Posted on Apr 30, 2009 | Comments 1
Hedgehogs make the perfect pets if you are one of those people who do not like to deal with smells.
And if properly cared for, a hedgehog can be your companion for a very long time.
Hedgehogs do not require a lot of care giving from their owners. The most important things are the basic fresh food and clean water.
In their natural habitat, hedgehogs are usually insectivores but they sometimes feed on other dead animals and birds’ eggs. You can give your pet hedgehog cat food but you have to be careful that they get all the appropriate nutrition. [Pet Food]
Regular cleaning of the cage is required when you own a hedgehog. Most hedgehogs are neat about their elimination habits and some will regularly use a litter pan. So if you clean your hedgehog’s cage every now and then it will not have any unpleasant smell.
You have to make sure that there is enough room in the cage for the hedgehog to play in. They do not need to be walked but you can put a wheel in their cage for them to exercise.
The advantage of having a pet hedgehog is that they are naturally quiet. They do not bark or squawk; so there are never any complaints from the neighbors about noise made by other animals.
Hedgehogs keep themselves clean by licking their bodies so they seldom need to be bathed. They do however; need baths every now and then when they get their feet dirty from accumulated feces in their cages.
You have to be careful when you handle your hedgehog. They are prickly and they can use their spikes to poke you in the first few days of handling them.
However, you will discover with time that they usually use their spike as a form of defense so when they get used to you they won’t feel threatened therefore there will not be any need for them to be prickly.
Hedgehogs have to be handled everyday because they take a very long time to get used to their owners.
It is best to remember that hedgehogs have teeth so they do bite. Although most of the time they bite as a way of communication not a form of aggression.
So you need to be careful and learn how to handle them so that you can reduce the amounts of bites. You have to remember that hedgehogs are very shy creatures so you need to exercise some patience with them.
Posted in: OTHER PETS