[Morel3etterness]

I love my little egon a lot, hes my baby. I just feel like I am not home enough for him. Should I be concerned about this? My job eats up a lot of time. 2 or 3 days out of the week I will have a 10-14 hour work shift. When my mom is home I will have her check to make sure his food and water is ok until I get home and as soon as I get home he is the first thing I take care of, even before I change out of my work clothes. Do you find they are pretty independent in this case or do they call for more interaction with the owner?

I just want what is best for him. When I go to my boyfriends for the weekend I even bring him... every single time. I just feel bad like I am neglecting him but I am not trying to. When I am home and painting, I have him on my drafting table with me-even though he sleeps the entire time. Does anyone else have this problem or concern? What should I do? And is it a worry at all?

 

[strawberryfields]

I get a little concerned sometimes because I'm in college and during exam weeks and things like that, I don't have as much time as I would like to bond with the little guy. Fortunately, hedgehogs are pretty independent and from what I've read they don't really crave companionship. Other pets, like a dog or a bird, get lonely and will even get sick if they don't get much playtime. But hedgehogs are pretty solitary creatures and don't NEED very much social attention.

I don't mean to say that there's no reason to spend time with your hedgie, because that's not true. Forming a bond with a pet is awesome, and hedgehogs do bond with their owners. However, I think that as long as he is not being neglected, he'll be okay during those periods of time when you can't play three hours every day (even though I'm sure you want to!) :lol:

Just make sure that he gets new food and water every day, that his liners are changed frequently, his wheel is kept clean, etc. The most important thing is making sure that you have time to check his cage for quill loss, unusual urine/feces, vomit, and to make sure he's eating enough. It's also important to handle him at least a little bit every day to make sure there are no injuries, no hairs wrapped around his feet, and all that. As long as you have enough time to provide all the essential care that he needs, I think it is okay. His overall health and well being shouldn't be affected too much if there are times when "playtime" isn't as long as usual.

I would only consider giving him up if my schedule was so busy that I didn't have time to perform routine care on him, and make sure that he is happy.

 

[hedgielover]

I'm the same during exams (especially midterms because I'm still in classes and papers are due on top of exams) I feel so busy and tired that I have little time to handle Quigley.

We may go multiple nights in a row where I only pick him up to look at him for a second and then put him back in his cage.

The routine stuff doesn't take very long and he doesn't seem to care if we interact or not so I don't worry about it. Even when I do get him out for playtime I'm not with him the whole time. He'll sleep on me but once he's awake and squirming around he gets put in his playpen for the rest of the night.

I made a bag for him thinking that he could be in the bag with it strapped to me and then I could be doing other stuff with him with me - didn't work at all he likes to climb out of it and hinders my productivity. Oh well.

I think that if you never have any time at all to handle your hedgehog then you're not getting the rewards of having a pet. But it sounds like his basic needs are met and it's good that he sleeps near you while you are painting even that can count as bonding time. I don't think you're neglecting him at all.

 

[Morel3etterness]

Thanks guys :mrgreen: I just didn't know if it was unusual that he be in the cage or tank that long. His food and water is changed before I go to work and when I come home. I usually put liners in the tank with the wheel and paper towels underneath the wheel cos he poops everywhere. I change the paper towels daily.. liners every week. His wheel is washed every night before I go to bed.

I try to keep him out when im home. I just wanted to make sure he didnt need free roam exercise time as much as I assumed.I cant exactly let egon free roam in my house anyway... too many holes and cracks he can get lost in. I have 3 cages built for him and switch him regularly so its good.

 

[nationofamanda]

i think you are fine. i bet egon likes having some time to himself since they tend to not like too much inaction. as long as he's clean, feed, and taken care of, and loved he's in good hands.