[Sebailes]

I'm a very discouraged hedgehog owner.

Pippa is six weeks old and I've only had her for four days. The day I got her she was extremely sweet and adventurous. All she wanted to do was play and explore. She never put her quills up, was extremely easy to handle, and never huffed or popped or went into her ball.

Now all she does is stay in her ball. I try to let her out and do bonding time, but if I even move my finger or breathe too loudly she goes straight back into her ball. I try to coax her out, but as soon as she gets her head out she goes right back in. I don't think I've held her outside of her ball since the day I got her...

How do I earn her trust? Let her be and not force bonding time? Or try to bond even though she's obviously uncomfortable?

I'm so discouraged and so upset. She was so sweet the first day, and now she just seems to hate me. I'm scared I already broke her trust. What do I do?

Please help!!!!!!!!!

 

[Matvei]

You've said it yourself: you've only had her four days.

You're going to have to be more patient for that if you want a hedgehog to trust you.
Handle her even if she is uncomfortable. Otherwise you lose and they win.

 

[Artemis-Ichiro]

Also remember she's a hedgehog, not a dog. They are prey animals notmplayful puppies.

 

[Lilysmommy]

Same thing as I posted on your previous thread - patience. It's going to take weeks for her to settle in and she's also at the right time for quilling, which is uncomfortable. All you can do is continue to get her out nightly, take things slow, and let her learn that you're okay.

 

[Norah]

I've had my hedgehog for over a month now and she's only slowly starting to trust me. Twice she let me pet her belly and cuddle her a bit, but mostly she still ... accepts me, but doesn't seem to like me much And that's ok, I guess every hedgehog is different and all that matters to me is that she's healthy and happy. She still balls up and hisses at me when I make sudden moves, but after one month I can see it is slowly getting better. So yeah, all it needs is patience

 

[Norah]

Oh, and as to how to make Pippa like you more - shameless bribery. Meal worms. Every time you take her out give her something yummy. My hedgehog gets her food daily but it's mostly boring kibbles with the occasional apple/egg/chicken. She only gets meal worms from my hand when I force her to spend some time with me

Btw, I love the name - Pippa

 

[nikki]

Hand feeding isn't a good idea. It teaches them that fingers have yummy things and often leads to biting. It's better to put the mealworms in a dish and feed it to them that way.

 

[Norah]

Hand feeding isn't a good idea. It teaches them that fingers have yummy things and often leads to biting. It's better to put the mealworms in a dish and feed it to them that way.

I know about that and she did bite me a few times, but as it doesn't hurt I wasn't really thinking too much about it. Also it only happens when she can smell food from my fingers - and only during feeding. If I wash my hands she doesn't bite at all... I do give her treats in a bowl when I have her out (fruits or baby food mostly) but it's so adorable when she takes food directly from my hand that I can't make myself stop feeding her like this

Thank you though and I do believe it can lead to more biting than necessary.

 

[snorlax]

your hedgie may very well be going through its "quilling" stage (typically around 6-10 weeks old i believe). this is when their adult quills are coming in and it seems very uncomfortable for the animal. make sure you keep handling it during this stage so it gets used to you but avoid touching the sensative quills if you can. if you keep up bonding they usually seem to settle down in a few weeks once the quilling stage comes to an end. until then, its going to act pretty grumpy but dont lose hope! this is normal, good luck