almost 12 weeks and still grump?

[rexi10]

This is my first post so please be patient. We got our girl December 27th. She was born Nov 9th. When we first brought her home she was of course a little hissy and balled up when she was scared but really she was excited to explore. She has since had a terrible issue with dry skin. We took her to the vet to make sure she didn't have mites. No mites, soon she was loosing quills like crazy and more grumpy than ever. (I keep saying we because Rexi is really my 10 year old daughters hoglet but of course I help ALOT). We bathed here a few timed with Aveno and that helped a lot and the breeder gave us lavender and rosemary oil to put on her. I haven't heard anyone mention that they used that but it did help a lot. The soap she gave is too fragrant it is also rosemary and lavender so we switched to Aveno unscented, much better. Her cage is a consistent 78 degrees. I have been feeding her Spikes Ultra which the breeder recommended and I have recently gotten her Wellness Indoor Cat. I first only gave her 1/4 and slowly moved up to about 50/50 now. She gets freeze dried meal worms and crickets for a treat. I am going to try hard boiled egg soon. The breeder also gave us freeze dried liver treats which she loves. Her cage is 2' X 4' and we use fleece liners. We use a bucket wheel and have ordered the new Carolina wheel thingee (sorry don't remember the name). Her problems started before the food change but thought I would mention it anyway.

My question is this. Is it normal for her to jump and hiss every time we try to pick her up. She seems to come and out of her ball and want to explore after a bit but the minute she gets a little nervous she starts jumping and hissing like crazy. She is hard to hold on to. She also bites fabric like our shirt to kind of move it around to burrow I think. She has bitten us a few times through our shirt. She is really fast and hard to let just explore on us and sit. She is always on the move and we're afraid she will get away. Any suggestions? Thanks

[shaelikestaquitos]

Some hogs just don't like being handled. I would suggest trying to pet her while she's eating... I found that helped a lot with me when I first started petting Kashi I guess it's a positive reenforcement of a sort.

[rexi10]

Thanks. We try to give her a treat when she finally stops jumping around. The problem is as soon as we put it up for her she balls back up. I will try to pet her when she is eating. I actually started putting her into a playpen with her food bowl and water and litter pan for a bit first. She always has to go to the bathroom and she eats right away too. It takes her a bit to finally start moving about but I thought maybe she was hungry. I will try to pet her while she is eating and see if that helps. I wouldn't be so concerned but like I mentioned she wasn't like that when we first brought her home. In fact my daughter picked her because of her sweet personality. I know they can change after a bad quilling. I am hoping that is not the case. How long does it take for them to quill? I read they quill at 6, 9 and 12 weeks. Is there any time in between really?

Thanks again.

[rexi10]

Love the picture of your peeking hedgie. I will try to post a picture of Rexi soon.

[shaelikestaquitos]

Thank you ^_^

And I have heard of hedgehogs changing personalities drastically after their quilling, so maybe that's why she is more grumpy. Or it might just be that she is still quilling, so she is in pain.

As for how long the quilling takes... Kashi was quilling late, but there were some weeks where he would only shed a few quills, and other weeks where he would shed 20-30. I think it really depends on the hog. I hope that helps

[wewerebound]

Henry was always grumpy up until he was about 7 months old, but hedgehogs can be different like humans

[rexi10]

Thanks for the support. We are nervous hoglet mommies. I'm crossing my fingers that she returns to her sweet self. She is still quilling as she is losing a lot of quills still.

[packrat]

My hedgehog Quilliam doesn't care about anything except hiding in dark places, and mealworms. I'll sometimes throw the fleece over both of us and he'll bury his snout into my neck or forehead and sleep lol but I get bored of that after like 10-15 minutes. He doesn't really play at all, except on his wheel overnight. I still love him though. He's just as weird as I am.

[rexi10]

I know that hedgehogs aren't like dogs and I don't expect it to come running when we call her I just really want her to like us. I did a lot of research before we decided to get her and really thought I was ok with the possibility that she wouldn 't like to be held or pet but I have to be honest it does bother me a bit. We did pick "her" because she was so sweet. She stayed that way until she started to really quill. Still hoping she snaps out of her grumpy goose attitude. We love her either way. She is a new reason to go shopping. She has more toys and fleece than any hedgehog I am sure lol. She's spoiled but doesn't act like it. Thanks for all of the posts. At least I know we are not alone.

[packrat]

A hedgehog will like you because you care for it and feed it and don't abuse it, and give it plenty of space and alone time especially during the day. I don't touch mine until 9pm for 30-60 minutes and then shut off the light and let him be. They need tons of sleep because they wheel for hours all night long.

You said it's quilling, so she might snap out of it in a month or two when she isn't in terrible pain.