Hey everyone, so I wanted to talk [about] some things
You should know about before buying a hedgehog
So I want to go over a type cage and things you will need in the cage and just some things you should know about them
First off I've had lots of people tell me on
YouTube comments and such that their hedgehogs are really mean they buy it Etc ETc and
it kind of confuses me because I've owned over 30 hedgehogs in my life and
not a single one has bitten me and
[99%] of them have been super calm and tame
I've had one or two that were a little grouchy
But we're still very handleable none of them have ever bitten me or acted mean, so the very first thing [you] got [to] know is
Hedgehogs are not naturally just going to be mean though like
like this one is you can see very easy to pick up and
very easy to hold
This is how all my hedgehogs were when they were babies when they were two months old and three months old when I sold them
So if you buy a hedgehog or any pet the very first thing you need to know is
Try to handle them first and make sure you're [getting] them when they're already common tame
This is how a good [hedgehog] should act no matter what the age when you uncover them
They might be a little you know
She stayed in the ball for a second
But now she's curious and walking around if I go nearer to much she might piss up a little bit you can see
But that's not too bad
She's not curling into a ball [and] jumping at me and to pick her up
All you should have to do is put your hand underneath because they have fur underneath instead of spikes
so a hedgehog should act just about like this when you buy and even so that's the first thing make sure you handle them and
You get a good hedgehog from the start don't buy one that's been neglected
And you know maybe not treated very well
And is mean because it's going to be pretty hard to change that around can be done
But it's best to start with a nice one so in the cage
I'm actually going to show you guys how [to] make a cage like this. I'll put an [annotation] here
I've got a how to make a [hedgehog] cage video
but I just [use] these plastic tubs and
They work great. They're easy to clean they're not as heavy as a glass or screen cage, and they're just amazing for
for the hedgehogs
inside the cage you're going to need a hide somewhere for them to sleep in a food dish and
Also, a wheel which I don't have currently in here
Wheels should be about [twelve] inches
And it should be a flat bottom wheel
so a pretty big wheel with flat bottom no bars you want their feet to be able to just run on a flat surface and
Then most people are going to suggest a water bowl, and that's good if you have just one hedgehog that is pretty good
I myself use water bottles because it's so much easier
I've never had a problem with them and all the years
I've owned had hogs my hedgehogs have all done fine with them, but I'm sure some people are going to say oh
You should use the water dish water bottles are no good bla Bla Bla Bla Bla
Okay, fine. You could say that if you want, but [I] haven't had a single problem with water bottles, so that's what I use
I find them easier
but you can use a water dish if you want if that's what you prefer and
Then for betting the cheapest that I find is wood chip budding
Now do not use pine or Cedar pine or cedar is bad for lots of small animals
You should really stay away from both [of] those go with
Aspen, which is what I haven't here
which is a better quality wood for
Pretty much all types of animals to live on you can also use more expensive stuff like that care fresh paper bedding
And there's other stuff, too
[but] if you go with a wood chip bedding make sure to stay with Aspen
Other than that you need food, and you know the state will die for them could be cat food
But make [sure] you get some [high-quality] cat food and I recommend mixing two brands
They don't eat very much
so if you buy two bags of cat food
Those two bags if you mix them together you know and then feed them they'll last a pretty long time you also want high
protein 35 percent or higher and low fat
15 percent or less fat in the food so don't just go buy some low quality fat food cat food
Going to look at the labels and try to get something. That's a you know pretty good quality
It's worth spending a little [bit] more on their food because really like I said
Think about how much a cat eats and a cat weighs you know 10 to 15 pounds these guys weigh, what a pound
So I mean they're eating
1/10 of what a cat eats so that food lasts pretty long
so um [I]
Think that's about all you guys need to know
To get one of these guys you got to get a cage and all this stuff like I said if you make your own cage
You can make your own cage
Just [get] a hide you can even use a cardboard box as a hide you could use anything you want
so you can really build their cage if you use my method that I showed [earlier] for
Maybe 30 bucks with the food dish and everything
And then the hedgehogs usually cost I've seen them priced anywhere from 65
up to 200 or more just depends [who] you buy them from so
If you get lucky and get a hedgehog for 65 you could actually get a hedgehog tank and everything the whole [setup] for a hundred
bucks
So that's [about] how much they cost although usually it's a little more than that
I think I've paid 175 for each of my [how-to] hedgehogs
but um
That's just some of the things you should know before owning them a couple of the cleaning things
You need to know is their back nails usually get long so you will want to cut those?
I'll put an annotation to my hedgehog nail cutting video up here
and
Then you [should] give them a bath but not too often maybe once a month you can do it as much as once a week
but their skin can get dry if you do it, too often
So I'll put an annotation. Maybe up in the Middle here
For how to give your hedgehog a bath that should be pretty much all you [need] to know to own these guys
they're pretty fun pets and easy to
Easy to own really if it's not too hard to take care of when you just need to give them food [and] water and then
clean their cage about once a week and then play with them when [you] uh
you know when you have time to play with them, so
Anyways, if you guys have any questions about hedgehogs let me know and happy pet keeping