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just some concerns and questions

1749 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  kristinmarissa
So I'm obviously new to this whole hedgehog thing, and kind of being neurotic about it, but I really want it to work out. So we (my boyfriend and I) have had Pasta Batman for over a month and a half, and she's about 8-10 months old. I just get worried because I'm not sure if she's happy or if she likes us. We try to let her out to run around the same time every night but the past few nights she's just hid under something and slept. She's also been a little more hissy lately. A few nights ago she was running around and we were sitting on the floor and she would come up to us and smell us happily (seeming) and crawl on us and stuff, but then the next few nights she wasn't so friendly. She doesn't really seem like she wants to be taken out and mostly she just sleeps all the time. I never see her in her cage unless she's eating, she's mostly sleeping or hiding under stuff. It seems as though maybe she used her wheel once, as we found a little bit of poop on it, but no more since then. Also I read on this forum about hedgehogs who will sleep on their owners or who like to be petted, but she doesn't really do that or seem very affectionate. :( For a month or so after we got her, she would sometimes nap on us but never anymore. And she won't sit still long enough to be held really. She's either running around or burrowing/hiding/sleeping and no in between.
We've done various things to socialize her: I put a shirt I had worn for a few days in her cage and she loves to sleep under it, we give her treats every time we take her out, before we let her run on the floor we sit w/ her on the couch and let her run around (always w/ the lights out), and we let her run around on the floor for an hour or so a night.
Sometimes I don't even know if she recognizes us as something other than just her surroundings. She barely interacts w/ us. :( I get so sad when I read posts about sweet, friendly, affectionate hedgehogs and wonder if she'll ever be like that. We got her at a pet store, so maybe that's a problem?
Anyway, I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything else we can do to further the bond or make her happier, or if we should just be resigned to the fact that she's not very affectionate. Or is she just acting like a normal hedgehog and I'm being overly worried? I'm used to cats, so maybe I'm expecting too much!
Sorry this is so long, I really appreciate any help and responses you can give!!
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Henry is my 3rd hedgie and the snuggliest, that is him, very mellow. My first , Boris, would bite or pee on anyone but me, and when I came back from being gone he would puff and huff at me as if to say,"How DARE you leave ME???" I adored him. Boo was our little girl, we hd her for a short time but she was an explorer and puffed and huffed at me every time I got her up, I ignored it and played with her and all of them every night, all hedgies are different.
Hang in there, Pasta B will come around to be more and more herself. By the way, after a bath try wrapping her in a warm flannel pillowcase out of the dryer, even this would turn miss Boo into a limp, calm, content girl. :mrgreen:
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