newbie with hedgie behaviour

wow! tq so much for the advice!! btw to hedgielover:

i use pine shavings as the bedding, is that ok? i read somewhere that it is fine unless it is cedar, and like u said, it's hard to see their pee and poo using that, but last night i went for a "treasure hunt" and found her poopies embedded in the shavings!! yay! she's normal after all :mrgreen: and last night i braved myself n picked her up using my hands even when her quills were up...

and i read from the forum that some would pat the head/forehead of their hedge to calm it down when its quills at the front head is up...so i did just that and she's getting more open to me!

to Immortalia:

im actually from a tropically climate country, sooo i put her in my room with the air condition on between 22'c to 27'c at night, during the day ijust switch it on from time to time.. then for now i just feed her the cat food (pellet type) from royal canine brand for kittens? and as for her drinking and eating, i would have to say...she eats alot...i feed her twice a day...but sometimes when she's asleep during that feeding time, i just leave her food in the bowl, and when i wake up in the morning, her food is almost gone/or completely gone! owh, i put in about 1 and 1/2 teaspoon per serving twice a day...

and as for her drinking..everytime she wakes up she would be drinking a whole lot of water...which i put in the bottle type and not the bowl...so basically i can hear her drinking because the bottle keeps on knocking against the wall of her cage :roll:

and lastly her poop, well they look more like those bullet size droppings, colour....dark brown if i have to say, and not that sticky

and last night i finally managed to play with her for a full 1 hour+ by letting her roam around my room, and i also managed to pat her without poking myself with her quills

oh yes...n one last question...i read that around the age of 3month she's be going through the quilling process right? how's that going to be and would she go half bald or something? i;ve never seen that process before...this is all too new for me :mrgreen: n would she be hurting?

thanx!!
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to hedgielover:

owh my, when u put it that way, i feel like all the things im doing have been totally bad for her!! ok i'll try n change everything that is needed but how exactly do i keep the fleece in position? because before this i used some old cloth as her bedding but then she would just sort of "dig in" and hide under it as a cover...

n yes...i used the bottle because of the reasons u stated, but i guess i would change that too...

owh...n how can i tell if she's gone into hibernation? i certainly don't want that!!!

thanx

n to lizardgirl:

thanks so much for the information! i think she's possibly going into the quilling state, coz i can see some of her quills have come off, n been grumpy as of late too :roll: but i'll keep my eyes on her....n would try to bathe her too thanx alot!!

thanks immortalia for the great advice!!


btw i changed my kookie's bedding today, but for the time being im using some old towels as the bedding since i havent gotten the chance to buy some fleece (but going to get a few tomorrow!!), and yes i do have a small box for her and in fact i cut some small pieces of towels n put them in the box and outside the box (took some hints from the caging thread ) n so far i still am using the water bottle, because i plan on buying the small bowls but couldnt get some so far, the petshops around here mostly have the hugeeee ones, which i find that those would be a bit too crowded for her...

so far as for her behaviour, i think she's getting more acquainted with me! just the occasional grumpiness, n she still pees though, but not as much as before, n which i find normal now (kinda get used to it too) however i noticed that she would only be defensive when she's in the cage, but once i've gotten her out n let her run around to explore my room(she's a curious one this Kookie!! and always running with her little feet!), she doesnt seem to mind being pick up and all....that's odd to me how come it's ONLY ok ONCE she's out of her cage but now while in it?

oh yes, i do have another question (sorry, im still learning) in another 3-4 days time, i'll be going back to college, and would be bringing her along of course, but the trip would be 4-5 hours away, would this cause alot of stress on her? after all...i did just brought her back home like 1 week ago after the same 4-5 hours journey,,,...hmm....but my breeder did mention that Kookie is abit different than his other hedgies, as she doesnt get carsick like others would....but still..i am worried.... :|


And should i get one of those carrier? like the one for cats?i saw someone posted a picture of it in a thread, looks interesting! or can i just carry it in a shoebox? (me holding it of course)

ps/i just saw her snuck out of her box to eat (now 3.30 am)..yay!! at least i know she's ok and not hibernating (god forbid!)

owh...tq soooooo much for all the tips!!

btw i checked up on the towels, so far she's doing ok with it, no loose threads whatsoever, but it's just temporary anyways as im getting her some fleece blanket,n besides she's more keen to snuggle up in my old tshirt that i put into her cage

owh...and as for the carriers, i guess it was yours that i saw in the other post!! great looking one, i think i'll try to find something like that, i think it would be more convenient to both of us

n thanks for the link to the thread on travelling, i tried finding myself, but couldn't get the specific ones that really helps alot! n as for her cage, im thinking of getting a bigger box, since the one im using is rather small (in my view) but im going to get it once i've settled in my college, and im going to get better accessories for her too, like those igloo hideout, bowls, maybe some stuff that she can climb on...n i guess just like your boy, my Kookie also does that thing where she would run around then come back n climb on my lap to sleep

n yes, one of the reasons why i got a hedgie as a pet for college is because im sort of like a night owl...so with her being awake at night would be a really comforting company with my kind of stressful studies hehe

but i wonder, how exactly do u bring ur boy around? i mean, aren't pets NOT allowed around campus? well like during classes n all? did u hide him under ur shirt or sumtin? boy...if u do...u really must have some THICK skin! :shock:

anyways thanks alot! n i'll try to provide the best i can for my baby girl

btw today i woke up early (around 6 am) , and while the light was still off, i went to have a look at my baby, well it was actually good to finally see her in action , however i do have some question about her behaviour... :?


i've read about mites and quilling, n i think she may be in that process now (but i doubt there are any mites)

but im abit puzzled with one thing, from the thread on quilling, the hedgie would be scratching occasionally because of the quilling process, however in my case, i find it puzzling because....

when i turn on the lights....she would be in a normal stage, but as soon as i turn off the lights, she would be scratching alot! well i won't call it scratching like crazy, but it's alot...but when i turn the lights on again.....she's back to normal...normal in this sense would mean she would still be active, running around eating and all that stuff like it was in the dark, but minus the scratching...

it's like a signal to her...

lights on-scratch off
lights off-scratch on

hahaha....weird...from all the quilling or mites thread....i dun think there's any mention about the time n situation that a hedgie would scratch..right? unless i missed it... :|

soo...can anyone plz help out n explain this kind of behaviour? maybe anyone have encountered it?

btw before this i've NEVER seen her scratch herself...well not during day time/when there's light that is...but after i switched off....well who knows? tq in advance!

Alright thank you i'll look into it. However today i had a look at her, n don't see any bald pathches anywhere on her body, except for the one on top of her head, well i won;t exactly call it bald but just a little , but that one is a normal feature on a hedge right? btw just a little info she never scratches before, n not even today, as a matter of fact, i have never caught her scratching herself ever, except for that last night, n it was only when it was dark.

do they do that only when it is dark? sorry...i couldnt find an answer for that anywhere
because last night she only scratches when the light was off..other than that it's normal behaviour,...playing around..eating...pooping n sleeping alot

btw sorry for all the questions but i truly appreciate for every answers given

ps/ i finally fed her mealies..the small worms (but using tweezer as im terrified of them!!)n she absolutely loved it!! n because of that she wouldnt even mind me trying to hold her when she was in the cage, in fact couldnt wait to get out so that she could have those little creepy crawlies!!