First, to introduce myself. My name is Andrea and I'm a student majoring in Animal Science with my focus on animal behavior and wellbeing. I currently own a small zoo of three dogs (and a foster), two ferrets, two guinea pigs, a dwarf hamster, and a ****atiel that hates me. There is also a cat that is graciously allowing me to stay in her house. :roll: I've been contemplating adding to the zoo for awhile now, but my main interest is/was rats (love the little boogers...have always wanted some) and as long as I am living underneath my mom's roof there is no way in **** I will ever be able to get any. I also had my eye on STOs, but finding one is proving very, very difficult - I don't want to ship and I would like to meet one in person before I jump right in to ownership.
I don't know what I was doing this morning, but somehow I stumbled across a few pictures of hedgehogs. They were just way too cute for their own good, so I started trying to find more information. In my browsing, I found this site and, well, here I am!
I think I've read a dozen webpages dedicated to Hedgehogs and their care and I think have the gist of what they are like. However, there are a few things I'd like cleared up by first hand experience.
1. How much interaction will a Hedgehog need? I know that daily handling is required to keep them tame, but do they need a lot of stimulation/out of cage time? Floor time is pretty booked between the rotation of the ferrets and the piggies, but I can offer plenty of handling.
2. Exactly how big do they get? I've honestly never met one in person, although I have seen some in at petstores (thus, they were probably not full grown). Smaller than a guinea pig? About the same size?
3. From what I am gathering, Hedgehog food is a no-no, but a high quality cat food (Chicken Soup, Innova, Solid Gold, Wellness, etc.) is good? Should kibble be free fed, and supplemented with fruits and meat? How often should insects be fed, and is there anyway around feeding them? (I hate meal worms and the like. They creep me out. I'll feed them if I have to, but I don't have to like it!
) Do they tend to be picky eaters (like ferrets)?
4. Litterbox training...are they a "natural" (aka, will go in one spot like ferrets do, so you just put a litterbox where they go), or is it more like litterbox training a guinea pig (impossible in my book)?
5. Any health issues I should be aware of concerning keeping guinea pigs and hedgehogs in the same area? (I know when I was looking up on rabbits, it was highly reccomended to not even have pigs and buns in the same room, let alone have their cages by one another.) Would smelling the pigs and the ferrets stress the hedgie out?
6. I just donated a lot of my spare cages/supplies to a local guinea pig rescue, so I'll have to start buying things from scratch. A nice, cheap cage is highly appealing. I keep reading about using large storage bins as cages? Or would it be better to just try to find a cheap wire cage? I'm also having a hard time visualizing how much floor space they need. My pigs are in a (roughly) 4'x2' cage. The Hedgie's cage would have to sit on top of the pigs' cage - I'd want something that isn't too heavy or bulky and it can only be about 3' long (as I keep a box of hay up there as well).
7. Speaking of cheap wire cages, if I do go with a wire cage what is the required bar spacing to avoid a loose or stuck hedgie?
8. Purchasing from a breeder is obviously the best way to go for a hedgie, but are petstores a complete no-no if they are well taken care of and socialized? There is a local feed store nearby that I purchased my ferrets from and they tend to take very good care of their animals. I didn't know if petstore hedgies had a greater risk of health problems, or anything like that.
9. If bought from a petstore or breeder, what price should I be expecting to pay for a "normal color", male hedgie? I took a look at various breeders around the country and I saw prices anywhere from $65 to $300.
Annnnnnd....I think that is everything I was having questions about. If you have anything to add about basic hedgehog care or behavior, please feel free to do so!
I don't know what I was doing this morning, but somehow I stumbled across a few pictures of hedgehogs. They were just way too cute for their own good, so I started trying to find more information. In my browsing, I found this site and, well, here I am!
I think I've read a dozen webpages dedicated to Hedgehogs and their care and I think have the gist of what they are like. However, there are a few things I'd like cleared up by first hand experience.
1. How much interaction will a Hedgehog need? I know that daily handling is required to keep them tame, but do they need a lot of stimulation/out of cage time? Floor time is pretty booked between the rotation of the ferrets and the piggies, but I can offer plenty of handling.
2. Exactly how big do they get? I've honestly never met one in person, although I have seen some in at petstores (thus, they were probably not full grown). Smaller than a guinea pig? About the same size?
3. From what I am gathering, Hedgehog food is a no-no, but a high quality cat food (Chicken Soup, Innova, Solid Gold, Wellness, etc.) is good? Should kibble be free fed, and supplemented with fruits and meat? How often should insects be fed, and is there anyway around feeding them? (I hate meal worms and the like. They creep me out. I'll feed them if I have to, but I don't have to like it!
4. Litterbox training...are they a "natural" (aka, will go in one spot like ferrets do, so you just put a litterbox where they go), or is it more like litterbox training a guinea pig (impossible in my book)?
5. Any health issues I should be aware of concerning keeping guinea pigs and hedgehogs in the same area? (I know when I was looking up on rabbits, it was highly reccomended to not even have pigs and buns in the same room, let alone have their cages by one another.) Would smelling the pigs and the ferrets stress the hedgie out?
6. I just donated a lot of my spare cages/supplies to a local guinea pig rescue, so I'll have to start buying things from scratch. A nice, cheap cage is highly appealing. I keep reading about using large storage bins as cages? Or would it be better to just try to find a cheap wire cage? I'm also having a hard time visualizing how much floor space they need. My pigs are in a (roughly) 4'x2' cage. The Hedgie's cage would have to sit on top of the pigs' cage - I'd want something that isn't too heavy or bulky and it can only be about 3' long (as I keep a box of hay up there as well).
7. Speaking of cheap wire cages, if I do go with a wire cage what is the required bar spacing to avoid a loose or stuck hedgie?
8. Purchasing from a breeder is obviously the best way to go for a hedgie, but are petstores a complete no-no if they are well taken care of and socialized? There is a local feed store nearby that I purchased my ferrets from and they tend to take very good care of their animals. I didn't know if petstore hedgies had a greater risk of health problems, or anything like that.
9. If bought from a petstore or breeder, what price should I be expecting to pay for a "normal color", male hedgie? I took a look at various breeders around the country and I saw prices anywhere from $65 to $300.
Annnnnnd....I think that is everything I was having questions about. If you have anything to add about basic hedgehog care or behavior, please feel free to do so!