I've been researching hedgehogs for some time now, and they seem like great pets. I'm not sure if they're for me, though.
Glad you're spending the time to research up front
What's their behavior like? I've heard they're not very cuddly, but I'm fine with that.
Personality-wise, there's a fair amount of variation. They generally fall into one of a few camps: snugglers like to be held and will snuggle with you for hours on end; runner/adventurers like to be taken out, but will not sit still with you, they'll use you and the floor around you like a jungle gym; huffers will huff and puff at you when you take them out, they'll huff at you when you do something that bothers them (like breathe) - they may do this because they're just wired to be extremely anxious/scared or they may just not really care for humans and would rather be back in their cage away from you.
Behavior-wise... in general, they're nocturnal. I'll go ahead and assume that you're not nocturnal. So a typical day with a hedgie would look a bit like this: you get up in the morning as hedgie is starting to fall asleep for the day, so you interact a bit, get the cage cleaned up from the night before. During the day, you go off to work/school/attend to your errands while hedgie sleeps. Hedgie might get up a little here or there for a brief snack. But really just wants some quiet time to sleep. In the evening, you interact with hedgie again as hedgie is starting to get up for the night and you're starting to settle down... plenty of playing/snuggling etc... happens then. At night, you sleep while hedgie is running, eating, playing and doing hedgie-type things on his/her own.
There's a breeder about and hour and 45 minutes away from where I live, so would that be too far of a trip for the hedgie?
Yes, that's a fine distance. You'll want a small, hard-sided cat carrier that's at a good temperature for hedgie. Put in some fleece and expect that hedgie may make some poopy messies during the trip.
If I do get one, would Solid Gold cat food be good?
Yes, that's a good food for hedgie. And like Sugargliderlove mentioned, you'll want to add a second kibble to the mix,
I have a sterilite bin that measures 3 ft. by 2 ft. Is that big enough (I will drill air holes in it)?
Wow, that's pretty big for a Sterilite! I have a couple that come close to meeting those measurements at the top, but the bottom is more narrow. Here's what I'd do to figure it out: decide what you want to put in it (food dish, water dish, treat dish, a hiding/snuggle place like an igloo and/or hedgiebag, wheel, litter box). Get the dimensions of those things, cut out the shapes, and lay them down on the floor of the sterilite. As long as they all fit and leave room for hedgie to run around in there, you're good. Of course, if you already have some of those things, just stick them in a take a look.
