# My Little Hedgie



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

Hello! I mentioned my hedgie in my "meet my rat" thread. And thought I should give him a proper thread just for his cute self.
This is my cutie Spike.

























I'm not sure how old he is honestly. 
His story is kind of sad. One of my friends/former coworker from petsmart posted his picture on facebook saying he needed a home.
He was abandoned at her store.. Someone put him in a "critter keeper" and left him in a shopping cart OUTSIDE, in 35 degree weather








He was brought inside and warmed up and my friend took him home, and tried to find him a home. 
I fell in love just from seeing his pictures, I got him on March 17th.
and while he was a little pokey and shy at first. after a few minutes in my hands he got out of his ball and started walking around on my arms. 
And cuddling in my jacket. He is a such a sweet boy.
I feel so lucky to have him as a pet. 
And I absolutely adore him. I don't see how anyone could abandon such a cutie. 

Spike LOVES to run in his wheel, and loves to nap and eat melons (watermelon/honeydew/cantalope)


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

That's so sad!!! I'm glad that you were able to rescue him! He's very cute!!!


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

RosesRufflesandRats said:


> That's so sad!!! I'm glad that you were able to rescue him! He's very cute!!!


 yeah it broke my heart.
and sadly he wasnt the first to get abandoned there. But he's the 3rd :/
I'm just happy he didnt get sick or anything. And he was able to warm up to me real fast


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

pipsqueak said:


> yeah it broke my heart.
> and sadly he wasnt the first to get abandoned there. But he's the 3rd :/
> I'm just happy he didnt get sick or anything. And he was able to warm up to me real fast


It makes me sad when people get animals and then think they can just abandon them. I think this happens a lot with the more novelty animals especially. "Wouldn't it be so cool to have a hedgehog?" And then when it proves different than they expected, there is no sense of commitment. 

At a petstore I used to frequent, that happened a lot with sugar gliders and there were always new ones in there that had been abandoned or sold to the store. Apparently a lot of people thought they would be awesome and then realized they are hard to care for.


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

RosesRufflesandRats said:


> It makes me sad when people get animals and then think they can just abandon them. I think this happens a lot with the more novelty animals especially. "Wouldn't it be so cool to have a hedgehog?" And then when it proves different than they expected, there is no sense of commitment.
> 
> At a petstore I used to frequent, that happened a lot with sugar gliders and there were always new ones in there that had been abandoned or sold to the store. Apparently a lot of people thought they would be awesome and then realized they are hard to care for.


Yeah :/ When I still worked at petsmart it happened all the time with guinea pigs, and hamsters. Someone actually left 2 birds in a plastic bag that was tied and left it on a shelf in the store :/ found a hamster wandering on the shelves before as well. I hate people sometimes. 
Especially when some people only abandon them because it was more work than they thought, or the animals get sick.
Its those same people that have the mentality " its just a $x animal, why should I take it to the vet when I could just buy a new one" Which is something I heard quite often from customers :/


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

pipsqueak said:


> Yeah :/ When I still worked at petsmart it happened all the time with guinea pigs, and hamsters. Someone actually left 2 birds in a plastic bag that was tied and left it on a shelf in the store :/ found a hamster wandering on the shelves before as well. I hate people sometimes.
> Especially when some people only abandon them because it was more work than they thought, or the animals get sick.
> Its those same people that have the mentality " its just a $x animal, why should I take it to the vet when I could just buy a new one" Which is something I heard quite often from customers :/


Yeah, I can hate people sometimes too! It's irritating that people don't do their research before they buy, it's not that hard, especially when you can hop on the computer and learn at least a little bit about the animal before you buy. It's really sad that people measure the worth of an animal by its monetary value.


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

RosesRufflesandRats said:


> Yeah, I can hate people sometimes too! It's irritating that people don't do their research before they buy, it's not that hard, especially when you can hop on the computer and learn at least a little bit about the animal before you buy. It's really sad that people measure the worth of an animal by its monetary value.


 yeah :/ I mean I always look up stuff with animals I get. And even now I still look up stuff constantly.


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

pipsqueak said:


> yeah :/ I mean I always look up stuff with animals I get. And even now I still look up stuff constantly.


The research is the funnest part for me, Lol!


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

RosesRufflesandRats said:


> The research is the funnest part for me, Lol!


oh definitely, its always so wonderful to find out new things.


----------



## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

He looks really cute. What's it like looking after a hedgehog? I'm just intrigued, I'd never have one myself of course unless one needed rescuing.


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

ratclaws said:


> He looks really cute. What's it like looking after a hedgehog? I'm just intrigued, I'd never have one myself of course unless one needed rescuing.


He is really sweet, and easy to take care of. 
For food, I give him a mix of 2 high quality cat food, and he gets mealworms as a treat. He isnt really a fan of veggies, but he does enjoy melons. 
He sleeps most of the day, and wakes up around 7 or 8 PM every day, and is up until 5AM (when i go to work).
He doesnt generally smell, but his poop can stink pretty bad. He LOVES to run in his wheel, he usually poops under his wheel. But on occasion he poops while he runs.
And it makes my whole apartment smell really bad. So I usually make him get off of the wheel and i clean it up real fast.
He needs his nails trimmed every once in awhile just like with rats. And he gets baths as well , with an baby shampoo and toothbrush.
He sometimes will get poo all over his paws since they arent real good about cleaning themselves. So its important to try and help him keep clean.
Oh and in his hut I have one of my tanktops in there that he sleeps with everynight. Which is how he warmed up to me so fast.
But now he just burrows under and cuddles with it.

Overall, he is a very easy to care for. Every hedgehog is different though, just like with rats or any other animal.
My friend whom I got him from has 2 hedgies, that are kept separate since they are generally solitary animals. plus its a boy and girl 
And one of them Jenna, is a really sweet girl who puts her quills down right after you pick her up.
But her other hedgehog Bebop, has his quills up all the time, and is just generally a grumpy boy. So its harder to hold him.


----------



## RattieLover1331 (May 21, 2013)

What's it like having a pet hedgehog?

Does it hurt to hold one?

Sorry for the questions lol!

But he sure is a cutie


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

RattieLover1331 said:


> What's it like having a pet hedgehog?
> 
> Does it hurt to hold one?
> 
> ...


Its a lot like having a rat, but he cant really climb on me.
And he is only active at night really. from about 7/8 PM til about 5AM. 
wheras my rats are active pretty much all the time and just take naps throughout the day. lol

And it only hurts to hold him if he is in "defense mode" quills up.
When I first go in his cage to pick him up, it startles him and he will puff up a little, 
but once he realizes its just me he is all calm and sweet, with his quills down.

When I pet him, he feels soft but kind of hard at the same time.
its hard to describe it honestly. Going against his quills will hurt, but going with them it feels fine kind of like petting a comb i guess haha. 

and no need to be sorry, I like questions :3 
sorry im not too good at explaining myself though lol


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

Was playing with him today and he started biting my shirt, hes such a little wierdo. sometimes


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

pipsqueak said:


> Was playing with him today and he started biting my shirt, hes such a little wierdo. sometimes


Hahaha, he sounds like an awesome pet!


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

RosesRufflesandRats said:


> Hahaha, he sounds like an awesome pet!


He's awesome lol.
I have a video of him biting/attacking my couch. He decided he didnt like it lol


----------



## SheWroteLove1 (Jan 18, 2013)

Oh my goodness, he's the cutest thing!


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

Hahahaha, that's adorable!


----------



## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

Aww! I was soooo close to getting a hedgehog instead of rats. I was stuck between the two pets. Wow poor little guy being in 35 degree weather (when hedgies need like 72 degrees minimum). Was he free? If so what a good deal!  I would have adopted him too in that situation. He sounds like he's at least a little friendly! I've heard that hedgies can be very solitary and not enjoy human company much.


----------



## mameur (Nov 3, 2012)

wow ok youre lucky he's so nice I got my girlfriend a female we named nilou, she was nice when we picked her up at the lady we bought her from. but as soon as she got home she was pissy as **** and everytime we picked her up she would roll into a ball and have her quills up. she took food from my hands only once we tried to make her open up to us but didnt work out so my gf couldnt take it anymore and an old lady who takes care of difficult hedgehogs took her. and we got news a few months later that she was still pissy idk what what happened maybe its the trip on the way to our house that traumatised her idk or maybe she was just extremelly attached to her first owner. Not saying all hedgehogs are the cause all u have to do is check out a few youtube videos to see how wonderful they can be as pets just watch out when you pick them i guess


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

Jackie said:


> Aww! I was soooo close to getting a hedgehog instead of rats. I was stuck between the two pets. Wow poor little guy being in 35 degree weather (when hedgies need like 72 degrees minimum). Was he free? If so what a good deal!  I would have adopted him too in that situation. He sounds like he's at least a little friendly! I've heard that hedgies can be very solitary and not enjoy human company much.


I felt so bad for him when I heard that. I had an extra cage that my Guinea pig used to live in (he has a bigger one now) and I made that the Hedgie cage. He seems to love it. 
Yeah he was free, my friend took him home for a few days to watch him and see if he was sick. But he was fine so I took him home a few days later .
He seems to love our company and attention, I usually take him out of his cage after he's been awake for awhile, and he will hang out on my lap while I play games. 
One of my friends hedgehog, hates being played with and is a very grumpy boy who pretty much always has his quills up.
While her other hedgie is the sweetest girl ever and loves attention lol, so it really just depends on the hedgie.


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

mameur said:


> wow ok youre lucky he's so nice I got my girlfriend a female we named nilou, she was nice when we picked her up at the lady we bought her from. but as soon as she got home she was pissy as **** and everytime we picked her up she would roll into a ball and have her quills up. she took food from my hands only once we tried to make her open up to us but didnt work out so my gf couldnt take it anymore and an old lady who takes care of difficult hedgehogs took her. and we got news a few months later that she was still pissy idk what what happened maybe its the trip on the way to our house that traumatised her idk or maybe she was just extremelly attached to her first owner. Not saying all hedgehogs are the cause all u have to do is check out a few youtube videos to see how wonderful they can be as pets just watch out when you pick them i guess


Yeah my friends hedgehog bebop is like that, he just doesnt like people much. But she has another hedgehog named Jenna that is such a sweet girl and loves attention and people.
One of my other friends had a similar experience like that she ended up giving away her hedgehog because he just wasnt nice and bit her sometimes. 
I guess I kinda lucked out, my boy is so sweet and loves to cuddle. 
Each hedgehog is different just like with rats or any animal really. Yours was probably attatched to her previous owner a lot, and maybe felt betrayed. Or it could have been the car ride, idk.


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

was playing with Spikey the other night, and he passed out with his little leg stretched out.


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

Hahahaha, I almost died laughing! What a cutie!


----------



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

Wait--okay, before I laugh anymore, I should make sure he didn't actually pass out.


----------



## pipsqueak (Sep 5, 2011)

RosesRufflesandRats said:


> Wait--okay, before I laugh anymore, I should make sure he didn't actually pass out.


nah he just fell asleep.
hes a lazy boy when hes out of his cage.
when he is in his cage though he has so much energy and runs in his wheel all night


----------



## rivergirl10 (Jun 8, 2013)

He is such a cuutiiiee! ;D Ive always had the thought of getting a hedgehog but I never thought I could while having my rats. I think its ridiculous someone could abandon him and I think its great you could rescue him! Anyway, whats it like caring for a hedgie? im really curious...


----------

