Hedgehogs!

[_Luck_]

Hi everybody and happy Saint Patrick's Day! Hope you guys are all wearing green and talking with a bad Irish accent like I am.
I was wondering about getting a hedgehog (I can persuade my mom to get pets rather easily - we started with nothing and ended up with a hyper dog and 3 little pigs) but when I was researching them I saw that they're insectivores. I knew they did eat insects but I'd thought they were omnivores. I don't want to buy any of those packets of insects from stores (we don't even have stores that sell things like that anyway) or frozen insects. Some sites merely said they were insectivores - feed them a cat food low in salt and iron and high in protein, maybe some dog food and tidbits of cooked fish, fruit and vegetables...if I were to be able to get a hold of some commercial hedgehog food (I'm pretty sure I could get some) would I be able to skip the insects?

I know this sounds like I'm buying one on a whim but I probably wouldn't get one for about a year (or get one instead of a cat in 2 months), and I've been thinking about it for a long time. There are usually hedgehogs on Petfinder.com, and I can cover medical and care. I think I know everything basic about them (diet, illnesses, cage requirements and all that jazz) and as soon as I finish this post I'll be trundling off to research more! Huzzah for researching.

Thanks everyone in advance.

[standuprookie]

Here are a couple post by Lydia filled with great info,

http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/243989-post5.html
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/224311-post6.html

[_Luck_]

Ooh! That's definitely helpful! Thank you very very much!

[PiggieMamaKelly]

I want a hedgie myself, unfortunately they're illegal in California. You'll have to post pics when you get one so I can pine for him.

[_Luck_]

Mwuahahaha.
I'm starting to doubt though...Ma likes hedgehogs but she's one of those 'if it's not a normal pet, we can't have it 'cause I said so' people ):

[daftscotslass]

Might I suggest that you also reconsider going out and buying one? While I'm sure they are few and far between in rescues, it's no different to buying any other animal in a pet store.

[_Luck_]

Oh, I won't buy one, don't worry - well, not from a pet store. I did say and mean buy but more from Petfinder.com...now I'm just confusing myself!

[standuprookie]

I did say and mean buy but more from Petfinder.com

If you see someone "selling" on petfinder report them, I know it doesn't seem like a big difference to say buy rather adopt but they have VERY different meanings.
Good luck trying to find one, and hopefully lydia will see this post and give you some more info.

[Lydia]

Originally Posted by standuprookie

Here are a couple post by Lydia filled with great info,

http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/243989-post5.html
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/224311-post6.html

Ooooh - I've been quoted! I feel so special. Just to add a few notes; there aren't many hedgies available for adoption listed on petfinder right now... I can only find 3 listed in North America at the moment. Your better bet is to do searches more specifically with local humane societies, etc. For many many various reasons I plead with you NOT to even CONSIDER buying a hedgie... the amount of health issues we've had to deal with from pet store hedgies should dissaude anyone.

In January and February we spent around $2000 just in caring for our little guy, Gus, who passed away a month ago yesterday of what we presume soon will be confirmed to be Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome. WHS is a terrible disaese causing progressive paralysis and eventually death. Close to 1 in 10 hedgies are being diagnosed with this disease, and for any reader's sake I want to assure you that pet stores DON'T care if they are selling WHS hogs. I'm not assuming that you will buy a hedgie, but please let me encourage you to learn, prepare and put 'feelers' out - you'll be much better prepared for adopting a hedgie when the right one comes along.

If you need any more info, please contact me!

L

[standuprookie]

there aren't many hedgies available for adoption listed on petfinder right now

I have noticed some (not a lot) on Craigslist in the past months, and also check the freecycle and petfinder classifieds in you area.