So... I adopted a hedgie on friday. I used to have a hedgehog, but that was 6 or 7 years ago. So, i know a lot of the basics. The situation here is that I am a teacher in Korea. Another teacher posted up about how they had to get rid of their pet because their apartment does not allow pets. No one seemed to want the hedgehog, and I could tell by the teachers responses that he had no idea how to care for it in the first place.
I kind of figured i would end up with a hedgie in bad shape. Now, that wasn't completely the case. She is adorable, warm (so no hibernation even though he kept her very cold), and she has been pooping normal.
She is not very friendly, so i can tell she was not handled very much. He never clipped her nails, so they were curled under and poking her feet
. He also has her on hedgehog food, which we all know is very bad quality. The biggest problem is her skin. It is sooooo dry. I have checked her several times for mites, but I dont see any (my first hog had mites from the breeder, and i was able to see them). Also her ears seem to be a bit dry around the edges.
So, i havent taken any drastic measures of change yet. I am allowing her to get settled in some, and taking her out for about 30 or so minutes in the evenings for some bonding time. I have her warmed up, staying between 72 and 74. She also has allowed me to clip most of her nails with out putting up too much fuss about it.
I think she is in need of a bath with some aveeno and maybe olive oil. So, that is on the list of to-dos for the week. See if i cant sooth that dry skin. I am going to begin to move her onto a higher quality food (slowly) over the next month or so. I will also be changing out her bedding, right now she is in some kind of soft wood chips, but it is so messy! I have decided to make her some nice fleece liners and a burrowing box full of fleece strips.
I think that about covers it? Maybe. Anything I am missing? Here is a pic of her, what would this color variety be called? She is all white except for 1 quill that has a brown right on it. So pretty.
Thanks for reading and the help!
I kind of figured i would end up with a hedgie in bad shape. Now, that wasn't completely the case. She is adorable, warm (so no hibernation even though he kept her very cold), and she has been pooping normal.
She is not very friendly, so i can tell she was not handled very much. He never clipped her nails, so they were curled under and poking her feet
. He also has her on hedgehog food, which we all know is very bad quality. The biggest problem is her skin. It is sooooo dry. I have checked her several times for mites, but I dont see any (my first hog had mites from the breeder, and i was able to see them). Also her ears seem to be a bit dry around the edges.So, i havent taken any drastic measures of change yet. I am allowing her to get settled in some, and taking her out for about 30 or so minutes in the evenings for some bonding time. I have her warmed up, staying between 72 and 74. She also has allowed me to clip most of her nails with out putting up too much fuss about it.
I think she is in need of a bath with some aveeno and maybe olive oil. So, that is on the list of to-dos for the week. See if i cant sooth that dry skin. I am going to begin to move her onto a higher quality food (slowly) over the next month or so. I will also be changing out her bedding, right now she is in some kind of soft wood chips, but it is so messy! I have decided to make her some nice fleece liners and a burrowing box full of fleece strips.
I think that about covers it? Maybe. Anything I am missing? Here is a pic of her, what would this color variety be called? She is all white except for 1 quill that has a brown right on it. So pretty.
Thanks for reading and the help!
