Hedgehogs~

[Dracen]

Hello all!

I'm curious about pet hedgehogs. I'm thinking of getting one for myself (and possibly for my dad, who loves them). I did a bit of research on the net, but what I found was quite contradictory. One source said they were nocturnal, another diurnal; they're easy to feed or hard to feed; and so on, which is all very confusing. So, what are hedgehogs like as pets? As much detail as possible, please! Thank you all! <3

[Claudia36oh]

I never had a hedgehog as a pet but I crew up with them in Germany, We have quite a few over there, you could see the hole family at dawn going out for their nightly walk

When it became cold and too cold for the little ones, they had to be a certain weight to make it out in the wild, we where asked to take them in, so we had quite a few hedgehogs hibernate in the basement over the winter.

They are friendly little guys and will get used to people very quick...btw in Germany they are called "Igel"

Hope it helps a little

[Melinda]

what would you like to know about them? I've had the pleasure of rescuing/owning them as pets. they are litter trainable, and yes, they sleep at night but like chinchilla's you can turn that around by keeping them awake days. they enjoy wet and dry dog food, you must give them meal worms, they make great loving pets , they "snuffle" around you and will curl up on your lap, they are quite shy pets and will curl into their ball if a stranger comes near or if you raise your voice, they love being out of their cage playing on the floor, my children use to set up race courses for them all over the place. They like cat toys and will happily roll a ball around with a bell in it. you can buy commercial hedgehog food at most pet supply stores. anything else??

[hazelrunpack]

How long do they live, Melinda? How fragile are they? And are they prone to any diseases?

I didn't realize they could be trained to use a litter box!

They're such cute little buggers! Always thought they'd be sweet little companions to have around the house. Course we'd have to wait till at least most of the Pack has passed on, but now is a good time to do some research...

[Melinda]

they are prone to "wobbly" syndrome, its a brain disease that causes them to "wobble" as they walk and if they aren't kept extremely cleaned (cages) they can easily have respitory problems, they don't see very well *L* but man can they "snuffle" sniff.....as for life span, like a guinea pig, 4-6/7 yrs possibly.........oh and they don't like sharing cages, at one point I have 6 different cages when the spca brought me some from a hoarder, they were a "fad" about 10 yrs ago when I had them.

[hazelrunpack]

Clean. Separate cages. I can handle that!

Is the wobbly syndrome treatable? Is it something they catch or something genetic?