Wah.... you found a lost hedgehog lah. It is not native. It is an Egyptian Long Eared Hedgehog, this species was imported by Pet Safari's toby pets 2 years ago and it did not gain as much popularity since the colour is quite dull. Egyptian hedgies also carry more parasites than our pygmy hedgies. These hedgehogs can be found in China and India as well.

This is a rare hedgehog variety in Malaysia. So you are really lucky loh. Take good care of it.

Care is the same with African pygmy hedgies, so make sure you give good quality food and mealworms.

Orijen should not be fed alone. It should be mixed with other brands so that the amount of protein the hedgehog is consuming is not too high and not too low as well.

The dog version of Orijen is actually better for hedgies, just the kibbles needs to be crushed.

http://quill-media.net/guzoo.shtml
This person uses Orijen as well on her hedgehogs.

http://www.hedgehogworld.com/component/opt...13267/catid,17/

There is no harm when it comes to mixing some brands for your hedgehogs. As long it is a good quality kibble, then go for it. For me, I would certainly prefer holistic brands now over other brands..... Besides RC, try out Go Natural, Felidae, Innova, EaglePack, California Natural, Nutro.....

That's why I said before.... get sample packs. There is a wide variety of good kibbles that come in sample packs or trial packs.... So that is good enough. Mixing is an option and a good option, not saying it as a must do lah. If someone has already bought Orijen or any high quality petfood, then it is best to mix it with another brand or 2. As they eat little, it doesn't harm much.

The brands I mentioned earlier are holistic brands that are recommended too.... If we purchase a high quality petfood, it is up to us to mix and match to level out the protein percentage. Anyway, my own mixture has about 6 kibbles of Orijen(average) per serving coz my hedgehogs take a few type of brands. I just feel we should not rely only on 1 brand, mix and match a bit. Eaglepack, Back To Basics, California Natural and NutriSource do come in sample packs, tiny packs from petshops.... well, it is up to the owner to source them out or buy and share a trial pack.

A few people in overseas do use Orijen but in small amounts, so if we do that, it won't cause harm if we are cautious with our hedgie's intake. I'm just giving a suggestion cause muchan86 already bought a pack. It isn't cheap so it would be a waste to throw or even donate (from student's point of view lah heheheh).... so she can make do by doing some slow changes, that's all.

Sigh... petshops.... a pity that our local SPCA can't do anything.

Mizu... such a better mom than her sister Donut. But nice colours lah hehehehe.

Hahaha... I see a mini version of Crinkles there. Wonder same character or not heheheh.

Eh? That light one doesn't looki like Crinkles at all! Got a mask hahahah... Crinkles no mask.... better find out what colour loh.

No one knows what is the meaning of anointing actually. Some say it could be the hedgehog trying to mask their scent.... but it is no way of self cleaning. They are not hamsters lah.

http://hedgehogcentral.com/annoint.shtml

You can always google to find out more.

Why not switch to Breeders Celect?

Since I toilet trained all my hedgehogs, I got no problem anymore bout bedding.

I train using Careline Wood pellet cat litter. Is similar with Woody Pet.

What I do is I use a lining of newspaper and a safe towel for hedgehogs as bedding. Any poop or pee from the old woodshavings I mix into the Careline Wood pellet. You don't need to use the same thing as I do, can use plain woodshavings for the litter box.

This takes a few weeks to be perfected. Now my hedgehogs all pee and poo in their litter box, only sometimes got some accidents happen like a bit of poo or some pee outside, but 90% all inside the litter box lah.

I won't use hamster sand. The reason is that the sand can stick to the hedgehog's genitals just like corn cob.

By toilet training and using no wood shavings as the main bedding, your hedgehogs will have no dry skin and less chances of getting mites too.

The suitable litter tray is sold at Petshops. Normally is the smallest cat litter tray meant for kittens.

Pet Shack has, Pet Family, Pet Lovers Center.... it is cat litter made of recycled newspaper. about RM22 for a pack. 5 liter back I think. I buy large packs so I can't remember the weight of the small one.

Hiding is normal. By nature, they hide to sleep. So if you do not provide a hidebox or a hide towel, they would dig up the newspaper or other stuff to hide under it.

So I would say, just let your hedgehog hide for sleep lah. It is no harm.

The towel I have is actually a very large dish towel I bought from ACE when I 1st got my old Sparky. Was searching for something safe and also easy to clean. I bought 4 pieces hahaha. Each piece is 2ft in length.

It really is superb, doesn't look like normal towels with those loops. It is just a plain thick cloth.

You can always use cheap cotton tshirts, cut them into pieces and use it for hedgehogs. I also do that coz I can't find those nice dish towels from ACE anymore.

Cheap also.... imagine, that big towel RM3.90 only and absorbs pee very well hahaha.

Those blankets, I don't think high quality fleece.... coz the material feels different from the fleece we use for sugar gliders. The one we use for gliders absorbs water well in a way. But I love those tea towels more. I also wanna look for more since I got a few hedgehogs now. These days I alternate with those towels and cut up tshirts.

Another kinda cloth you should look at are baby cloth diapers. I dunno where to get them, maybe you can ask your mom. I do have a few somewhere hahaha. Not as thick as the tea towels but they don't fray as well.

Ohhh.... but the tea towel I'm using is not muslin.... or maybe is the extremely thick type hahaah. But I guess you can use that. How much does it cost?

The blanket from Ikea.... I threw away already coz it attracts fur like crazy! Well, coz I sleep with my dog lah LOL.

Anything with a mouth would bite. My hedgehogs would bite if my hands smell like another animal such as guinea pig or dog or glider.

Anyway, hedgehogs are super solitary. I got 6 hedgehogs, all also in their own 2ft tanks. Takes up space but I don't mind.

Humans are different from animals. We have sex coz we wanna have kids, have a closer bond with our spouses.... or just plain fun. Animals breed for survival. Since they are in captivity and no predators around, there is no need for them to breed. In fact, they live longer if you do not breed.

Only the thread starter can put.

Use a wet cue tip and try to clean it. If the sand is big enough, you can use tweezers to take out. If your Ken moves too much, better bring to a vet to help you.

Breeder Celect won't. This will only happen to sand, normal clay(clumping and non-clumping) can litter, corncobs and very fine wood shavings.

You can feed fruit. Apples, banana... mango.... but be warned, not all hedgies will eat fruits hahahah... mine don't readily take fruit. If I give them fruit puree, they anoint all over LOL.

Any seeds at are not edible are poisonous. Safe seeds are those in strawberries, kiwi, dragon fruit....