Hedgehogs Like Things

Garland and Michael Phelps check out this totally sweet box in their hastily constructed hedgehog corral. They liked the tissue box better, probably because it was darker inside.








I put Sophie in Nacho's bin while I was washing their blankets, and she decided to kick Nacho out of her bag (despite the elaborate paper towel fortifications Nacho had put in place). Nacho made it back in eventually, though.

Calcifer and Motorboat

Calcifer and Motorboat were adopted last week! Here they are before they left. (Motorboat and Lena are in the picture on the top.) I placed them through the Hedgehog Welfare Society, who are pretty much the best people ever.

Hey Hey

So, the babies turned 2 months old today. I gave them their first real bath in the tub as a special surprise, which none of them seemed to mind at all. I've named all of them, by the way. The two girls are Nacho and Calcifer, the three boys are Motorboat, Michael Phelps, and Funyon.

In picture 1 you see Garland, thinking about pooping on the couch. (spoiler - he didn't)


This is Nacho thrashing around in the tub.








Here is Motorboat, doing laps. He loves doing laps.

Michael Phelps the hedgehog swims like a rockstar too, actually.

Photos From Ages Ago

Sorry about the lack of pictures! Here are a couple I got off of my camera from 8/11 (the babies would have been about 3 1/2 weeks old). This was the first time that I saw any of them leave the blankety area of Sophie's bins, and the baby who was in there first spent about half an hour annointing with everything. The food bowl, the water bowl, the wheel, the paper towels, the walls ... pretty much everything but the food. :)

Day 23

They've gotten a lot less wobbly in the past few days. Sophie was pacing around her food area when I came downstairs last night, so I put her wheel in to see if she'd use it. 30 minutes later, she was still wheeling. She eventually got off to have some kibbles so I nabbed it. 2.45 is way too late for me. :)

Day 21

They're three weeks old today, and they're looking much more like hedgehogs. The fur on their faces and bellies is about as thick as adult fur, and their eyes are completely open. Their snouts are still smushed looking and they still lurch when they walk, but I'm really impressed by how far they've come.

The blanket was pulled back a little so I watched them for a while, and it looks like they spend most of their time either drinking milk or asleep with their mouth still open. Cutest thing ever!

I've started feeding Sophie and Garland a mixture of Solid Gold Katz 'n Flocken and Orijen's lite formula. Sophie ate a ton of the new kibbles really fast (carefully avoiding the old stuff) and anointed alllll over with it, but Garland has been picking out the old kibbles and won't touch the new stuff. I also offered him peas last night, but he was not interested.

Day 18 Picture!

Aww! The octopus looks on with love.

Day 18

So I have a couple cute pictures, but I can't find Dad's camera cable or dongle. :(

Their eyes are open! They're very beady. They still lurch a bit when they walk and their faces are still very squashed looking, but their quills are getting bigger and longer every day. They used to feel sort of silky when I stroked them, but they're prickly all the time now. They've also gotten much better at curling into a ball and less willing to come out again when I pick them up. :3

Day 15

It is a baby! In my hands! This one is a boy. It's really remarkable to see how their quills have developed since they were born. The babies still sort of lurch adorably when they walk, and they all have that little "reverse mohawk" bald spot. This one has one ear still close to his head and one ear sticking out, which is charming. :3

Day 13

I held 4 of the babies today! They're extremely light, and they sort of wobble when they walk. It was adorable. 3 of the ones I picked up were girls and one was a boy. Their quills are actually pretty soft - they don't feel prickly at all. Their eyes aren't open, although their eyelids are looking much more defined. I noticed that a couple of them were getting some fur on their bellies and they have charming whiskers.

Sophie has gotten super fat. Maybe Garland is just really skinny, but she felt like a water balloon. I think I'll put the wheel in for a couple hours and supervise tomorrow, but it's still too early to leave it in there all the time.

Day 11

Aww.

Day 9

Here they are! Sophie has been spending more time in her other bin, the one with the food and water. Mostly she pulls the paper towel off the floor and poops in inconvenient places. The babies are looking good, though! You can tell that their eyes are still closed, but it looks like their ears are separating from their heads now. Also it's easier to tell what colors they are. My favorite I think is the one with the skunk stripe, and I bet Liz will want that one because it matches her hair.

Garland And The Cat

Garland has been having a pretty good time at Mom's. For the first couple days I would put the cat in Mom's room when I took Garland out, but I've been supervising their interactions very closely and I think that the cat has realized that Garland is more dangerous to him than he is to Garland. Now he stretches out oh so casually on the floor nearby, but if Garland moves out of sight he thrashes around and runs to another good place to spy from. Garland is more afraid of the noises the blinds make than he is of the cat right now, and the cat has stopped trying to paw at him.

Day 7

We checked on them again, and they're still looking well. We counted 5, two of whom have obviously learned how to curl up. :3 They look even less pink and creepy today, but their eyes are still closed and they still don't have any fur on their bellies or faces.

Babies Again

We peeked at the babies again, and they're looking good! We saw 5 again, and Sophie seemed ok with us looking at her and the babies. Here is a picture!

BABIES UPDATE

I don't actually have much to report, since I haven't looked under the blanket since I got home yesterday. I hear some chirping every half hour or so, though, so that's good. I guess. :) Also, Sophie ate a ton of the kitten food we're giving her and dumped her water, so she's getting some nutrition.

Howl's been eating much better this week and is currently grumping under the bathroom cabinets.

Sophie Had Babies!

Sophie had babies while Mom was taking are of them on Thursday Wednesday. I didn't even know she was pregnant! I didn't know what to do, but they seem to be doing fine even though we've bothered them more than we should have. There are five of them! They are tiny. Check out their goofy legs!

What the Vet Said

So I took them to the vet on Monday. He said that they're in very good health except for the mites. Oh noes! I'm going to take them in for a couple courses of shots starting later this week, and they should clear up pretty fast. Also, I teased the vet out of wearing those big leather gloves they use for biting dogs. Here's a picture of China trying to make friends with them before they went to the vet!

Failure!

The receptionist didn't enter my visit in the computer machine when I called Tuesday, so now we're rescheduled for Monday. They were big hits with the vet staff, though. Garland even uncurled and sniffed people!

New Cage Time!

I don't really want baby hedgehogs (possibly mutant babies, if Sophie and Garland are siblings) so I'm making a second cage for Garland. I know they love to cuddle with each other, but they'll just have to cuddle with Beanie Babies now. Good thing we have like 6 million of them.

Vet visit tomorrow!

Garland Broods

Garland hanging out in the bin cages. Neither of them were very interested in the banana baby food, but it earned Sophie the nickname "Banana Pants." Garland seems to be pretty fond of the toilet paper tube, but he's also very shy. Sophie pops and hisses when you pick her up, but she uncurls right away and starts climbing all over you. Garland is much more suspicious and curls up quickly if you move your hand too quickly.

Sophie scratching herself

This is Sophie, scratching herself. I didn't know they could bend like that! They're in the bin cages I made at Olin. There used to be a fabric liner in the bottom, but Sophie wouldn't stop chewing it so I'm going to use towels. Or something.

OMG Hedgehogs!

I got two hedgehogs last night! Their names were Pins and Needles, but I renamed them Garland Howl (male) and Sophie (female). Sophie's middle name is still under discussion. I got them from a guy in southern Minnesota who bought them from a pet store owned by his girlfriend's cousin. He didn't know whether they were siblings or not. Sophie's a salt and pepper and Garland is a pinto brown or cinnamon. His white patches are on his butt and aren't symmetrical.

They're about 18 months old and seem to be pretty healthy, although I suspect that they either have mites or are allergic to their pine bedding. They've been sharing a cage since they were tiny, but they haven't had any babies because the only things in their cage were their food dish and a wheel. Without anywhere to nest, Sophie was rejecting Garland's advances.

Here's some pictures!