Seems like a pointless question to ask here because an abnormal growth would probably mean it's a tumour or something. Hedgehogs are rather prone to cancer.

I wonder why people fail to do research before buying their pets. Tsk tsk.

If you have the funds to bring the hedgie to the vet, do so immediately.

It's not the Persian one. It's the 'Fit' one.



RC36 (Kitten) is recommended for hedgies 6 months & below since it's higher in fat, which is good for growing hedgies.
RC32 (Adult Fit) is more suitable for those 6 months & above due to its' lower fat content.

If you have a fat hedgehog that's still below 6 months (which I do), RC32 would be the better choice.

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Jan 18 2012, 08:21 AM

Redness on her skin...where specifically?

Pictures would help a lot more.


You mean you plan to JOIN the different small plastic boxes? In that case, that will take up a LOT more space than one single, LARGE (six-wheeled) Toyogo box.
You can use the cabinet to store books and whatnot but not suitable for hedgies, honestly.

If you've connected them together with tubes or something, the space should be good enough for a hedgie.

I wonder if the height may be a bit low though so you might want to monitor your hedgie to see if he/she can climb out. I've had my hedgies escape a few times and poo/pee all over the floor.

I thought it's 6 months and above?
I've read that their pelvic bones fuse together after 1 year old, so it would be dangerous to breed them because the mother and babies could die during delivery.

How are your hedgies?

10 months is definitely a safe period. Gosh, that poor hedgie. Only a sick idiot would do such a thing. D:
Did her spikes and ears heal up okay?


You can buy 11" ones at Pet Lovers Centre. About 45 bucks.
No need to buy so many wheels, they can share.
I don't allow my older male and female hedgie to use the wheel because I think they're at optimum weight already and they never gain weight.
Their son, well... that fat boy needs the wheel.

No, that cage is too small for a hedgie.
They need at least 2 feet x 1 feet worth of space.
If you REALLY cannot help it, make sure you have a wheel for them or they'll become bored. (How would you feel if someone put you in an empty elevator for life?)

I'm glad you're doing research first before buying a pet.

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Feb 17 2012, 01:48 PM

What bedding do you use? Wood shavings can carry mites.

You can litter train hedgies but not all hedgies.

Usually, hedgies like to do their business in one corner of the cage. Identify which corner it is. If there's poop elsewhere that's not near the corner, scoop it up and dump it in that corner. (can try putting a litter pan there but can't guarantee the hedgie will still do its business there)

Apparently, it helps if the hedgie sees you scooping it up and putting it in the corner. I've tried it before but never seemed to work with my hedgies.

Try it for a week and see. Of course, you don't leave the poop there all week long. Just leave it in the corner for a whole day, then clean it up at night. If you can't stand the smell, don't bother litter training. xD

They look like...rat poop?

If they're stressed out or their food didn't get digested well enough, it'll turn out light green & watery/gel-like.
If they're healthy & happy, their poop turns out dark green & soft. It'll harden up after a few hours.

I don't really have pictures to show you because I don't make it a habit to take picture of hedgehog poo.

Hedgehogs do not poo on the wheel on purpose. Running loosens their bowel system; therefore, they can't help but poo & pee while running.
It doesn't matter where they poo/pee, as long as they're running, you can expect that they will start pooping & peeing soon.

Of course, they could careless that there's poo and pee on the wheel, so they keep running!

Just so you know, certain hedgies don't like being watched when they run so they don't run when you're around. If you see signs of poo & pee in the morning, you know that they certainly hate being watched while running. Huffster and Pinto don't like running when I watch them. Well, actually- just Huffster. Pinto is just too fat & lazy to run properly. He walks on the wheel... like a boss. Sloooowllyyyy...

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Feb 22 2012, 05:50 PM

I'm pretty sure it's just lazy. They 'buat perangai' sometimes. Like my hedgies went on a hunger strike for 2 days when i changed their food brand. If they don't want to eat, dont worry. They'll eat when they gets hungry enough.You can count the number of kibble you put in, then leave it overnight n see how many disappears.

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Feb 22 2012, 10:10 PM

Welcome to the hedgie thread!
I would not recommend using wood shavings.

#1: They could carry mites, meaning poor itchy hedgies & high vet bills.
#2: They get stuck on boy parts when they pee/get horny.

I don't use any sort of bedding at all. You could use newspaper (there are concerns about the ink & hedgie's tendencies to bite the paper, this ingesting the ink). Or... shredded paper (the ones in the pet shop, but again- the concern is that the dust can cause respiratory problems). Fleece is the best solution. It's quite cheap. It's a bit too lengthy to explain everything so I suggest you Google up using fleece as bedding.

If you want to stick to wood shavings, you can either change the wood shavings every one week or change it everyday, scooping the dirty ones out and replacing them with clean ones.

I can guarantee that poo & pee will be sticking to every nook & cranny of the wheel when you wake up in the morning.
There's no hedgehog that won't poo or pee on the wheel. Like I said, running loosens their bowel system.

If you don't want it to smell bad/clean up the poopified wheel every morning, don't put a wheel in. Instead, spend an hour or so with your hedgie by letting it run around somewhere in the evening.

I would suggest the toilet. Huffster runs around like Sonic when I put him in the toilet. After they poo & pee, just wash them off, down the drain.

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Feb 23 2012, 05:59 PM

Ahahahaha, not 'Dibs', sadly.

I merely named him Pinto.

I call him Fat Boy nowadays though. He's gigantic. Bigger than his mother and father.

I'll get a few of those pictures snapped soon.
He's such a chubby boy now. My mum told me to starve him.

How's your hedgie? Her name escapes me now. Sorry!

He tries to hump his mum & he bites his dad. The biting incident scared the heck out of me. I placed him on the toilet floor with his dad while I washed their cage. Took my attention off them for a second and BAM! His dad started squealing because Pinto attacked him. D:

Eeee, Lil looks supah dupah cute in her pot.

I have pictures of Chubster, Huffster and Pinto on my phone now but I can't transfer it now because I forgot to bring the cable to work. Meh. Perhaps later today.

Pinto's a mix between Huffster & Chubster. He is a bit jumpy, like his dad, so I need to let him sniff my hands before I pick him up. He's a neat eater, leaving no crumbs behind, like his dad as well. Chubster's a very messy eater. Like his mum, he's easy to handle & lets me touch his ears. Huffster doesn't like me touching his ears.

If I leave him on the floor to roam, he tends to just sit there or walk a bit. Huffster will run off like Sonic. Chubster just sits there and sniffs the air.

Pinto, all in all, is just too adorable. I'm sure Lil is too, isn't she? ;D

Here's the Christmas edition of my hedgies (I'll just leave the link so it doesn't stretch the page):
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphoto...188970491_n.jpg < Chubster could care less about Christmas.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphoto..._54357418_n.jpg < Huffster hates Christmas.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphoto...219934682_n.jpg < Pinto loves Christmas.

Here are my 3 babies. Photos taken yesterday.

Huffster. He's still very huffy.

Chubster. She used to be chubby.

Pinto. One of Huffster & Chubster's offspring. He's a fat hedgie.

Here's my hedgie photo collection, documenting their growth.

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Feb 28 2012, 09:25 PM

Thank you.
Actually, it's Pinto in that photo. Huffster turned out to be a snowflake after he changed his quills.
Pinto is the salt & pepper (slightly snowflake-y) pinto hedgehog.

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Feb 29 2012, 08:03 AM

He's a handsome boy. He has this 'look' whenever I take pictures. Sometimes I feel like he's giving me the evil eye.

D'awww. It's probably a phase. Chubster gets that way sometimes too. Lil's a smart one, isn't she? I've never heard of a hedgie that gets off the wheel to do its business. xD

The other two (male & female)- I had to sell. My mum wanted to make hedgehog curry already because they took up too much space & smelled bad (Imagine 5 hedgie's worth of poo & pee). Today, I have 3 and they're already taking up quite some space. The smell is still overwhelming in the morning.

Vaseline works as well.

If you could get bored with your hamster, there's a chance you'll get bored with a hedgehog one day.

Hedgehog cages should be bigger than 2 feet x 1 feet. That's the minimum space that one hedgehog can have.

They eat dry, good quality cat food. I would suggest Royal Canin 32 or Royal Canin Kitten 36 (for hedgies less than 6 months). This would be considerably more costly than hamster food. I paid RM90-ish for a 4kg bag of RC32 a few days ago. A few mealworms or crickets can be given once every week or so as treats.

Hedgehogs do not like travelling long distances. If the travelling takes less than 1.5 hours, it's okay. Just put him/her in a shoe box (with ventilation holes & plenty of tissue paper/cloth inside). If it's more than 2 hours, I'd suggest you find a place for your hedgie to stay & be taken care of while you're away.

For more information, visit this website: http://www.freewebs.com/thehedgieden/hedgehogcare.htm

It's really helpful and will tell you almost everything a good hedgie owner should know.

This post has been edited by TeliLeti: Mar 12 2012, 04:40 PM

Hissing is normal behaviour for a hedgehog that feels unsafe. He doesn't know your smell yet so he will hiss.

Before I got a hedgehog, all my research told me NEVER to buy a hedgehog that clicks at me. However, I find that to be rather untrue because even my nicest hedgie clicks at me when I scare her accidentally.

This is what huffing and clicking sounds like. Not very good sound quality though but you'll recognise it in real life if you hear it.

How to choose a hedgehog? Make sure they're healthy, walks normally and their eyes are clear? Buy them from reputable breeders.

You're supposed to prepare everything BEFORE you bring your hedgehog home.
You're subjecting him to unnecessary stress because you just brought him into a new environment (the paper box in your house) and you're going to take him out of that environment again soon into the new cage. That's just unnecessary stress to the hedgehog.

Please try to do more research on your own.

You can use a large Toyogo box, the one with six wheels. Also, buy an 11 inch wheel from Pet Lovers Center so he can get his exercise at night.