keep the cage clean and bathe your hedgie every now and then , shouldn't have any problems with odor.

[LunarFlame]

Originally Posted by 2SloSHOs

I have to say my Hedgie doesnt smell like much of anything LOL The only smells i get out of him are the fresh poops, which you cant really smell if you arent hovering over the cage. I have my Hedgie set up in my room and there are no noticeable odors he is giving off so you should be okay.

I also wanted to add i'm using pine shavings as it soaks up the urine a little better, and if you like the smell of wood its awesome. Otherwise keep the cage clean and bathe your hedgie every now and then , shouldn't have any problems with odor.

Thanks for the input! I use aspen and carefresh with my ham and have found it to be very effective! The smell is almost non-existant. You can just smell the wood shavings, which I like

[CritterCrazyJen]

Hedgehogs do have a SLIGHT smell, but what creature doesn't (humans included)? Their odor is very mild. I honestly think my hedgehog smells less than my hamster. They are DEFINITELY nowhere NEAR a ferret when it comes to smell. I honestly think my hedgie has the mildest smell of any of the pets I have ever owned.

[LunarFlame]

Originally Posted by CritterCrazyJen

Hedgehogs do have a SLIGHT smell, but what creature doesn't (humans included)? Their odor is very mild. I honestly think my hedgehog smells less than my hamster. They are DEFINITELY nowhere NEAR a ferret when it comes to smell. I honestly think my hedgie has the mildest smell of any of the pets I have ever owned.

Thank you for the info I appreciate it, and this is good news. I think the smell of my pets are what concern my partner the most. It'll be a lot easier to convince him now

[LunarFlame]

Can anyone else offer their experience? The more the better!

[weddinglady]

Since you asked for more input, I thought I would add my husband's take on having a hedgehog. Now grant it, he is very scent sensitive, but the first week we had her there were a lot of complaints about the smell, but only when he was upstairs in the room our Sweet Pea lives. I asked about it on this forum and we were able to reduce it quite a bit by cleaning her wheel every day with a 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water spray. It helped a lot.

I was also told that the young hedgies have a stronger urine scent but that it lessens as they get older.

Over all I think they are far less smelly than other pets.

[Nancy]

I really don't think they smell any more or less than other animals. Fresh poop stinks especially when it's smeared all over a wheel. Hedgehogs themselves have no body odor so they aren't like ferrets in that respect. As for hedgehog poop vs ferret poop, well I'll take my 30 hedgehogs poop over our 6 ferrets poop any day.

That being said, there do seem to be a lot of people, parents in particular, that complain about hedgehog smell. If someone is really highly sensitive to smells then I would say no to a hedgehog. Even with daily cage and wheel cleaning, there is overnight when they are up and active and pooping, that there will be some smell. It all depends on his sensitivity.

[Amelia]

I don't think they smell too bad, at least Damien doesnt. I can't really smell his poop unless I am right on top of his cage and its a fresh one. Lets put it this way, I have a small bedroom and bath on campus apartment. I'm not supposed to have a pet but I hide his 3 foot tall cage setup under my bed and just stack up boxes around it when I go out so it looks like ordinary under bed storage.The smell from Damien's cage can't be too bad or I would have gotten busted by my Resident Advisor for having an illegal pet during room checks.

[aconverse]

I adopted my hedgehog at 7 or 8 weeks... and for about two months her urine smelled really, really bad. Burning nostrils bad... and I'm not usually sensitive to smells. But gradually, over another two months or so the urine smell tampered off and now, at 6 months, the smell is largely unnoticeable. Not sure what caused this, but it seems some others have had similar experiences with baby hogs. I'm fairly certain it wasn't connected to diet because the foods were kept fairly consistent (I added a new food to the mix, but removed none).