Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Hedgehogs are excellent and charming pets for those people who have enough patience and wish to devote their time to caring for them. All in all, a hedgehog can become a pleasant, affectionate, and playful home pet. As with any other pet, you should first learn about the hedgehogs and how to care for a hedgehog living in your house to understand whether this pet is good for your lifestyle.
Hedgehogs seldom live more than 5 years. Forests, meadows, and plains are the natural habitats for these animals. Hedgehogs get used strongly to the area where they live. When the pet is bought and transported to your home, it experiences stress. Hedgehogs have bad eyesight, but they have excellent senses of smell and hearing.
Adaptation
There are a few simple tricks to facilitate the adaptation process of a hedgehog. First, hold it on your hands more often. It cannot be said that these animals need a permanent company, but this pet needs to get used to the new owner. Feed the animal from your hands to show that you are friendly. At home, remove strong smells produced by fresheners, perfumes, cigarettes, and other sources of odor. In a new place with unfamiliar smells, the animal will feel in constant danger until it becomes accustomed to the surrounding environment. Then, do not place the animal in a noisy room.
Cage
Hedgehogs are very mobile animals. They like to move and run. That’s why the cage should be big enough. It is important to close it reliably, as these pets are real masters of escape. From time to time, open the cage to let it go around.
A litter made of natural materials such as sawdust wood or grass should be in the cage. Hedgehogs like to hide, so they need a hole. A closed little house would be good for them. Another obligatory element is a running wheel in the cage. Otherwise, the hedgehog will suffer from physical inactivity.
You can try to tame the pet to the toilet tray. It should be filled with materials other than litter. Cat fills will be suitable. However, hedgehogs do not always succumb to such training and they often relieve themselves anywhere they want.
Food
Hedgehogs belong to omnivore animals. The opinion that they eat only mushrooms and fruits is a myth. Feed the hedgehog variously. Hedgehogs are mainly insectivorous, but they can also eat other things, such as vegetables, eggs, and meat. Feed the hedgehog early in the evening. Hedgehogs by nature are twilight animals, so they are most active with the onset of twilight.
In pet stores, you can buy special food for hedgehogs. In the case of its absence, dry cat food would be suitable as the taste preferences of these pets are similar in many aspects. In addition, the hedgehog has to be fed with meat, chicken, fish, eggs, and fruits.
Hedgehogs are prone to fatness, so you should provide them with a healthy diet so that the hedgehog does not gain an excess weight. If the hedgehog begins to getting fat, reduce the amount of food given to it and increase the physical load.
Special Care
Wash the hedgehog as needed and regularly check the condition of its claws. Taking into account the baby hedgehog care, be ready for the drop of its needles. This is similar to the loss of milk teeth among children or skin change within snakes. This process begins when a hedgehog is from 6 to 8 weeks old and lasts the entire first year of its life until children’s needles are replaced by adult ones. This is quite a normal phenomenon that should not cause concern unless the hedgehog has other signs of disease or discomfort.
You should watch the ambient temperature. When it drops to 15°C or 60°F, a hedgehog usually passes into hibernation as it is a sign of the winter time for it. This state is often perceived by its masters as death, but in fact, the pet is alive. If the temperature is 22°C (72°F), hedgehogs become weak and there is a risk of developing pneumonia. So, the normal temperature should be higher for this pet.Finally, never place two hedgehog males in one cage. These animals will fight for the territory and they can cripple or even kill each other.
About The Author
Written by Amanda Thompson https://catspurfection.com/
