Getting my new baby next Friday

shawnwk1 · Mar 10, 2011

Here is a picture of little Ben. He is 5 weeks old tomorrow and as long as he is eating well on his own and doing well I get to pick him up next Friday to bring him home...YAY!!!!! Very excited, yet nervous at the same time. His room is all set up and ready for him. Any general suggestions? Also any suggestions on how to integrate him in with the other animals? I have 3 cats and 2 small dogs. The one I'm most concerned with is my rat terrier and how he is going to react since the breed is made for hunting small animals. I am having surgery the first week of April so I won't be introducing him to the other animals until after I'm all healed up from that and can be on my toes for any signs of problems (probably the end of April or May at the earliest) and also to give him time to get used to his new home without that added stress first, but just looking for any suggestions beforehand so I can be prepared.

Nancy · Mar 10, 2011

Congratulations. He is adorable.

LovinHedgies · Mar 10, 2011

Congrats on your new little guy

I'm just wondering why you want to introduce your other animals to your hedgie? I have three large dogs and two cats and they are not allowed to interact with my hogs. When I cuddle them in front of the TV the other animals are told to stay away.

shawnwk1 · Mar 11, 2011

I think you're thinking that I'm wanting them all to interact and play and cuddle with each other and all that, but that is not at all what I am meaning. I am just meaning introduce them to each other and basically have them tolerate him being in the same room (watching tv for example) so I don't have to worry about them trying to attack him. Of course they will be told to leave him alone especially the dogs who will just be told to go lay down when he is in my lap while I'm watching tv. The dogs are not allowed on the furniture anyway so it should not be a huge issue, but I just don't want to have to worry about them jumping up and trying to grab him unexpectantly and hurt him either accidentally as in just a curious way or otherwise or purposely attacking him. Its just the initial introduction to each other that is the main concern, but will need to be done in order to help subdue a little of the dogs and cats curiousity about him so they will hopefully be more likely to just leave him alone instead of always trying to bother him while he is out with us. I don't want to have to always leave him in his room alone as I feel that is cruel even with going in there several times a day to play with him, I just think that's wrong for him not to be able to come out and watch tv with us.

LovinHedgies · Mar 11, 2011

To introduce them I just held my hedgies in my lap and allowed the dog/cat to sniff them. My hedgies balled up pretty quickly and the dog/cat got stabbed in the nose. After the initial poke in the nose from quills, the dogs/cats haven't been interested in the hedgies. So that hasn't been an issue in my house. However I do keep my hogs in a separate heated room with a closed door so that the dogs and cats can't bother them in their cages.
Hedgies are nocturnal so they usually don't like to be bothered during the day. Mine are pretty cranky if I wake them up before 930pm...lol. So I usually go and get them around 10pm and bring them upstairs to watch TV for around 30-45min, then I clean their cages, do foot baths if necessary. After that my hedgies are done with me and just want to run on their wheels. In the morning when I check their temperatures I say good morning, but again they are just going to sleep so they really don't like to be bothered.
Not sure if that was helpful...

shawnwk1 · Mar 11, 2011

Ben has a room set up just for him where I too can keep the door shut to keep the other animals out so they don't bother him while he is in his cage. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep the 10pm thing in mind, that sounds like a great idea. Thanks again.