the absolutely most beautiful little hedgehog in the world. purdy was purchased from a pet store a couple of years ago by a teenager. two years later, purdy is hungry and thirsty because teenagers forget little sweet hedgehogs in the turmoil of growing up. i really wish pet stores would quit selling lives.
editted to add...DEB I HAVE QUESTIONS SEE COMMENTS BELOW
Here in England they have a hedgehog food called Spike's dinner. It was developed for Elaine Drewery's hedgehog hospital which is near me.
Up to that point, and now when she is short of cash or getting donations, the hedgehogs were fed Whiskas or other catfood mixed with other things, including Abidec infant vitamin supplement.
Apple should be OK, they have been known to nibble apples in the wild. They will often self anoint when given interesting food - that is, froth at the mouth and cover themselves with it! :-P I am not sure cheese is good, but I do know absolutely that bread and milk is a no-no. Gives them bad gastroenteritis.
We once kept a baby wild hedgehog over winter because he was too small to survive hibernation. We called him Guthram and released him in the Spring.
If they bite it doesn't hurt much! If you stroke them, their prickles go down. Once you have them on the cat food they dont much enjoy creepy crawlies, which is why the vitamins are necessary.
All the best,
:) Lisa
You can get Hedgehog Diet at almost any pet supply store. If you can't find any in Mission, I'll bring you a couple of boxes on Wednesday.
Change the diet all at once, but take it easy with the treats until Purdy gets used to them.
When Hedgehogs get pissed off, they chuff and make their spines hard.Hence the gloves, I guess. Unless Purdy is a maniac, like Booker, you should be able to handle him without gloves. Nikki was always soft, so was Tucker. Booker is never soft, and I still bare hand him. It's like muzzling, Carol, I'd only use gloves if Purdy is unmanageable without them. Madison used to carry Nikki in her mouth without getting hurt....
Purdy does not need meal worms or crickets. Gross.
Hedgehogs bathe in dust, like Hamsters, Chinchillas and Gerbils. You can get bathing dust at pet supply stores, too. Just put some in a kitty litter box, put the box in your bathtub, and let Purdy do his thing. I never bathe Booker, but if Purdy is used to bathing, he might enjoy it.
Most Hedgehogs don't bite. Booker does, but it's because he was under-socialized. Handle Purdy as much as you can, you'll be doing him a favour. Even if you are scared and need to wear the gloves, most Hedgehogs love to be touched and cuddled.
he came with whiskas cat food deb, does bosley's sell hedgehog food? and when switching their diets, do you do it slowly like everyone else? eva is gonna wanna give him apples and carrots, is that ok too? and he came with thick leather gloves, is that cuz he bites or because of the quills? and apparently he used to like to have baths, how do you bath a hedgehog? and i checked on the web and it said they like meal worms and crickets but there will be no meal worm or cricket murders here if i can help it, is that ok for him NOT to have those poor little things too?
Purdy needs Hedgehog food, not cat food. Most Hedgehogs like cheddar cheese, eggs, cottage cheese, veggies and fruit. He'll need a wheel, too.
Good thing you kepy the big cage.:) Booker is happy enough in his regulation-sized cage. Purdy sounds like my first Hedgehog, Nikki. She was a sweetheart, too.
I'm in love!!! I met Purdy tonight when I went to do the barn feeds. I've never met a hedgehog before (well, except the chocolate kind from which Purdy get's its name and I've met a few too many of those!). Purdy is sooooooo cute - the cutest little body with the cutest little white face with beady eyes and a wiggly little turned up nose. Purdy, you are beautiful!
several of our rabbits are SARS (chloe (deceased), tu, rudy, and muffin) they are even fuller than we are and i think once they are here SARS have others to worry about. i would rather feed an all inclusive healthy diet that doesn't require either vitamins or live animals if possible. but since the new species i am learning about today happens to be a hedgie, it is gonna take some time to get it all right..but where there is a will, there is always a way, cuz we are relentless in our bugging everyone in sight to learn as much as we can, and searching the internet too. the horses, and sheep, and llama and pig came long after the cats, rabbits and the dogs...we have done really well by all of them. and we will by purdy too. learning about animals and new species is one of my most favorite things to do.