Any hedgehog keepers here? Advice needed..

[nikki0601]

My sister bless her heart, she means well but she is a poor pet keeper.. not long ago posted bout some red ear sliders I adopted from her, nevet expected her to leave me with a hedgehog, I never even seen one before.. to make a long story short, I have him, his name is Hedggy, he is an african pigmy, right under a year old, she left him here with a large bag of aspen bedding, cat food, a medium sized storage bin with air holes cut out, he has a hide a wheel and I just recently made him a tunnel hide, he really likes it, I also have fruit and live meal worms for him to be treated with.. I have done some research but still have questions.. 1. How to I give the meal worms? Alive? Dead? Do I put em right in his food bowl with his cat food? 2. Can they climb well? I want to build him a much larger enclosure like I did for my tortoise, but of course instead of wooden siding will use wiring like a rabbit cage but can I just build four tall walls or does it need to be closed top, will he escape if its not closed in at the top? I know he needs some warmth, temps in the 70s, so my plan is to build him an enclosure large like a tort table, inside he will have his house hide, tunnel, wheel, and of course food and water, I will continue to use the aspen but wanted to know, can I put in some hay also? For heating I am planning do same as with my tortoise and use a light just not as much.. Hows that sound? Can anyone answer my questions? Sorry if I have rambled and asked a ton juat want to get this guy set up right, will post pics asap

---

One more question, I have the hedggy in my turtle room, have never had a smell before and although I clean his home daily this hedgehog still smells, I wanna litter box train him, but even with that will he still have a scent? My sister says he takes baths in baby soap but still his home smells even with new bedding

 

[Tony the tank]

I've always seen them kept in a covered enclosure.. Be it a wire cage, aquarium or habitrail... My buddy keeps his on hay.... As for meal worms alive or dead...it depends on the animal..

 

[Kvoigt]

WOO i have a hedgehog a albino female lol ok let me go through and really read your post in the am and i will give you more info tomarrow its almost 2 am right now got to get up in 4 hours lol!!

 

[Katherine]

No hedgehogs and no idea buuut if you aren't sure about the meal worms always feed dead. I would def feed dead until you get in touch with a fellow owner or your veterinarian; meal worms are resilient invertebrates and I have seen a meal worm eat its way out of a baby birds stomach before (more than once sadly!!) if I were unsure I would definitely pre-kill until speaking speaking with an experienced keeper and doing substantial research. Good luck with your new pet and congratulations on being an awesome sister!

 

[nikki0601]

Thanks for the comments so far, thats what I will do with the meal worms, just feed em freshly dead, hedggy doesnt eat during the day, he comes out at night so I always freshen everything at the same time I put the turtles to bed.. Hoping someone will come along soon and answer few more questions

 

[jaizei]

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-anyone-got-hedgehogs#axzz1ge6CLrnx

 

[wellington]

I had a hedgehog. Feed the worms live as a treat not all the time, the hedge will love it. The temps should be warmer than 70. 70-75 for nite time, is okay, the rest of the time 80-85, with a warmer spot of 90 that he can get under when he wants. Like a tort, needs varying temps. they are from the savannas of Africa, I used a Che and a light, left the che on all the time the lite and Che during the day. The lite should be a tube uvb floresenct. They are nocturnal, but with effort that can be changed. There is hedgehog food that should be fed, not cat food. I can't remember the name of the bedding, but I believe it is recycled paper, also used for hamsters etc. Yes they néed a top on the cage and water bottle to drink from and a wheel. They poop a lot when on the wheel. Will need cage cleaned often. They love to hide in dark areas. Mine loved crawling into a stocking hat. Watch their weight, you do not want them getting over weight, bad for them, liver probs, etc. As with all info on the Internet, some is correct, a lot is not. Same as you may have ran into with your torts, when trying to find the proper way to care for them. I do not have advance knowledge on hedgehogs, I can only tell you what I have learned from the research I did and the people i talked to before I got mine.
Hope this helps good luck and I wish I had a sister that would dump her pets I me, I have to get my own.

 

[Kvoigt]

My sister bless her heart, she means well but she is a poor pet keeper.. not long ago posted bout some red ear sliders I adopted from her, nevet expected her to leave me with a hedgehog, I never even seen one before.. to make a long story short, I have him, his name is Hedggy, he is an african pigmy, right under a year old, she left him here with a large bag of aspen bedding, cat food, a medium sized storage bin with air holes cut out, he has a hide a wheel and I just recently made him a tunnel hide, he really likes it, I also have fruit and live meal worms for him to be treated with.. I have done some research but still have questions.. 1. How to I give the meal worms? Alive? Dead? Do I put em right in his food bowl with his cat food? 2. Can they climb well? I want to build him a much larger enclosure like I did for my tortoise, but of course instead of wooden siding will use wiring like a rabbit cage but can I just build four tall walls or does it need to be closed top, will he escape if its not closed in at the top? I know he needs some warmth, temps in the 70s, so my plan is to build him an enclosure large like a tort table, inside he will have his house hide, tunnel, wheel, and of course food and water, I will continue to use the aspen but wanted to know, can I put in some hay also? For heating I am planning do same as with my tortoise and use a light just not as much.. Hows that sound? Can anyone answer my questions? Sorry if I have rambled and asked a ton juat want to get this guy set up right, will post pics asap

---

One more question, I have the hedggy in my turtle room, have never had a smell before and although I clean his home daily this hedgehog still smells, I wanna litter box train him, but even with that will he still have a scent? My sister says he takes baths in baby soap but still his home smells even with new bedding

---

ok so first.. they are not good climbers.and the mealies you can feed dead or alive (alive can bite them tho.. dead is safer IMHO).. i buy the dried dead ones they are cheaper and last longer and u can put em right in with the food. cat food.. the best is like blue buffalo or a combination of good brands for variety with the least amount of fake fillers like grains a byproducts ect... what kind of wheel are you using? if its the wire one be very carefull they can get there toes and legs caught/broke and that is bad..... i have the sauser wheel its easy to clean and safe! if you wanted to use a wooded box like your torts that would work just fine. as for the aspen bedding... not a huge fan.. i use fleece blankets on half and like a super absorbat paperish kind of substrate(will get name later) by the wheel and food. i use a heating pad under the setup to give her a warm spot in one corner. i would suggest using the oatmeal dog shampoo. they get dry skin really easy(wood chips do this to and cause respitory issues) if he ever gets or has like little fingery things on his ears.. its a dry skin build up and some flax oil massages will clear it up asap. and yes they stink..like a ferret lol no matter how clean i keep her/cage she always smells what did i miss?! lol anyway anything i didnt get just let me know oh and not all hedgy litter train you can try but mine.. just refuses so but shes older and just may be in a set habbit


also wanted to add they eat night crawlers and crickets to but dont get em outside if they might of been sprayed mine is in an open box simular to my torts . she is getting old so i give her mealies everynight b/c shes so tiny n frail i just wana spoile her the main reason for mealies as treats is weight it makes em fat

 

[nikki0601]

Thank u, that was excellent info, helps alot.. Yes he is a nasty lil bugger, his cage needs complete cleanings daily and spot cleaning more often.. I have a worn shirt of mine in hu
his hide so he will get used to my scent, he has arranged it in a way that he is entirely covered and buried in it for most the day, comes out at night and makes a terrible mess lol.. I am looking around for a large ferret type cage for him, at the moment what he has to live in is much to small for my liking, not room for a litter box unless I took his wheel or tunnel out and I cant do that so gotta get a new home asap, I may just build one, that was my original plan

 

[wellington]

Kvoigt. Not trying to tell you what to do, or that you are doing anything wrong, or that I know more than you about hedgehogs. I just wanted to give you a FYI and you do as you will with it.. Cat food is not good for hedgehogs. There is hedgehog food available that is made just for them.

 

[Kvoigt]

Kvoigt. Not trying to tell you what to do, or that you are doing anything wrong, or that I know more than you about hedgehogs. I just wanted to give you a FYI and you do as you will with it.. Cat food is not good for hedgehogs. There is hedgehog food available that is made just for them.:






thanks but i do have it mixed in with the cat food and she refuses to eat it. so i do give it to her she just will not touch it at all lol , i guess bein shes only has about another year or 2 if im lucky im going to just let her eat as she pleases its my understanding that if you buy the high grade cat food its way better than purina or the other grocery store stuff i have to get it at the vet. thanks for the tip i guess i should have mentioned that lol but yea if he will eat the hedgy food then by all means do it but Guinea she leaves all the hedgy food in the bowl