Anyone own a hedgehog?

[hrh_disney_queen]

Tell me about them! They are so cute, can you hold them without getting pricked? Do they bite? Life expectency? Affectionate? I would love to get one for my boys, but I am afraid they might be too rough with it. They sure are cute.

Have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK0l2tqFDvM

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

Tell me about them! They are so cute, can you hold them without getting pricked? Do they bite? Life expectency? Affectionate? I would love to get one for my boys, but I am afraid they might be too rough with it. They sure are cute.

Have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK0l2tqFDvM

Hi friend

What a cute critter

 

[pperfectmom]

It's official-HRH has lost her mind. Just kidding. I'm not sure you can even buy one anywhere. They are considered "wild" aren't they?

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

They can be gentle but many sold in pet shops are not raised properly and will bite. and when they bite, they BITE.

I'd check hedgehog sites online and locate a breeder who knows what they are doing so you know it will not be afraid of people.

They don't do much. But yes, they are very cute/cool pets.

 

[Geoff_M]

We had neighbors that had about 5 African hedgehogs before they had kids. You can hold them... carefully. They kept them in plastic kiddie pools (dry) when they didn't have them out and had exercise wheels and some towels for bedding (they liked to hide under them). They liked to burrow into the corners of sofas to feel "safe" when out and about.

I'm not sure about life expectancy, but one odd thing about them (the African one's anyway) is that they normally die from mouth or throat cancer.

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

It's official-HRH has lost her mind.:lmao: Just kidding. I'm not sure you can even buy one anywhere. They are considered "wild" aren't they?

That was my first thought.( my Laughing smiley did not show up)

We had neighbors that had about 5 African hedgehogs before they had kids. You can hold them... carefully. They kept them in plastic kiddie pools (dry) when they didn't have them out and had exercise wheels and some towels for bedding (they liked to hide under them). They liked to burrow into the corners of sofas to feel "safe" when out and about.

I'm not sure about life expectancy, but one odd thing about them (the African one's anyway) is that they normally die from mouth or throat cancer.

How sad

 

[gladstoneganderfan]

Hi, I used to work for a vet many years ago. We had 2 hedgehogs as clients. They were adorable, but very hard to care for. They were always sick. They seemed to be creatures that weren't meant to be kept in a cage. Neither one thrived in time that I knew them & neither lived past a year. Just wanted to throw that out there. Just on looks alone, I wanted one as a pet, but after caring for our clients, I changed my mind.

(No offense to hedgehog owners, maybe our clients didn't have the right experience to raise them)

 

[ZephyrHawk]

My high school Biology teacher "inherited" one (meaning, some student didn't want to care for their pet anymore...she inherited a lot of pets that year). Henry was not the most sociable of animals. He had this strange habit of covering himself with his own saliva, which we figured was some sort of cleaning mechanism. That is, until the day we found him doing it while...ummm...self-stimulating.

I can't think of hedgehogs without thinking of that.

 

[TheZue]

We had one a few years ago and I wasn't a huge fan. He didn't live over a year, I think he had cancer since he developed a massed lump in his tummy. He wasn't friendly at all, the friendly factor was on par with the turtles I've owned and way way below the hamsters I've had....and the worst part was the poop...it smelled like fruit. The fruity poop gave me an aversion to berries for about a year. Bleh.

 

[christiane]

I would love to talk you out of purchasing a hedgehog!

They are nocturnal, which means when your children are up and want to play, the hedgehog wants to sleep.

They are not particularly social & curl into a ball when handled. They are very prickly & they do bite.

In general they have fragile health in captivity and carry salmonella. And you need to feed them live insects daily!

There are much better small-mammal pets if your children have their hearts set on one. Chinchillas, guinea pigs and rabbits are a few.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Hi friend

What a cute critter

It's official-HRH has lost her mind. Just kidding. I'm not sure you can even buy one anywhere. They are considered "wild" aren't they?

Hi y'all!! No, not crazy regarding pets..any other areas are up for debate... (actually I was going to pack one in a box and mail it to Shay instead of a puppy..)

I would love to talk you out of purchasing a hedgehog!

They are nocturnal, which means when your children are up and want to play, the hedgehog wants to sleep.

They are not particularly social & curl into a ball when handled. They are very prickly & they do bite.

In general they have fragile health in captivity and carry salmonella. And you need to feed them live insects daily!

There are much better small-mammal pets if your children have their hearts set on one. Chinchillas, guinea pigs and rabbits are a few.

You don't have to talk me out of it. I knew some of the drawbacks, such as feeding it live insects. and that they are nocturnal. I knew they had to be handled carefully, which I am sure my boys would not be able to do 100% of the time..but I didn'' know that they are sickly and have such a short life span. I wouldn't get a hamster for them for many of these reasons!

When my DH and I were childless, we had three ferrets. They were such great little creatures, but they only lived to be about 6 years..way to short a life span for me.