annoyed

[DasIgelPoggie]

My female is about to have her babies and I'm sure would take these... I offered to let her raise them and give the babies back to her at no cost, and she said "$200 and they're all yours." What a sicko. She has posted these before, from the same mama. I think she's breeding the same mama over and over (she's offered three litters like this with the same excuse, once every month and a half for the past while) and purposely removing them early-- faster turnout rate with less work. I'm absolutely livid. I also posted an ad suggesting reputable breeders in the area and offering information. BeehiveHedgies words things so well I had a hard time not using names, but I think it turned out alright. I am so frustrated with people in Utah... They have a BUNCH of adult hedgies for sale for WAAAAY more than they should be. Don't buy a pet if you can't commit, and ESPECIALLY don't breed them. I am going to be more stringent than ever about passing my quiz before you can be on my waiting list.

Well either the last litter all survived or she is breeding successfully with naother hedgehog she has 4 male 7 weeks up as well, regardless I reported her for obviously being abusive/neglectful to hedgehogs

[moothecow]

Man, this makes me angry. I reported the ad, though don't know how much good that will do, because, technically, it's a legit, albeit AWFUL ad. However, text of my reporting below:

"This woman sold tiny day-old babies before, more than once, for exorbitant prices, and I believe all but one died shortly after being sold. Hedgehogs rarely survive when separated from their mother at younger than 5 weeks old. Even experienced breeders very rarely have luck with hand-feeding newborns. I won't get into all the details, but the fact that her hedgehog has litters every few months (should be at MAX twice a year) and the fact that she's trying to sell tiny babies for such prices (who are 99% likely to die shortly) is, frankly, animal abuse AND a way to misguide buyers.

To summarize:
This is "Bad Info", because the babies are very likely to die soon. 99% likely. To sell 6-day old babies for $300 is absolutely ridiculous.

It's "Inappropriate" because it's basically animal abuse, and it's not the first such post from this user. Her hedgehog keeps having babies, way too often, and she keeps selling them too early, and they keep dying.

The investigator said unfortunately there isn't anything against the law in Utah and said he forwarded it to someone in the USDA. Its all I could do unfortunately.

[DasIgelPoggie]

SUCCESS--- her ad was removed, and she has posted her breeding pair for sale!! Apparently the anger over her irresponsible behavior has helped her see the light. Of course, my and BeehiveHedgie's ads were also removed (they didn't use names and were VERY politely worded, so technically shouldn't have been removed, but whatever), but I don't think either of us got our accounts shut down, so WE WIN!! There's another breeder in Spanish Fork that has babies much too frequently, and even if she's using different mamas, if she's having that many babies available that fast, she must have more than 3 mamas and should technically be licensed by the USDA, but she at least seems to care about her hedgies a little bit and raises them to the proper age. I have decided to stop breeding after Eriza's first litter for a while, there are just too many hedgies in my area for sale and not enough good homes. I don't want to create an overpopulation problem! At least now we can cross off the worry of week-old babies being sold monthly!

[beehivehedgie]

yay you guys rock! It worked. Your willingness to say something has helped a lot Thanks a bunch! And yes, our ads were removed...but it is ok. Thanks again!

[Classic91]

I actually just bought my first Hedgehog Mizz Prickles , from this lady last week...makes me a little sick hearing this and now im worried my hedgie might be inbred or have some serious problems. makes me wish i would have done my research before just jumping in and buying from this unethical "breeder".

[DasIgelPoggie]

Hi there Classic91! I'm not typically very active here anymore (health stuff and work prevent me from spending as much time as I'd like to on HHC!) but I just thought I'd let you know-- your sweet little hedgie isn't any less perfect because of her bad breeder. Has she visited the vet yet? Be sure to take her in ASAP just for her first check up-- you should do that no matter what breeder you buy from. As long as you don't breed her, I don't think there should be any problems!!

And don't feel bad at all about not knowing the situation... Utah is chock-full of unethical breeders, and it can be VERY difficult to sift through the good and the bad. Just this morning Nikki (BeehiveHedgie) and I were talking about that. Nikki is unable to keep her two sweet little ones because of extenuating circumstances and has been looking for a home for them. Neither of them can be bred due to health risks and age, but because they are desirable colors, she has had several breeders try to trick her into selling to them into their breeding program (she has specified many times that these loves should NOT go to breeding homes). One girl emailed her 2 months ago about buying Hoggle and Pearl, but Nikki decided not to sell to her because she had no previous experience with hedgehogs. She emailed her again this week and suddenly her story changed-- she tried to say that she had owned her hedgehogs for a year and only had two, and they are pets only... but the phone number she gave is attached to an ad for a new breeder. She has over 12 females and 8 males, all from the same breeder, and just got them last month. She's USDA registered, IHA and HBA registered, offers to "mentor" new breeders... and yet she's incredibly unethical. Was there any way for Nikki to have known that, except that she had saved all of her previous emails? NO. Sometimes, even research can't dig up the truly good and truly bad breeders. That doesn't mean their babies don't still need good homes! Your hedgie will (and I'm sure already has!) bring you boatloads of joy, no matter where she came from. Enjoy her and take good care of her and I think she'll be just fine.

[brittgdesign]

The hedgie I just got from her died
We were wondering if we could trust her with another hedgie to replace him, but now we know not too! She said she only does trades, but I'm going to try to get a refund from her. I'm not going to trade her and end up with another poor sick hedgehog.

[DasIgelPoggie]

brittgdesign, if you'd like to report your experience with her to the USDA, here is the page for it!

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_wel...int_form.shtml

My condolences regarding your hedgie. :'(