Hedgehogs as pets?

mine is a hellspwn it bites and spikes every chance it gets! =(

OMG they are so cute it almost makes my head spin!!!!! When I worked at the zoo with small mammals we took care of hedgies from Madagascar. He said that those make the best pets as they are a lot more mellow and responsive to interaction. Unfortuantely...they are not legal to keep here in AZ and I don't think the ones from Madagascar are legal period without some special type of license.

I can attest though that the ones at the zoo I took care of were super sweet and hardly balled up. I just cant take those cute little faces. I would probably have to stay home all the time just to kiss it on the nose...lol:P

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Originally Posted by Alexandra V

Long story short I die a little because of the sheer cuteness of hedgehogs, and was wondering... how are they with being handled? Any advice from hedgehog owners would be greatly appreciated.

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Hi I am 15 year old Cadena and i had a hedgehog for 5 years and well they love to be played with only if it gets its sleep. Don't have it to cold in the room or it will go in to hibernation and you don't want that. If you take him/her out of the cage keep an eye on them because they will run in to a corner and go to sleep. If you get bit it hurts but not that bad. Mine died in the summer so if your really emotional then its going to hurt you. He use to always come and lay beside me and never run off. Hope What i am telling you is help ful.

I have 2.

Mine happen to be nice. Sure, you get poked now and then, but it's not bad.
You just have to pick them up right, no need for gloves.

I have a male and a female housed together and the female just had 4 babies.

Must post pics of babies!

I had one that just passed away last fall. He was pretty friendly. Hardly ever made his hissing noise and didn't really ever spike us. He was pretty stupid so you had to be careful not to put him somewhere elevated (He'd walk off of a table for instance). Good little guy though. Miss him.

You may want to familiarize yourself with the Hedgehog term "Poopie Boots" "Self Anointing".

The only ones I have ever had contact with were grunting, balled up and jumping to poke me every time I tried to touch it. I was near tears because of the absolute rejection from the cuteness. :tears:

I have had more than one hedgehog, got my first one in junior high... that has been about 15 years ago..... I do recommend getting one as a baby. All of them I have had learned me by sent... Anyone could try to pick them up and they needed gloves, I could put my hand down next to them and as soon as they smelled me they would climb right up and in my hand. They make great pets, and are very hardy animals, and not to bad smell wise.

I would keep them in something not made of wire, they are climbers and not overly graceful ones their little stubby legs dont work so well for climbing. My first hedgehog actually broke his leg falling from the top of a wire cage and was ultimately what killed him. The vet couldnt do any thing with his leg and their legs are so short he could only walk in circles. I had him put to sleep because his leg was not healing and although I was moving him to his food bowl and to his watter bottle I could tell he was suffering.

Another thing I will advise on is not falling asleep with your hedgehog on a water bed.... that was a mess and my parents were less than happy...... I would gladly take a new hedgehog into my home and if you do your homework and think it is right for you I dont think you will regret it

They are awesome... like has been said before, the pricks don't hurt and their teeth aren't sharp so they really cant do anything painful and they are funny to watch play.