[Shackdweller]

Hello everybody,

I decided to come to introduce myself, and my new Hedgie, when I bought him/her in November she/he was reportedly 6 months old, I bought her a big wheel which she immediately got attached to, I clean it every night, at the moment its summer by us and pretty warm, she doesn't have a proper cage yet but is in the process of being custom built with heat emitters, thermostats, etc. everything premium and best I could get.

I'm very much uneducated when it comes to Hedgies, I wish I knew of these forums before I bought her, I could have done with the advice beforehand. Nevertheless, I'm a big animal lover and will never give her up due to the difficulties.

I'm here to ask for advice on taming her, I don't watch television, I work from home, and the majority of the time i work in my room, people say to let them out cage where you watch television so they can explore, but how? you need to watch them constantly unless you hedgie proof of the whole place,

I work at night while sitting on my bed with the laptop, I have now resorted to at night covering my whole bed in puppy training pads a fleece over that, her food and water bowl on there and a tunnel, take her out of her carry bag where she resides till the cage is built, and she has not moved or anything, that's where she stays until I put her back in her cage area, I could really use some good advice.

also, what do hedgies apart from cat food and water need as a daily intake? i have mealworms which I mixed into a bag of cat food so it's only a couple of worms each feeding that she gets if any, I didn't really know it was only a treat so that was a big mistake number one I made.
I considered getting a bonding bag, but have been hesitant as I am one a male, and two I'm extremely active, going up and down the whole day, won't the movement during the day while she sleeps stress her out even more?

I have been replacing used shirts in her home to get used to my smell. handling her physically I don't want to do so much until she relaxes with me a bit more, I can see handling her against her will is really stressing her out.

Thank you in advance to anyone willing to bestow some knowledge on a nooby

Regards
Shack and Porky

 

[BreadTheHog]

Hello everybody,

I decided to come to introduce myself, and my new Hedgie, when I bought him/her in November she/he was reportedly 6 months old, I bought her a big wheel which she immediately got attached to, I clean it every night, at the moment its summer by us and pretty warm, she doesn't have a proper cage yet but is in the process of being custom built with heat emitters, thermostats, etc. everything premium and best I could get.

I'm very much uneducated when it comes to Hedgies, I wish I knew of these forums before I bought her, I could have done with the advice beforehand. Nevertheless, I'm a big animal lover and will never give her up due to the difficulties.

I'm here to ask for advice on taming her, I don't watch television, I work from home, and the majority of the time i work in my room, people say to let them out cage where you watch television so they can explore, but how? you need to watch them constantly unless you hedgie proof of the whole place,

I work at night while sitting on my bed with the laptop, I have now resorted to at night covering my whole bed in puppy training pads a fleece over that, her food and water bowl on there and a tunnel, take her out of her carry bag where she resides till the cage is built, and she has not moved or anything, that's where she stays until I put her back in her cage area, I could really use some good advice.

also, what do hedgies apart from cat food and water need as a daily intake? i have mealworms which I mixed into a bag of cat food so it's only a couple of worms each feeding that she gets if any, I didn't really know it was only a treat so that was a big mistake number one I made.
I considered getting a bonding bag, but have been hesitant as I am one a male, and two I'm extremely active, going up and down the whole day, won't the movement during the day while she sleeps stress her out even more?

I have been replacing used shirts in her home to get used to my smell. handling her physically I don't want to do so much until she relaxes with me a bit more, I can see handling her against her will is really stressing her out.

Thank you in advance to anyone willing to bestow some knowledge on a nooby

Regards
Shack and Porky

So don;t take her out that much a day, its inconvenient for both you and her. You can get a bonding sack for her and you can hold her while shes in it while you watch tv or something. Also for my hedgehog i bring a big puppy pool thing (not sure how to describe lol) down stairs when i eat and bring her wheel down there. I of course have a heater down there so she doesn't get cold. For the food im not really sure. My hedgie diet is mostly just cat food and meal worms. Ive dried some different bugs but she isn't very interested in them. You could try some different ones out to. Hope i helped

 

[Emc]

Dried insects are not good for hedgehogs; they need live bugs, and they need a variety of them (you cannot just rely on mealworms). Other examples to feed include dubia roaches, locust, morioworms, crickets, black solider fly larvae, etc. Bugs must also be gutloaded (fed healthy veg) prior to feeding your hog to ensure maximum nutritional value.

in terms of bonding, I honestly pick up my hedgehog a few times a week for health checks, nail trims, etc. I just sit on my floor and wait for him to wakeup and come out of his enclosure himself to play and run around, and he sniffs around me and explores me then. He’s a very friendly outgoing guy despite the fact I don’t force him to bond with me every day haha.

 

[BreadTheHog]

Dried insects are not good for hedgehogs; they need live bugs, and they need a variety of them (you cannot just rely on mealworms). Other examples to feed include dubia roaches, locust, morioworms, crickets, black solider fly larvae, etc. Bugs must also be gutloaded (fed healthy veg) prior to feeding your hog to ensure maximum nutritional value.

in terms of bonding, I honestly pick up my hedgehog a few times a week for health checks, nail trims, etc. I just sit on my floor and wait for him to wakeup and come out of his enclosure himself to play and run around, and he sniffs around me and explores me then. He’s a very friendly outgoing guy despite the fact I don’t force him to bond with me every day haha.

I did not even know i said dried i meant tried my bad

 

[Shackdweller]

So don;t take her out that much a day, its inconvenient for both you and her. You can get a bonding sack for her and you can hold her while shes in it while you watch tv or something. Also for my hedgehog i bring a big puppy pool thing (not sure how to describe lol) down stairs when i eat and bring her wheel down there. I of course have a heater down there so she doesn't get cold. For the food im not really sure. My hedgie diet is mostly just cat food and meal worms. Ive dried some different bugs but she isn't very interested in them. You could try some different ones out to. Hope i helped

Dried insects are not good for hedgehogs; they need live bugs, and they need a variety of them (you cannot just rely on mealworms). Other examples to feed include dubia roaches, locust, morioworms, crickets, black solider fly larvae, etc. Bugs must also be gutloaded (fed healthy veg) prior to feeding your hog to ensure maximum nutritional value.

in terms of bonding, I honestly pick up my hedgehog a few times a week for health checks, nail trims, etc. I just sit on my floor and wait for him to wakeup and come out of his enclosure himself to play and run around, and he sniffs around me and explores me then. He’s a very friendly outgoing guy despite the fact I don’t force him to bond with me every day haha.

You should see me try and keep the live bugs in one place till she seems or smells them. Lol.

Thanks for the advice much appreciated 🙂

 

[Shackdweller]

This is the basic cage, been sealed with VOC free sealant, safest i could find for pets, today i went to buy the acrylic doors for front, and also getting acrylic vents on top that can open or close as needed to vent possible overheating, thermostat, heat emitter, and light with timers all rigged and ready to be installed.

Want to wait another day for sealant to be completely smell free,

Attaching the heating and circulation after that,
Considering isolating the wheel similar to the mud gaurds for a car wheel, it will be boxed on sise and afixed so that i can open it like a box, remove and clean wheel, with no effort, added plus of a mostly clean cage,

Will be having her house on the top level with her food, bottom the wheel entrance and bath sand on other side, underneath im just laying a puppy training pad, perfect size and remove in one go when dirty.

Water, and food she has been having out of ceramic kitten bowls with rubberizing underneath so no slip, and quite heavy she cant tip them (yet).

I deeply appreciate everyones guidance and will if allowed post progress of cage as it goes on.

Lots of Hedgie love.

✌ Shack and Porkie

 

[Shackdweller]

View attachment 96543
View attachment 96544

This is the basic cage, been sealed with VOC free sealant, safest i could find for pets, today i went to buy the acrylic doors for front, and also getting acrylic vents on top that can open or close as needed to vent possible overheating, thermostat, heat emitter, and light with timers all rigged and ready to be installed.

Want to wait another day for sealant to be completely smell free,

Attaching the heating and circulation after that,
Considering isolating the wheel similar to the mud gaurds for a car wheel, it will be boxed on sise and afixed so that i can open it like a box, remove and clean wheel, with no effort, added plus of a mostly clean cage,

Will be having her house on the top level with her food, bottom the wheel entrance and bath sand on other side, underneath im just laying a puppy training pad, perfect size and remove in one go when dirty.

Water, and food she has been having out of ceramic kitten bowls with rubberizing underneath so no slip, and quite heavy she cant tip them (yet).

I deeply appreciate everyones guidance and will if allowed post progress of cage as it goes on.

Lots of Hedgie love.

✌ Shack and Porkie
View attachment 96546
View attachment 96545


View attachment 96543 View attachment 96544 View attachment 96545 View attachment 96546 View attachment 96543 View attachment 96544 View attachment 96545 View attachment 96546 View attachment 96546 View attachment 96545

A final update on the progress of porkies cage,,,