Just Another Hedgehog (and other goodies) Blog!

30763 Views 277 Replies 17 Participants Last post by SunnyLeslie, Apr 21, 2021

FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · Jan 9, 2016

Since I have things scattered all over the place, as is typical with me, I thought I'd just start fresh with a properly titled thread. (If you mods want to lock the others feel free!) So here goes.

First off, a thread introducing my pets that I had when I joined the forum: Pictures of My Pets.

After that, I added some new members, and that happens over here: New Family Members.

Here's a running total of everything I have right this second:
1 African Pygmy Hedgehog, male, Finnick, 1.5 years old
1 Australian Cattle Dog, male, Oz, Estimated 5 yo.
1 Senegal parrot, female, Pepper, 3 yo.
1 Blue Tongued Skink, female, Rocket, Estimated 5 yo.
1 Ball python, unconfirmed male, Illidan, 7 and a half yo.
1 Mexican black kingsnake, male, Sherlock, 3 yo.
1 Green tree python, male, Akihiko, Estimated 2-3 yo.
1 Veil tail betta, male, Keitan, 5 months old.
2 Tiger salamanders, one wild, one bought, unknown sex, Squee and Shaw, Estimated ages 2yo and 1 yo.
3 Crested Geckos, two female, one male, Nanamo, Mordin, and Grunt, all 1 yo.
3 Dwarf blue day geckos, two male, one female, Skaro, Lil Dude, and Kaylee, estimated ages for Skaro and Kaylee 4 yo. Lil Dude is 6 months old.
7 Dendrobates auratus "El Cope" poison dart frogs, two female, three male, two juveniles. All named after Adventure Time characters, Adults estimated 2 yo. Juveniles are 3 months old.
1 Saltwater fish tank. Contents: corals, pistol shrimp, hermit crabs, snails. All brand new.

Pets with estimated ages were either adopted later in their lives, rescued, or wild caught/farmed and imported. I've had a vet as well as an importer help me get as close as possible to everyone's actual ages.

I'll be embedding any future pictures of my family here, so they're all together in one spot. Not including Finnick of course, who can have his own threads, but will likely be duplicated here just for archival's sake. I also post videos from time to time and mean to do a lot more of that. You can see my YouTube account here: 5ubv3rsion. And I'd like to point out a specific video that I just added of Finnick chasing crickets around the bathtub. I took this a few weeks ago and forgot I had it, so here it is now: Pet Hedgehog vs Crickets.

And also, here's the fan favorite Finn Dust Bathing in His Mealworms.

Thanks for reading, and I'll update again soon! Maybe with a video of the ball python having a swim, and some more photos...

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141 - 160 of 278 Posts

Lilysmommy

· #141 · May 12, 2016

Jeeze, he really scarfs that down! I giggled when you moved the tongs & he whipped away. "No, MINE!" :lol: I love the open mouth "grin" picture above too!!! Such a handsome guy.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #142 · May 13, 2016

He's a silly guy. And again, his personality is completely different from the other snakes. Now that he's settled he's insanely overconfident unless I swoop right above him. He has two decent hides and can burrow but he likes to sit dead center in the cage staring at Pepper, Oz, and I. If I rub his back he leans into it instead of making a run for it. He also seems to forget where he's parked his butt. He tends to leave it in weird places while he's exploring with the front end.

I bought this magnetic hide for the day geckos and frogs ages ago and neither liked it, so Legs has it now. He can curl up tightly in it. I put some aspen in there for him and wrapped the heat cable around that area so it's nice and warm. Oz and I also found him a nice branch today, and I threw in a spare fake plant. The cage looks like this now:

He's currently coiled up in the foam hide stuck to the back left corner. Oh no, I lied. I just turned around and he's sprawled out all over the new plant and branch. :lol:. I can't believe how well he's already settled in.

...I think I forgot to tell my boyfriend that I named the snake. I just said "Legs get back in your hide" and my boyfriend sloooowly turned around with this look on his face and said "you named him LEGS?"

Yes. Yes I did :-?

.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #143 · May 16, 2016

Just a brief update for today. Rocket is still escaping her bucket cage somehow, so I'm going to build her a new enclosure that's a bit like Finn's only with more wood and less coroplast. I moved Finnick's camera around so it's pointed at Rocket's escape point. She's stretching to her absolute maximum length, scrambling at the wall with her silly legs, balancing on the tip of her tail, managing to hook the edge of her chin over the top of the shorter bucket, and then slowly pulling herself up and over using just her chin. She's a special one.

Finnick's weight has stabilized a bit higher than before and his sides are straight now instead of slightly indented. He's looking really good and still loving his food. I'm going to go and make a new batch in a few minutes. It has some squash this month, some raspberries, and some turnip greens. We'll see what he thinks.

He's also started liner diving again. I don't really mind, but right now he's managed to wedge himself under the fleece between his food and water dish. When he got comfy, it looks like he pulled the fleece around him so the wheel is tucked in where his entry point was. I think I may need to rescue him :lol:.

Everybody else is doing really well. I'll update on Rocket's cage once it looks like something other than a big sheet of wood.

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Lilysmommy

· #144 · May 17, 2016

They just keep taking turns driving you nuts, huh? :lol: I cracked up at Rocket's escape method...how the heck is her chin that strong?

I'm so glad Finn is still doing great on his food! That's fantastic to hear. I hope he likes the new batch just as much. I gave up fighting the girls on liner diving, I have little hope of discouraging either anymore. I started putting Pancake's bowls all just on the tote floor so that she won't dump her water or anything when she yanks the blankets everywhere. :roll:

Can't wait to see Rocket's new home! Hopefully it'll keep the silly girl in place.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #145 · May 17, 2016

It's always something around here :lol:. I'm pretty sure Rocket is just one massive muscle. She's really strong all over. I want to catch her escape with a decent camera, but I stuck a heavier lid on her for now, so hopefully she won't get out again.

I was thinking about doing a fleece diving liner, and then something a bit heavier like a plastic mat for food and water. We'll see what I can find.

I just finished cutting the wood up for the new cage. I had just enough for the frame. I still need to do a little sanding, and then I'll glue and screw the back, sides, and bottom together. Then I'll coat the inside in whatever I'm coating it in, make the outside pretty, size up the inner platform and secure that in place, secure the front upper and lower lips, and then put the door(s) on.

I'm not sure if I want to do sliding plexiglass, one big hinged piece of plexiglass, two horizontally opening pieces, or glass of some sort, or something with chicken wire to let more air in... But I know the dimensions I need, so I'll keep my eyes open. Other than that, the only materials I need are the linoleum or vinyl inner liner, lino glue, and chicken wire for the top. Not too bad at all.

It's going to rain all weekend and I'm going away (along with the hog, the bird, and the dog), so I'll definitely have it sanded and glued by Friday so I can bring it in the house. I'll post some pictures when it looks like something!

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #146 · May 18, 2016

She got out AGAIN! I went in to feed everyone and she just wasn't there. I found her in the closet and lured her out with her dinner. This lizard. I don't feel safe going away for the weekend with her getting out, so I either need to get the new cage habitable by Friday or put her in Finn's cage while we're gone. I have no idea how she did it this time. She was in there at 2:00, I went to feed her at 3:30 and she was out.

The top of the new cage is about to be secured on right now, and the back, sides, and bottom are done. The platform is about a third of the way finished, I'm just deciding if I want to use wood or coroplast for the basking surface, and I'm going out in a few hours to get a liner for the inside and look at door options again. It's possible it can be livable by Friday but I'm going to have to keep working my butt off. I'll post pictures tonight once I get the waterproofing attached. I'm probably going to use a patterned shower curtain. I'm hoping I can find an Australian outback-looking one.

She's lucky I like her so much.

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twobytwopets

· #147 · May 18, 2016

Time to teach pepper to tattle on rocket.
Over the winter the birds move into the hedgehog and tortoises room. Skeeter would go nuts when someone was in the wrong spot. Now if my Boston terrier finds out that someone is on walkabout he follows them and cries.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #148 · May 19, 2016

She yells when the dog gets into the garbage, though. If I move her upstairs my garbage alarm will be gone!

Haha poor Skeeter. She sounds like she's good at her job though. I wish my dog would just follow strays around. He'd rather eat them before I notice.

So I cut into a piece of Ikea bedframe backboard thinking, "hey, I'll have this nice 3 inch thick piece of particleboard to use for my ramp!" I took a picture. There's about a half inch of particleboard around the edge and then cardboard in the shape of honeycomb to fill the gap. I'll post that image later with the cage pictures. I was so sad, but it was hilarious.

FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #149 · May 19, 2016

4

Aww I forgot to download the Ikea picture. Oh well, tomorrow, I guess.

Here's where I'm at with the cage now:

With no doors:

With doors:

Top down:

And Oz and I for scale:

It's 24x48x22", so pretty darn big. The doors are ready to go in, I just need to add the tracks so that they don't fall over or get stuck. I still need to finish the outside, it's pretty rough since I cut everything with a jigsaw vertically against the side of the house. But the waterproofing is in, the ramp and platform are done, I found doors, the top is secure, and it's huge, so I'm feeling good so far.

I used vinyl for countertops as the waterproofing. As you can tell, I didn't have enough to go all the way up the walls, so I'm thinking I'll see if I can find some cute tape or a wall border design and use that to finish it. The top is chicken wire, everything else is leftover wood from an old bedframe we had laying around and a few boxes of screws. The doors are heavy plastic picture frames in 24x36" size. For tools all I needed were a jigsaw with a few blades, a power drill with a screwdriver head, some wire cutters, glue, a hammer, and a knife. Not too bad at all.

Rocket was loose again when I went upstairs, so she's been tossed into Finnick's travel cage for now. It has a firmly locking lid. I should have the cage at least habitable by tomorrow, so I won't have to worry about her escaping. The outside might be unfinished for a while but I can live with it as long as Houdini Jr. is safe.

Things I have left to do:
Add tracks and secure the doors
Add door handles
Potentially add a door lock

Sand, paint, and fill the exterior
Finish the inside wall design
Heat and furnish

I'm getting there!

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Lilysmommy

· #150 · May 19, 2016

Jeeze, Rocket is determined to be a brat, huh? Glad you'll have her cage done soon to keep her contained! It looks fantastic so far, I love how big it is.

Clearly Rocket just wanted to be spoiled with a nice giant new cage. Smart girl! :lol:

By the way, speaking of cages....I got a reply on my PVC cages! Answered some final questions on color & whatnot and got the invoice sent. Will be getting a final one after they get my reply on the shipping option they offered. I asked how much longer till I get them, so hoping to get an updated estimated soon! I won't be spending money on the pets for fun much for a while after ordering them....gonna be pricey.

Oh well!

FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #151 · May 20, 2016

4

The cage is habitable!

First, here's what I found inside the wood from Ikea:

Here's the cage completed but empty:

And full, including lizard:

And here's Rocket basking:

I'm thinking I'll trim the door width a little shorter since they overlap so much, and I need to finish the outside, but other than that, it works. I also just filled it with stuff I already had. I'd like to mimic Australian tropical savanna, but I'll have to find supplies first.

The whole cage so far cost me $70, so not too bad at all. I'm going to knock over my parents' basement while I'm visiting this weekend and see if I can swipe some paint and some door handles.

I can't wait to see the PVC cages! They're going to be way nicer than my ramshackle mess! :lol: They're pricey but they're so worth it. Some day in the near future I'm going to buy one for Finn, one for Illidan, and a spare one for something huge. Maybe a Varanus acanthurus or three. But that'll be down the road a bit yet.

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Lilysmommy

· #152 · May 20, 2016

Dude, yours looks freaking great! And the price just makes it that much better!

I really would like to try making a wood viv, but I don't have the skills for it right now, nor the time/energy to research how to do so. Someday in the future maybe.

So now that you have Rocket contained...are you ready for the next problem that's surely going to appear? :lol:

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #153 · May 20, 2016

Thanks! It turned out pretty good. It's the first cage I've made out of mostly wood. It was fairly easy, but I've been tinkering with power tools my whole life so nothing was really new to me. I actually drew up the plans myself and everything.

Well, as I was connecting the new heating, there was a blast of lightning and the power went out. If it keeps happening I'll have to stay home for the weekend and make sure everyone stays warm enough. Fingers crossed it was a one-time thing. And I'm thinking about a few more animals, despite the already existent chaos. I must be crazy :lol:.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #154 · May 26, 2016

Rocket stayed confined while I was away, and then as soon as we got home, Oz slammed his fat head right through one of the sliding doors. It cracked pretty good. I figured I could replace it in a few days, so I left it, and about an hour later, while I was in the middle of an Overwatch match and couldn't pause, I heard Rocket sliding through the crack in the door. I managed to toss her back in while my character was dead, but she came right back out. I had to stick her in my shirt while I finished the game and then duct tape the cracks shut.

I'll be buying something a little more heavy duty for the doors in the near future. In the meantime, duct tape on the cracks and a squirt bottle sitting on the cage frame will have to do. Oz is terrified of water, so all I have to do it squirt the bottle at Pepper (who loves it) and then set it somewhere and he'll avoid the area. He's such a turd, this dog.

Other than that, there haven't been any more power outages and everyone who went away for the weekend with me handled it well. My mom went in Finnick's room to get something one night and he looked at her from his wheel like "get out, I'm busy here" and just kept going. He's really tough to spook, which is awesome.

The snakes, salamanders, and Rocket just had dinner. I brought back a big tub of Canadian nightcrawlers for everyone. Legs had two whole worms and then a few segments the salamanders didn't finish, Squee had a whole worm to himself, and he ate it backwards so it kept escaping while he was trying to swallow it, and Shaw had his in pieces and wasn't thrilled about it. Rocket had a few chunks, and she seems to have liked them well enough. She picked out the egg and yellow bell pepper first and then ate the rest.

I'll give Finn a few worm chunks when he wakes up. And then I'm going to save the rest and see if I can get them breeding, or whatever worms do to make more worms. I had to buy them from the bait section in Cabela's, so I don't really want to have to find more.

Kerrigan had two fuzzy mice with no problems. She wiggles her tail and then strikes. I'll catch it on camera sooner or later. So she's all back to normal.

Everything is good right now! Who wants to take bets on what happens next?! :lol:

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twobytwopets

· #155 · May 26, 2016

Proof that heelers are hard headed! Did he not know there was glass there, or did Rocket convince Oz to break it. I'm telling you, they are in cahoots!!

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Lilysmommy

· #156 · May 26, 2016

I'm starting to think they're teaming up too! Good lord, critters. Just stay in your own bedroom!! :lol:

Glad your travelers handled it well too! Both of my girls are doing fantastic, I'm really relieved. No going off food & both wheeling well. Though they got a little crankier with me when I darted into the room after lights out last night to steal their fan. :lol: It was only five minutes after lights out & they were both already up & at it!

Yay for nightcrawlers! I hope you can get them breeding. I want to start a worm breeding/compost bin sometime, but the worms that are best for that are red wigglers, which Bindi didn't like. It's on my list of future projects though, to see what it'd take to start breeding the bigger ones. Glad Kerrigan is doing great again too!!

Well let's see...so far there's been drama from Pepper, Oz, Rocket, and Kerrigan...My guess is Legs or Finn are up next. :lol: Fingers crossed that they take it easy on you though!! & that they give you a nice long break before causing more drama, for that matter. We're both due for some quiet pet enjoyment for a while, I think.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #157 · May 26, 2016

Oz punched his head through a metal screen reptile cage lid once too. I think he knows but it just doesn't matter :lol:. He really doesn't care if he gets hurt. It drives me nuts!

Yay, I'm glad the girls did well! Traveling is so stressful for me because I worry.

No one here likes red wigglers either. I'll have to research how to care for these night crawlers. I know they like it cold so they're in the fridge right now.

Here's hoping everyone behaves for both of us for a while.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #158 · May 31, 2016

Well, I got a pretty crazy surprise this evening. The crested geckos' pump wasn't working, so I had to dig out all the substrate and have a look. While I was digging, I found four eggs! One likely isn't any good but the other three look alright. I'm so excited! I have no idea when they were laid as I didn't know anyone was gravid, so they could hatch any time from now until mid-July. I've got them all set up in an incubator and we'll see how it goes. I'll try to candle them in the near future. They're about the length of a quarter and then oval. The red stuff is just sharpie, because I had to mark which way was up to move them safely.

And in other news, Miss Rocket got to try some dog treats from Stella and Chewy. It's a sample of their beef flavor, which means Oz can't have it, so I gave it to her and she likes it quite a bit. Oz used to get Stella and Chewy's rabbit patties, but they were so expensive considering the persistent listeria recalls that I decided it wasn't worth it. But hey, samples are samples and they're brand new, so hopefully they're clean.

Here's the video of that: Rocket Tries Some Dog Treats

I had to cut the audio because the Witcher 3 was on in the background, but I really like the track I picked. Usually I just grab one of the top results but I actually had a look around this time.

If the egg candling shows anything I'll take some pictures!

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #159 · May 31, 2016

Oh, I completely forgot! I bought a bunch of snake snacks from the expo (and a heat panel for Rocket, but no animals despite eyeballing a beautiful $300 crestie), and I gave a frozen/thawed small adult mouse to Akihiko when we got home and he took it right away! Hopefully he sticks with it this time, so there's no more live mice in the house! I took a big cooler and a bag of ice with me and put the mice and rats in that for the ride home. I'll throw the old black hoppers in the garbage.

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FinnickHog

Discussion Starter · #160 · Jun 1, 2016

I candled the eggs so the folks over at reptileforums.co.uk could have a look, and I thought you guys might be interested too. I'm a complete noob at candling, but I'm guessing eggs 1 and 3 are newer, within the month, egg 2 is two-ish months old, and egg 4 is toast.

But three babies when I was expecting none is pretty exciting. I have to set mom up with a laying box still, because she looks a little round and when I was feeling her tummy I think I felt eggs. I'd much prefer to know where to look next time :lol:

Here's the video: Candling Crestie Eggs

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