new hedgie, never sits still - bonding trouble

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whimsybird

New member
Joined
Dec 6, 2016
Messages
1
Location
Toronto, ON
So I adopted a 1.5-yr-old little girl about two weeks ago. She's very healthy, very active, everything seems great - except I'm starting to feel awful about handling her. She hisses/spikes if I move near her cage. She constantly hisses, pops and balls/spikes when I pick her up. She'll uncurl pretty quickly once I set her down on my lap or bed, but then she immediately starts to run away. If I move even the slightest bit, she hisses/pops/spikes again. She never voluntarily comes near me or shows interest in sniffing me, just tries to get as far away as possible.

I've tried covering her with a blanket - she burrows around in it til she finds her way out and is off again. I let her dig around in my quilt but again, she doesn't just look for a spot to settle down, she just keeps on the move. I've tried putting her in a snuggle sack, but that just upsets her and when she uncurls, she just roots around to find the opening so she can run away again.

I really want to bond with her and help her trust me, but it seems impossible when she won't tolerate being around me. I don't find a lot of online resources for taming/bonding with hedgies helpful because they all seem to assume she'll just curl up in a blanket and sleep. She won't sit still or just curl up in a safe warm spot, so it's always a struggle. And I've started feeling bad because she's SO upset by every interaction, I feel like I'm torturing her by handling her.

Any suggestions?
She also doesn't seem to like ANY treats (I've tried chicken, eggs, veggies...).
 
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