I find rubbing stripes of fleece on your body and placing them in their hide where they sleep and feel the most comfortable helps them get used to your scent as well.
ive watched alot of theses videos and i still dont understand why people insist on holding and moving their hedgies around when they clearly do NOT want to be held and are so uncomfortable they hiss and roll in a ball.. i got my hedgie a couple weeks ago and hes 2 months now. He was such a grump when i first got him he never moved out of his ball but with patience, and only letting him get used to my scent first with used tshirts in his cage and using gloves to pick him up and let him explore my lap and my scent, now he only gets a little cranky when woken up! And then he puts his quills all the way down and lets me pick him up no problem. i dont see why people think forcing an animal to be uncomfortable will make them more comfortable.... be patient peopllleeeee
this! i hate that in every video i see.... sure they wanna show this and that, but ffs don't hold up the poor guy for ages when he/she is obviously angry af.
Yes! Also they're so loud in these videos, hedgies have sensitive ears! (apparently they can hear worms in the ground) The slow way you're describing is called 'earning their trust', these videos are all basically conditioning them, not letting them trust you. The only time you should pick up an animal that doesn't want to be handled is for medical/safety reasons.
the hissing and jumping scares me lol. i have a new hedgie. and she's defensive but she doesnt stay in her ball long...i havent really held her in my bare hands yet because she's always trying to crawl away and hide.
There nocturnal so threw out the day you have to let them sleep or they can get sick and threw out the night you can feed them at around 6:00 p.m and then you can take them out in about an hour an a half after there feeding or right after you have to let them rest and sleep or it probably will cause grumpy-ness and make them like pissed off so you have to let them rest threw out the whole day and not bother them ( most better for them in a dark room but not completely blacked out but dark enough where you can still see normaly) and then when it’s sun down you can take them out and play
I completely agree with you but I want to add one thing to your comment. It is fine to get a hedgehog out in the middle of the day if the goal is to simply put him in between two shirts, in a hoodie pocket, or let him curl up in your blankets with you for an extended period of time. If woken up in the day they will become curious and excited for a little bit but they quickly took her out, and if you can get them to sleep with you that is a big step forward to gaining trust with the hedgehog. But the original comment is right if you're constantly getting them up in the day they will start to get grumpy kind of like if someone keeps waking you up in the middle of the night. That said they're not actually nocturnal. They're pescular. It means they like to be up for a couple hours just before Dawn and after Dawn sleep through the day wake up a little bit before the sun sets and then go back to sleep about halfway through the night. Animals that are pescular are actually more common than animals that are nocturnal.
Hi there, Do you spend time with your hedgie every day? I would recomment to start, put one of your shirts in his cage so he can burrow in it and associate your smell with happiness and calmness. I would also say to spend time with him every day, even if your just watching a movie or something take him out and let him wander around (make sure there is nothing around that he can burrow under and hurt himself*****) and pick him up often until he starts to get used to being handled.
If it's really young it could be quilling which is similar to babies teething and they have a lot of discomfort during this process. Look up quilling for more info. Hope that helps some.
some hedgehogs are just more defensive than others, different personalities, but honestly hedgehogs aren't meant to be pets, it's not natural, the only time hedgehogs interact with each other is when they breed, they are very territorial and solitary animals, they like to be left alone.
I recommend handling it minimally and using something like a bonding pouch and sitting to watch tv or relax. Eventually it’ll trust you on its own time. Also give it a mealworm with each interaction but as it trusts and bonds more reduce it so it isn’t only associating you with treats and possibly losing interest in its “kibble”.
We got a hedgehog for our daughter in law and it was a very angry female hedgehog. Turns out she was pregnant and gave birth to 6 babies, of which she ate 4 of them and left only 2, one male and one female. She kept the female baby and gave the male baby and Momma back to the owner and kept the baby female, which she had until it's death just recently.
I've done all of this for over a year and she has just gotten more aggressive. Is there anything I'm doing wrong? I let her out, I handle her over an hour a day. I take her in her snuggle sack for hours a day while she sleeps. I give her treats.
We just got a hedgehog from a breeder and she is 2 Years old. She was very sweet and easily handled at the breeders home, but now that we have her at our house she hisses at us. Will she bite if I try to pick her up anyway?
What do I do when mine bites and attacks, but it doesn’t quill up? She also doesn’t like to be pet (We adopted her a few days ago, we think the previous owners handled her poorly)
My newbie is permanently spiked up (so difficult to handle and it hurts so much) he barely comes out of his ball. I offer treats and bits when he comes out for bonding time but he just stays in a ball on the floor!
My kid has now been bitten by our new hedgehog three times. The last time it hung on and didn't want to let go. What do we do to make it stop? We really want to give this creature areal good on getting it to be tame and gentle with us. It is always in a ball and we give it baths and attention every day, bribing it with treats. It is a 2-year-old male.
Tell your kid to LEAVE HIM ALONE obviously the hedgehog is uncomfortable with your son if he's being bitten. Next time tell your son to be patient n associated his son with calmness by ripping up a soft shirt w his scent in hedgies cage before trying to handle him
My guy doesn’t roll into a ball but he hisses almost like he’s got a lot of hiccups and then poops when I try to handle him. It’s actually just got worse today. Only had him for a week but can anyone help 😭🦔 I love the little guy and don’t want him to be scared
I was luckythistime, Miss Willow is amazingly sweet. My question is on diet. Every book I've read states something diffsfefnt. So, is it safe to give my baby a teaspoon of high quality canned day food even night? Do the like peanut butter? TIA-RENEE
My hoggle was fine and now hes sooo grumpy n aggressive..scares crap out of me coz he grunts n hisses n jumps at me!! Plus most of the hedgies ive seen on here are just little n fit in palm of one hand..mine is like 3 times that size!! 😃xxx
Oh a wild animal is angry when kept indoors and handled by a human all the time? Well what a surprise they are wild animals and don't need human affection, interaction or company!
Good information. Have had a hog(Loony), for a couple weeks. The cage is his domain & safety. Doesn't like to be out for long, and gets aggressive. If I try & pick'em up. However, if I put my hands flat-on-the-floor, he'll climb right on. I wonder if it's a natural predator defense. The hedgehogs feel your hands closing, and they feel trapped, which is terrifying. Would it help if I got a buddy, to keep'em company?
I have two questions. I see a lot of people waking up they’re hedgehog. Is there a reason that it’s good to wake them up? I’m just curious why I see this so frequently. Also, what is the average life span of a hedgehog? This was a helpful video. I’ve been considering getting a hedgehog. They are the cutest.
Hi if there’s anyone with hedgy experience I would love some help. I’ve had my hedgehog for over a year now and he hisses and clicks if you get anywhere near him if you try to pick him up he bites…. Hard. I was trying really hard for the first 8 months I had him but all he did was bite and showed no sign of improving I’ve tried everything. If anyone would know anything your help would be amazing
umm. i've had my hedgehog for 9 months and he's been making this loud crying scream out of no where...like..he had a nightmare. and i would go over to see if he is okay and he's fine..im just wondering if this is normal..this had only happened twice. he's a year old now. is this common?
What if my hedgehog doesn’t go in a ball? Like I’ll slowly flip her on her back but she always immediately straightens out and tries to flip on her right side up
You didn’t mention if they are quilling,so touching them can cause the distress and if you’re hoggy is been good with you and switched give them a check over to see if there is any issues that may cause them to become angry.love your vids keep sharing ❤️
Hi there! What should I do if my angry hedgie is a biter? 😔 a friend tried to pick up my hedgehog when I wasn’t around, and he bit her, and ever since then he bites all the time...
Hi! Thanks for the video! I got a female baby hedgie yesterday from a breeder. She let me handle her and she was very sweet but once I got home with her she is mortified and absolutely will not come out of her hide house or ball. She hasn't eaten much food since she got here nor has she pooped since I got her. I'm not sure if that's normal. I tried putting her in my palms like you demonstrated in the video but even then she stayed in her tight ball and hissed the whole time. I have a shirt in her cage and I've been trying to give her treats such as veggies but she is absolutely not having it. What should I do? Please help
2:02 How many people paused the video and “Put” their hedgehog down. Then came back to finish the video then realized there’s a miscommunication and you may have acted too soon and there’s no going back.
