Quite recently, we got a ‘real’ pet, and it seems I about shocked about half the world over in allowing this. Let’s just say, I’ve never been into the whole domestic-type pets thing. More than anyone, my sister-in-law was in sheer disbelief that we got a pet, and couldn’t wait to find out what we got. I loved taunting her. We sent her (and my brother, niece and nephew) “I am….” riddles and clues for 2 days, before my brother finally guessed what she (our pet), was.
Would you like to meet her?
Can you tell, looking at this photo, what she is??
She’s a hedgehog. And she’s a doll. If I do say so myself.
She’s quite active sometimes. She has awake and sleep time intermittently, both through the day and night. But we can put her to sleep anytime, in our hand, in a heartbeat. Especially ME. {A} keeps asking how on earth I can do that so quickly. I looked up at her and told her, “Because I’m a mama….through and through. I could put YOU to sleep right now, if I wanted to.” She looked down at me, and giggled.
{A} has wanted a hedgehog for a long time. She had researched hedgehogs thoroughly, and then some. An then again, and again. She studied them, looked at photos, saved sites and info, and asked me if she could get one at least once a day. I was blowing her off, ever chance I got. Which as I said…was at least once a day. She sent me e-mail reminders and links, and asked me to promise to read them. I finally did.
As I read, I was waiting to come across ANYTHING that was a deal breaker. Give me a reason to say ‘no’. Tell me they stink. Tell me they are noisy. Tell me they are dirty. Tell me they bite. But nope……no smell, they are quiet, clean, and very sociable. As a matter of fact, the more I read, the more I thought a hedgehog just may BE the perfect pet.
The photos I was seeing of the hedgehogs, were pretty cute too. Well, most of them. I also remembered how I just HAD to buy the hedgehog Stampin’ Up set from my sister, when she was selling them years ago, because I thought they were so cute. I’ve used them many times too.
So, I asked {A} some questions, and she had a good answer for every one. I told her we could look into where to get one, but she promptly informed me she already had all of the info. She found a breeder right in the Boston area, and she had her name and e-mail. (When our girl puts her mind to something, she prepares herself to win, like nobody’s business. ‘Research‘ is the girl’s middle name.) (O.k., that’s not actually true….her middle name is Grace. But you know what I mean.)
Honestly…I didn’t have a leg to stand on, as a reason for saying no. Well, except that I am the parent, and I can say no without even giving a reason, if I want to. But since she was being so grown-up, I figured I should too.
So I got in touch with the breeder, and asked some questions. We gave her our preference….a female, salt & pepper. It took several e-mails back and forth, an application process and a deposit, and a waiting period, while these baby hedgehogs were weaned and socialized. The excitement was building, even for me!! And then…. finally, we got notice we could go get her. (Well, we would pick her out when we went. But she was already real in our minds.)
The breeder was very nice, and interesting! She had lots of animals, and was great with giving the kids all kinds of info and letting them see all of her animals. I had wished I brought my camera!! (The breeder took the one below and was nice enough to send it to us.) I love these surprise-field-trip-home-schooling experiences! We met her ‘indoor chicken’, which is a ‘serama chicken’…..the smallest chickens in the world. (Who knew? Not us.)
Her name is SOLO. The kids loved her.
Once we got ‘Pixel’ home, we gave her a day or 2 to get used to her new place, and then we all started spending time with her. Even me!
She’s very easy to hold, and in fact, loves it.
She’s SO cute when she is curled up.
Especially when she really pulls her face in, and hides. She doesn’t do this very often, because she is always so content to just look around, enjoy her petting, and fall asleep.
She’s so easy to take care of. {A} is her main care-taker, and she ({A}) loves her (a hedgehog) even more than she knew she would. Did you know you can potty train hedgehogs? (That was a plus in my considerations too!) It’s true. Pixel is just a baby, but we’re working on it. Mostly, she eats hard cat food. We do have freeze dried meal worms and crickets too….as treats. She is an ‘insectivore’.
Hedgehogs are related to the moles – not rodents! Interestingly…..the porcupine, which a hedgehog is often compared to, IS a rodent. Hedgehogs and porcupines are not even cousins. Hedgehogs quills are somewhat soft, but yes, sharp on the ends. (No barbs, because they are not like porcupines….remember?) If she’s not happy, they do come up a little. But that is rare, because she is very happy and content with us. Mostly, she does not like being woken up, needlessly. (Neither do I. I tend to be prickly then too.). She has a very soft underside though. I love petting her quills. She’s so misunderstood on appearance. Kind of like me, again. We can relate.
I know sometimes, she looks a little, like a rodent. But don’t say that to me, because you’ll hurt my feelings. Because the truth is, she’s got a little piece of my heart. Many in my family, are still trying to wrap their brain around this because really, it’s not very expected of me. But, I too have become a bit smitten, with Pixel. This past weekend was our celebration for the kids First Holy Communion, and everyone discovered she was cuter than they expected.
Almost every night, I hold Pixel for a little while. She loves me to pet her to sleep. She loves to cuddle on me. I do believe, she loves ME. : ) (No surprise there. lol). She actually is happily held and cuddled by all 6 of us in the family. Even {JM, O & S} are great with her, and she with them. But I can put her to sleep the fastest. Oh….I guess I already mentioned that.
She LOVES to be in her TP tube. She’ll curl right up in a ball and have a snooze. Oh….that little bit of green you see is a bit of paint the breeder dabbed on her, to differentiate her from the others in the litter. She’ll lose these quills and get adult ones as she grows….which she is already doing. She won’t get too much bigger though.
Look at that little face in there. <sigh>
I think her ‘hair’ rocks.
She’s a handful, and yet, she’s not. KWIM?
If you’d like to learn more about hedgehogs, here is a great link. Hedgehog Central. You can read for yourself what a perfect pet they are! But first, go ahead and tell us how cute you think she is. ; )
My daughter Meghan (who is 9) really wants a hedgehog. She’s in love with them. Now that you’ve had Pixel for a while what are your thoughts on Hedgehogs as pets? I’m leaning towards no…but she’s really pleading with me.
Sarah, this may not be what you are hoping to hear, but….Pixel is still the perfect pet! Here is a more recent post link on her. I’ll be sure you get it. ; )
http://ourhouseofjoyfulnoise.com/Big_Picture/2010/11/16/pixel-plays-peek-a-boo-the-hedgehog/
I know Kim B…isn’t she? She has grown some. We need to do an update post. She went for a ride with is today on an errand. She was so funny.
OMG…so adorable!!!! I want one!!!
Yes, Jen. And since hedgehogs are exotic animals, a warmer climate, such as yours, would be perfect. ; ) Just sayin’.
Oh my goodness! I never knew you could have a hedgehog for a pet or that they are sooo cute! I’m sure Pixel is one of the cutest, though.
Congratulations on your new addition!
We knew Pixel would be a hit with you all! : )
I’m in love! This would be the perfect pet b/c I’m allergic to cats and my apartment doesn’t allow dogs. Would you be able to tell me the specific breeder you used? You can email if you prefer not to post the information. Thanks!
Maybe this is a step towards the East German Shepard!
That is the cutest pet ever! I have to hide this post from my kids because they will want one in a heartbeat.
Laura,
I can’t believe you of all people got a pet. Wow!!! It looks like love at first sight. Enjoy! Now you’ll know why we enjoy our little Tia Maria so much.
Love you,
Judy
Hi [M]!! We’re so excited you posted on our blog! To answer your question, yes, we have been poked by a quill a little bit a couple of time, but she didn’t do it on purpose. We just picked her up the wrong way or something. It doesn’t hurt that much, and you don’t bleed or anything. She’s really nice to hold and pet.
Pixel is so cute! I can’t believe how tiny she is! Has she ever poked you before with a quill?
MB: Ok, thanks. We’ll be getting some cod oil. Thanks for all of the great info, and sharing so much with us. : )
PAULA: Sor-ryyy.
Butwe’resoexcitedforbecauseyou’llfallrightinloveandbesuretotelluswhatyougetandpleasetakelotsofphotos! : D
Thanks. A. Lot.
My son has bugged me for THREE YEARS about getting one for a pet.
THREE YEARS!!!
And I kept telling him no – that you can’t have them for pets.
Great. Just great.
As if sitting here on May 8 looking at the SNOW all over my property isn’t bad enough, I now have to go and buy a pet hedgehog.
Yes– Cod oil.. and anoint.. that is the word. I forgot the word.. And ours were african pygmy too. So she will double in size. And may out grow the house and definitely the toilet paper tubes. Ours still loved the tubes anyways cuz they would stick their heads in it and walk all over with it. They are the most awesome-est animals ever.
Laura,
This is the cutest little pet ever! Pixel (love the name!) is so adorable! I can see why everyone loves him!!!
I knew you’d love her Teri! Your comment was cracking us up! Yes, I think Big would ‘take a hedgehog out’, even if by accident, and I’m not talking about a date! lol
Louisa – Yes, we’ve seen photos of the wild hedgehogs in England! That must be cool to see them just around outside like that. They are cute! (All brown there, right?)
Carla – They ARE a great classroom pet, you know! ; )
MB!! I didn’t know you used to have some! Thanks for all of the great info! Ours is an African Pygmy. I guess it will get about as big as a guinea pig. The problem was, I didn’t know how big guinea pigs get. lol. We just googled…..about 6-8″ and about a pound? I guess that would be about 2x the size of Pixel. We have seen her annoint herself a few times now. Thanks for the tip on the fish oil! Would we use cod oil? Put it in her food?
Thanks for sharing in our excitement!
I LOVE HER!! And I am SOO glad you got her from a breeder. We had hedgehogs when we were 1st married!! We loved them and grew old and finally died. We didn’t get any more. But I do miss them… better than any pet!!! Your photos made me cry tho.. not bad.. just that I miss my babies.. we had 2 girls.. Prickles and Izzy.
You are correct about the litter training.. That is the best…
When you give her a meal worm– we made ours work for it. We would bury it deep into the shavings and watch her get to work to find it. Cracked us up!!
Another thing i remember doing is giving them fish oil to help with their coats… and her all time favorite (well both of them) Was giving them the water from our tuna can.. not the tuna itself.. just the water. They would drink the little bit, and then get SOOO EXCITED.. they start to clean themselves and foam their bodies over.. its some type of excitement thing. The breeder told us when they get a really yummy treat or excited. It was bonkers.. this foam they made and spread over themselves.
i do remember prickles was on the grumpier side when she was woken up– she would do that HUFFING thing. In a ball and huff/puff at you try to poke you to go away. Izzy hardly ever huffed at us.
However they will get alot bigger than that. Both of ours were salt/pepper. Prickles got about twice your pixels size and Izzy was just a tad smaller. But by the look of your photos.. they may get bigger than you think. But it could be also depends on the mom/dad’s size too. I was told they would stay smaller and Prickles was much larger than we expected.
I LOVE YOUR PHOTOS!!! If I didnt have 3 cats, 2 dogs, rabbit and a fish.. I would get me a hedgehog because they are a DREAM pet!!
CONGRATS on the newest member of the family!! I love her!
I have a student in my homeschool yearbook class who just got a hedgehog a few months ago. Algernon is the sweetest little thing…and OH between the two of you I think I could be talked into this pet! 🙂
Omigosh! Is that not just the sweetest little face and that little pokey nose! It makes me think she smells everything around her. Like, “Mmm, what’s that I smell cookin’? {A} must be baking again.” or “{S} or {JM} better change those socks.” (just teasing! hehe!)
If I weren’t worried Big would think of it as a new toy, I would be tempted to add one to our menagerie. So instead we will call Pixel our far off cousin, which would ensure that we too were not rodents either. 🙂
Awesome!!! In England where I grew up they were everywhere. Their little faces are so sweet. Have fun with your new little pet, I can’t wait to hear some heggie stories!