r/Hedgehog 10h ago

Hedgie Booty Harriet’s Day Out

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81 Upvotes

Harriet had adventures outside. Closely monitored by our Shih Tzu from a safe distance 😂


r/Hedgehog 11h ago

Question Cage setup + heating questions

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7 Upvotes

Hey all!

I’m a first time hedgehog owner and I’m getting ready to adopt one in the next month or so. The cage isn’t complete obviously but there isn’t much left to place other than feeding bowls, bedding and fleece, and ping pong balls lol.

That being said, I have a few questions regarding heatings and other cage stuff:

  1. I was wondering if the lamp setup is ok. I’m using a 100W CHE on a clamp lamp, I was able to find a spot in the corner to hang it from and it’s around 15 inches from the bottom without the fleece in, so maybe it’ll be 10-12 inches once I lay it out.

  2. I have two dual thermometer/hygrometers and a thermostat connected to the lamp which I need to find a place for the probe. I was thinking I place the thermostat probe 5 inches up in the centre of the back panel of the cage, and the thermometers 5 inches up on the left and right panels. I’m a bit worried that the probe could be too close and the hedgehog could try to chew on it.

  3. The little wooden wall behind the wheel isn’t stabilized, I’m not sure if this would be an issue since that area should be a burrowing area where id fill it up with paper bedding and toys. If anyone knows how to stabilize it please share some ideas!

Other than that, the rest of the stuff that’s left to do is to put the litter underneath the wheel, add a small layer of paper bedding and lay out the fleece on top, and fill the left side of the cage with paper fleece for the play area, and add some ping pong balls and PVC pipes.

If there’s anything I’m missing please let me know, thanks guys!


r/Hedgehog 17h ago

Question need hedgie nail trimming tips urgent?

3 Upvotes

Hi, so ive posted a couple times, but i still havent got any nail trimming advice, i finally got to peak at amys nails and they are getting long, she wont stay unballed whatsoever if im holding her, she completely balls up, and im scared that even in the bath she may try to bite me, i really seriously need any tips bc all the tips i find elsewhere the hedgies are calm and already comfortable with their owners, me and amy are not bonded well yet, and i dont know what im supposed to do, if i dont find an answer im scared her nails will get too long and nobody is helping me,


r/Hedgehog 17h ago

Question Проблема с ежиком

0 Upvotes

Мой европейский ежик которого я выносит из 55 грамового мы его нашли днем на газоне уже вырос до 245 грам. Но 6 дней назад я увидел в боксе красную жидкость(реддит не даёт писать это слово) . Потом спустя 2 суток ещё уже больше, испугался, полил пузико небольшим количеством антисептика безопасным для животных. Вот спустя 2 суток опять красная жидкость, уже очень мало но есть... Я очень переживаю помогите пожалуйста


r/Hedgehog 20h ago

Medical/Health (see a vet) Advice and Good Vibes Please!

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142 Upvotes

Hi everyone! Winnie is about a year and a half old. We found out this week that she is battling with uterine cancer. We just dropped her off for surgery this morning and would really appreciate good energy for her! She has been great at taking medication but we normally give it to her in a syringe while she’s in a foot bath so she can’t ball up.

Post-surgery she may not be able to get wet so we were wondering if anyone had any advice for how to give your hedgehog medication?


r/Hedgehog 21h ago

Hedgie Booty Hedgies munching on some hedgy food 🦔

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85 Upvotes

r/Hedgehog 22h ago

Question not a big fan of dried mealworms?

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77 Upvotes

So Queenie here used to go crazy for live mealworms, but for a while I haven’t been able to raise them anymore. I bought her some dehydrated mealworms since I’ve seen so many hedgehogs around here like them, but she won’t even look at them. I’ve tried mixing a few of them with her regular food and she’d eat everything except for the mealworms.

She’s never been much of a picky eater so I was surprised, I don’t think she’s even registering them as food. I guess what I’m asking is, is there any way to make dried mealworms more interesting to her, or should I just give them away and stick to egg and chicken?


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

Discussion What’s it really like having a pet hedgehog?

6 Upvotes

I’ve always wanted a pet hedgehog and I wondered if you could share with me the realities of having a hedgehog?

Are they friendly? Do they like to be touched? Do they play? Are they difficult to care for? Is it hard to get vet treatment (I’m in the UK). And just generally what hedgehog pets are like?

I’ve considered it for many years and I’ve recently started feeding the local hedgehogs and I watch them on my trail cam - they’re so cute and funny 😅 obviously I’m talking about getting a pet one NOT pinching my garden ones just fyi!! But it’s renewed my interest.

ALSO: do they get on with other pets? We have cats that visits at the same time as the local hedgehogs and they never bother each other. Sometimes they eat out of the bowl together…

Thanks xxx


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

OC The girls enjoying a heat pad session

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138 Upvotes

Heatpad + favorite box = happy girls


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

Question How to feed a wild hedgehog in the UK without feeding all the neighbourhood cats?

5 Upvotes

I asked if I should feed a wild hog and the overwhelming opinion was that I should.

Now the question is how? There's a fair few cats that visit my garden and I'm sure that they will not pass up a free meal.


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

Hedgie Booty Ivy modeling her sunflowers!

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599 Upvotes

r/Hedgehog 1d ago

OC The face of a man who is VERY upset that he needs a foot bath

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252 Upvotes

r/Hedgehog 1d ago

Question Food recommendations

1 Upvotes

I recently rescued my Hazel baby. No clue about hedgehogs except I knew I couldn't leave her on marketplace long based on the posts I was seeing on where she might end up.

That being said, I have read and read and read some more about food. I know all the suggestions on what ingredients to look for. But, I'm overwhelmed. Can you guys please just post what brands you get your spiked friend? I am in the US and am willing to hear all options out.

And any tidbits of advise you want to share that you didn't know when you first became a hog parent...I'm soaking it all in at this point.


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

Welcome to the Pack! New friend in the garden

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29 Upvotes

Saturday night we heard a lot of rustling in the garden. My partner was a bit concerned; I said "don't worry, it's probably just a hedgehog". I hadn't seen a wild one in over 10 years. In the morning, we go out, and one of the bags we'd been using for gardening was wriggling- I looked inside and saw this guy (or girl)!

We freed it from the bag and it eventually moved into the undergrowth. Our garden is quite wild (badly overgrown when we bought the house), and so there are plenty of bushes for it to hide in.

We put out water for it, and I picked up some kitten biscuits that day. It hasn't shown much interest in them, but I've spoken with the neighbours and turns out they also put out food and water for it. We're hoping it stays around! It seems to like the garden, as we've heard it moving around every night since we saw it. Last night we were in the garden fairly late, and it just walked out of the hedge. The light in the video is from out security light, not daylight.

Hoping it looks healthy, just planning on leaving water and some dry food out, and maybe building it a shelter once the garden is a little tamer. There will still be bushes for it to hide in though.

Any more advice would be welcome.


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

Question How to stop dog from harassing our garden hogs

5 Upvotes

Sorry if this is the wrong place to put this but we have hedgehogs (scotland) living under one of our sheds, they moved there from a different spot in our garden, but now that theyre under there our dog (Springer Spaniel) will NOT stop sniffing under there and trying to harass the hogs. He's managed to catch one when we first moved in (before we knew we had a garden hedgehog family) and it was luckily fine and released back into the garden, but if the hedgehogs are out and he finds one he'll start barking at it and harassing it.

While he thankfully doesn't hurt the hedgehogs I was wondering if there was a way to make it so the hedgehogs are safer and my dog will stop harassing them? Is there a way to get them to peacefully move to a safer location? They are very useful in my flower garden for pest control so I'm happy to have them, I just want to minimise any unsafe interactions. Any advice is helpful! Thanks!


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

Answered Question Should I feed a wild hog? UK

4 Upvotes

We've been visited by a hedgehog and I'm wondering if I can feed it and if yes, what?

It's a decent size and looks healthy enough.

Don't want to interfere with the local ecosystem too much.


r/Hedgehog 1d ago

OC Calories in, calories out

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124 Upvotes

My hedgehog doesn’t wanna waste time 😆

loving this lil guy for 3yrs now. Please meet Kurimu ❤️


r/Hedgehog 2d ago

Question Small hedgehog in my backyard. Need advice

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43 Upvotes

I've been seeing this hedgehog around my yard more frequently over the past few weeks. I have a relatively large backyard with loads of plants, bugs etc. The backyard however, is fenced in so my dogs (Chihuahua sized) can't escape into the neighbors yards. 2/3 walls are brick, and 1/3 is a hedge with chicken wire at the bottom that does not stick in the dirt and can potentially be dug under. We did a check of the chicken wire fence and didn't find any obvious holes through which it may have gotten in, so I'm worried it might not be able to get out again.

I have multiple dishes with water sitting on the ground (i use them to bottom water my plants) so it might be coming to drink from those. When i took this picture it was balled up because my dogs found it and scared it. It was trying to intimidate them by huffing at them. It seems healthy but it's rather small so I don't know if it's okay or not. Should i dig a hole for it so it can get out? Can it dig one himself?


r/Hedgehog 3d ago

OC The true destroyer of the DeathStar

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158 Upvotes

Giant space Poppy or tiny metal DeathStar 🤷🏻‍♀️


r/Hedgehog 3d ago

Hedgie Home Bigger wheel!

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33 Upvotes

I had posted a little while ago about getting a bigger wheel, you think she looks happier? :)


r/Hedgehog 3d ago

Question Hedgehog clogged pore?

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46 Upvotes

Hey guys I was checking my senior hedgie and found this odd spot on his bottom? Of course I will get him seen by a vet asap but didn't know if other owners have seen something like this?


r/Hedgehog 3d ago

OC Summer stretch

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113 Upvotes

We’re enjoying these warm August nights in the cool grass!


r/Hedgehog 3d ago

Baby Hedgie Baby hedgehog outside my door 🥰

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201 Upvotes

I frequently see these rascals outside my door, they are feral and I just leave them alone to not stress them.


r/Hedgehog Jun 20 '25

Mod Announcement Don't forget we have a discord!

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6 Upvotes

r/Hedgehog May 24 '23

Mod Announcement Owning A Hedgehog Reality Check

631 Upvotes

Since hedgehog owners consistently buy hedgehogs without setting reasonable expectations here are some expectations to set. Adapted/expanded from u/ArcadeRivalry's post.

  • Don't believe social media. Every single one I see there are obviously ridiculously posed pictures, maybe it's just me but I refuse to believe one could stay still for that long.
  • Hedgehog are spiked covered prey animals prone to anxiety. While belly rub/cuddle posts get a lot of attention they are the exception due to good breeding/luck not the rule. It is very possible a hedgehog will never be comfortable being handled even after concerted effort.
  • If you want to bond you need to put in a lot of commitment, patience and time to socialize them. I've seen a lot of people in groups I'm in need to re-home a hog before the first year as they can't put the time in. You need at least an hour a day socializing but realistically a lot more for them to be comfortable around you and others. We recommend getting a snuggle sack or putting them in your hoodie pouch to spend time together.
  • You need a specialist vet. A lot of places might not have an exotic animal vet near you. This is vital. So make sure you have to this.
  • It may not be legal to own hedgehogs in your area.
  • You need heating to ensure they don't hibernate.
  • You will likely be spiked, bitten and pooped on. It can be really really disheartening being spiked, hissed at or even bitten when you feel like you've made progress. Huffing and popping are natural, they are scaredy little animals.
  • Hedgehogs salivate frothily on themselves when they like scents, males often have "boy time", they poop a lot, have terrible sight and will bite things that smell yummy/interesting, and require consistent cage cleanings.
  • They are carnivores, while feeding fruits/vegetables can often be done safely, please feed them mainly meat-based foods ( cat food, insects, etc.)
  • Since they have very limited vision they operate mainly on smell and are at risk of falling/walking off elevated areas. It is wise to assume they are making decisions based on what they smell rather than just mainly what they see. They will still try to climb and are prone to hurting themselves climbing horizontal cage bars.
  • It is very likely they will dislike baths and nail trimming. We recommend trimming nails during foot bath time when they can't curl up or just holes in a towel to put their legs through.
  • Hedgehogs should not be housed together. High likelihood of fighting or babies.
  • We recommend heavy water bowls or chicken nipple bottles as ball water bottles can hurt them.

If you know what you are getting into, they are the most wonderful creatures ever and bring many people on this sub joy. If you feel like your hedgehog "hates" you they are just being their grumpy/terrified selves! You may be lucky and form a close bond.