[Emily94]

My mom resently bought me a pet hedgehog, I know how to take care of him and everything but what I want to know is how do I tame him, he rolls into a ball every time I pick him up and I can only handle him with gloves and he also will lick you and then start to bite me! How can I get him to unroll from his ball and he doesn't like treats or anything... HELP!

[tickle]

I didn't realize they were selling hedgehogs as pets now, unfortunate choice, they are really quite timid in nature and not good as pets. I don't think it is very like you will be able to do anything with it. Why not ask the store where your mom got it.

[Emily94]

Also my hedgehog has had some problems he has been bleeding from his back area and is missing some quills

[brandy681]

Why would your mom get a pet hedgehog for you as a pet? They are wild animals and should be kept in the wild, you will never make a born wild animal a pet! I strongly believe in wldlife and I think that you should let the fellow go, he will not live long as a pet held in captivity and will die soon.

[Emily94]

You guys don't get it I live in canada were hedgehogs don't rome free, hedgehogs are being sold as pets all over canada, nad lucky for me he is staring to get friendly!

[Emily94]

Also he was bred in captivity and same with his parents!

[shygrneyzs]

Being born in captivity does not automatically make him the wisest choice for a pet. Go back to the store and get as much information as you can on his care. Read up on whatever you can find at the library. Call you humane society or pet shelter and ask if anyone there has advice.

I agree hedgies are the cutest but that does not mean they should be pets.

[tickle]

I live in canada and haven't heard or read where they are the now 'in' pet. I haven't got passed ferrets yet and they went out of popularity a few years ago. Mind you I am familiar with ferrets because my dad kept them when I was small, I think he used them for hunting until they became illegal, even so, he always stressed it is a wild animal and it will always be.

Now, as for animals like hedgehogs. They are wild, not happy in captivity, unhealthy in captivity unless it is a zoo and they know what to feed them, how to care for them and they can live out their lives in a reasonable facsimile of their own environment.

So, do some research, go on your computer and find out what they need; it was good you asked here, but apparently we can't help with nurturing information, but an animal shelter can help remedially.

[Emily94]

I got all info. On care I just need info on taming, he is 2 years old and he is healthy again, ferrets also arnt illegal in manitoba either are hedgehogs!

[brandy681]

You didn't have to give me a bad rating!


I found a website that will give you a lot of informitive information on hedgehogs and taming them as well. Click on the blue hedgehog and it will direct you automatically to the website Hedgehog. It does say that if you handle them you will need to get them used to you and that hedgehogs have a very poor eye site and rely mostly on there good since of smell. Hold them as much as possible, with gloves if you feel more comfortable and get him used to your scent. You will need to hold him several hours a day and get him really used to your scent in order to tame him and this is about all that you can do and if this doesn't work there is nothing wlse you can do.


You have to remember that you are dealing with a wild animal here!


Also what you emailed me about not letting him go because he will not survive in cool weather is NOT TRUE! Hedgehogs are WILD and can survive on their own, plus they go in to hibernation at temperatures below 68% or start to prepare at that time if they haven't already.

The little fellow lived in captivity in the WILD with his parents and you are most likely not going to tame him anyway, he is naturally wild and that is why I say that this is not a good choice for a pet and it would be best to let him go free and find a better choice for a pet. (I don't believe in holding these animals in captivity or breeding them that way either, that is crazy)

I love animals and I want to help you but I think that squirrels, hedgehogs, and other wild animals should be left alone to roam free because they cannot live long held in captivity like that and it is not fair to the animals. I don't know why you say that everywhere in Canada sells pet hedgehogs but that should be against the law if that is true because they are wild animals and not suppose to be made to be pet!

[tickle]

I didn't say ferrets were illegal for pets, I said they were illegal for HUNTING and they still are. If you want information on taming, and I don't think THEY CAN BE PERIOD, then you are going to have to start with the shelter in you neighbourhood, or the best idea is phoning the Metro Toronto Zoo and talk to their experts.

You are obviously not going to get this information here.

[Emily94]

K well hedgehogs don't run free around manitoba, and I've talked to my vet, he siad that my hedgehog is fine and happy, and he is not considered wild as much as a budgie, or a hamster, I have shown him these post and he sais there all lies, and that my hedgehog was bred and same with 10 of his generations, the vet did back up check and my hedgehog is domestic, thee is two kind of hedgehogs, domestic, and wild it's the way they were bred!

[dunno]

I had a pet hedgehog and so did a friend of mine. THey were both very friendly. Mine really loved to have his back scratched. They are more nocturnal though so he's going to sleep a lot during the day. I had a sleeping bag type thing for mine that he LOVED to sleep in. I also had a wheel for him and he would run in it all night long. I would get him out of his cage often and hold him and let him run around on the floor. He was very curious and liked to explore.

Congrats on your new pet! They're a lot of fun! Just keep playing with him and he'll get friendlier. It's just too bad that you didn't get him when he was younger!