Hey howdy hey
Hi, today on my channel
we are talking about the notorious question that everyone around the world is always asking me, "Why does my hedgehog hate me?"
You see I get a lot of emails or on Twitter and Instagram
AKA @TAYLORNDEAN *cough* follow me, I get a lot of questions about these people that have pet hedgehogs,
African pygmy hedgehogs to be exact, that just hate their owners
so this was actually the very first video I ever made for my channel was answering this question. Back after Nala died I had a
lot of people telling me that they were getting hedgehogs because of me and that their hedgehogs hated them
And they wanted to know how I had one that was so nice and loving and how to get their hedgehog to be like Nala
So, my very first video over my youtube channel was answering that question because I got tired of like repeating it over and over and over.
If you're wondering why you can't find that video on my channel it's because I deleted it.
I was moving my hedgehog Kovu around pretty fast in that video like I talk with my hands a lot and Kovu was in my hands.
So I was like moving him around and I just decided I didn't really like having me jerk my hedgehog around
on camera, on my YouTube channel because it's not a good... I don't recommend jerking your Hedgehog around.
It wasn't anything awful, but I just didn't even want to subtly imply that it was okay, so I just deleted it
and now I'm remaking it for all the people who never saw it because I mean it only had like 20,000 views
Oh, yeah, my nails look amazing by the way, and I got a tattoo. I got some. I got some new tattoos
I'll do like a tattoo story on my second channel sometime. Anyway, anyway,
So Kovu right now Kovu right now is chewing up my blankets. Thank You Kovu for that now Kovu is my hedgehog that quote on quote "Hates me".
Sarabi is super nice and super loving and Kovu "Hates me".
So people always ask me this question hoping I'll be like "Oh just do this and your hedgehog will love you."
Well, psyche! your hedgehog doesn't really hate you. They are just scared
and that is how hedgehogs are.
They are scaredy cats. They are terrified of everything. What we have here is a scared hedgehog.
Question number one,
"Why can't I take pictures of my hedgehog on its back?" People always ask me that they're like "I want to take cute pictures of
my hedgehog on its back. Why won't my hedgehog let me? How do you get yours to stay calm?" Here's the answer:
Luck. My hedgehog has to be in an incredibly good mood, and it lasts about five seconds, and then the uh on its back time just poof
ends. Some hedgehogs are going to be more okay with it, some hedgehogs are more laid-back than others.
Nothing to do with training them to be that way. There is a extent you can go, you know,
there is a little bit of training that can be done, a little bit of trust that can be earned.
Kovu used to be even more afraid of me than he is now
but he still is timid and there's nothing I can do to change that.
If your Hedgehog doesn't let you take pictures of it on its back, don't put it on its back.
Now in the wild, think about it, if a hedgehog is on its back like this you see why it does-
you see it's doing that? It's because he is super vulnerable in that position. One of their main predators are owls
okay, and owls can get a big chunk of their fluffy little belly if they're laying like this, okay. Sorry Kovu.
So they don't like to be on their backs because they're exposed, they're vulnerable, they feel like they are in danger.
So just don't do it. Okay, if your hedgehog does not want to relax on its back. Don't force it,
don't get mad at it. It's just scared. Another question
I get asked a lot is "why does my hedgehog hiss at me?" The little noise that sounds like a little uh angry machine little engine, *chuchuchu*
*Kovu noise* That thing. The only defense that a hedgehog has are the spikes on its back. Now by rolling up in a ball and
hissing and jumping around they think it's gonna make them sound scary and that you're gonna leave them alone hedgehogs have
extremely bad vision so they're gonna rely mainly on their hearing. So any quick movement is gonna scare them. They're gonna bundle up,
they're gonna hide, and they're not gonna come out until you leave them alone.
They have extremely extremely good hearing and a very good sense of smell so if it is in a loud environment,
if there's children, if there's music, if your TV's on, if you make a lot of clicking or popping noises,
or someone's clapping, cooking, moving dishes around etc. They're not gonna like that. They're gonna be stressed. They don't like loud environment
It's best to keep them in the quietest room in your house and not bring them out into chaos often. Once
they trust you more
it's a little safer to bring them out into louder areas because they know they're gonna be with someone that you know they trust. How
do I gain my hedgehogs trust? They have a great sense of smell, so if you can get a smell- if you can get them
to associate a smell with you and something positive then
you've got something going for you. If you have an old t-shirt
you don't want to wear anymore leave it in their cage for them to sleep with, put them on you and give them treats like
mealworms and stuff. Something that they can associate you and your smell with something good
which would be sleeping or eating, because the hedgehog's favorite things are sleeping and eating. No matter what you do, no matter what
depths you go to get your hedgehog to like you they're still gonna
be scared to some extent. Hedgehogs, like I said, have very bad vision
overactive hearing, and number three, they are nocturnal so bringing in them out in the day a lot
they're not gonna like it. Kovu's doing pretty okay right now. Kovu's doing okay right now,
but he's blind and his sleeping rhythm is all off, so he doesn't even know it's daytime right now.
It's okay to bring your hedgehog out in daytime.
It's not bad like- like if I was filming with a hedgehog that wasn't blind right now, that would be okay.
They're just not gonna like it most times. If your hedgehog seems grumpy, leave them alone.
If your hedgehog seems happy, bring them out. Basically the point
I'm trying to make in this video is hedgehogs are not animals that you really play with
hedgehogs are more of just
observational animals. You get to enjoy them when they let you and
Then you have to leave them alone when they don't want you to be around. Kovu, you just peed on my bed.
Love you. I'm gonna put you away now.
Say bye.
Okay
He actually waved what a good hedgehog.
So no matter what lengths you go to some hedgehogs are just not
social and I would say a majority of them are not. Now as they are being bred more and more and more over the years,
it is easier to find some that are friendlier,
but you do have to just go into it knowing that you might get a
hedgehog that does not want to be played with, a hedgehog that just wants to be left alone.
Those pages that blow up with the super friendly hedgehogs the reason they blow up is because it's not a majority.
It's not like they are all that way. It's pretty rare. Of course the more you handle a hedgehog the more
it's gonna be okay with being handled, but there is only so far that that will go with a hedgehog that is super
anti-social. Like with Kovu I've had him for over three years now
he's definitely way friendlier than he was when he was younger, but he's still the most timid hedgehog I've ever owned.
Yes, handling them can help, but only to an extent and I would only handle them at night.
And if they're super scared I'd only do it like ten minutes at a time and then
slowly increase the intervals as they get more and more used to you.
So I hope this kind of helped cleared up that your hedgehog doesn't hate you this is just how hedgehogs are. Most of the cute
pictures you see online were taken on a good day, and you know five minutes later
they were back to being grumpy. There are some though,
yes, that are gonna be super friendly,
so I just don't want people to be like in my comments section going "well
screw you my hedgehog is the friendliest hedgehog of them all like okay?" Why did I do that in a Mickey Mouse voice? I
don't know why I did that in a Mickey Mouse voice, but I just wanted to make it clear that yes
I understand that there are friendly hedgehogs,
but a lot of them aren't.
You see Sarabi is a super nice hedgehog. One of the sweetest ones
I've ever owned and she is not having it today. Some days
they just don't want to be messed with and that's okay. You hear that huffing noise?
*hfff*
And yes this does hurt my hand. Can you see my hands?
Hedgehogs are very sharp when they're mad. So yeah, your hedgehog doesn't hate you,
it's just scared. Hand feed them treats like crickets, dubia roaches, and mealworms.
Let them rest on your stomach if they're one of the hedgehogs that will fall asleep on you.
That's awesome. Leave old t-shirts in their cage.
It's just positive reinforcement, really, is the only thing that will help at all you're an angry little cactus today
aren't you? She's getting up now. Say hi to everyone grumpy pants. You are not in the mood today. Are you? No?
Okay here, I'll put you on your tummy.
Can you tell everyone thank you for watching. Tell them to buy my merch. By the way we are uh-quick announcement really fast.
I have been asked so many times to make hoodie versions of my merch so I have finally done it.
Go check it out. Link is in my description. If you like grumpy cactuses like this one,
you can get the Nala cheering hedgehog hoodie or shirt because that's my hedgehog. She dead now
but it's still my hedgehog. Rest in peace to my baby. If you're more of a fish person-person-person
If you're more of a fish person you can get my cheese merchandise too. If you don't know who cheese is
please go look through my videos and figure out who cheese is. There's a whole cheese playlist. Thank you guys so much for watching.
I love you guys so much, and thank you for sticking with me while there's been so much inconsistencies um
posting videos lately. I'm kind of battling some depression, but I'm getting through it and getting the help
I need so thank you guys so much. I love you guys.
Love you all so much, and I love you, and I love you, and I love you subscribe if you haven't subscribed yet
so you can check out more cool animal videos because I am getting better now and gonna be posting consistently.
I've said that so many times,
but I promise I'm gonna prove it to you this time. Leave a comment if you'd like to leave a comment about anything you want,
and please give this video a thumbs up because it helps me out a lot
And if you want to give it a thumbs down that's cool too, but you're just making this hedgehog cry..hedgehog tears
Thank you for watching. I love you. Bye