Hazel the fearless!

This is Hazel, my new hedgehog. She's an 8 week old brown algerian snowflake. Isn't she a sweetie?

Why a hedgehog? First off, I'm allergic to just about anything else with fur, and snakes and lizards, while cool, aren't exactly snuggly. Secondly, hedgehogs are low maintenance. They sleep most of the day but are active in the evenings (ie - after work), are solitary by nature but also enjoy human company (especially when it means they get extra mealworms!) They eat cat food and can be litter trained. And, most importantly, they're the cutest little things ever. Seriously. Have you ever seen a hedgehog's 'grumpy-face'? Too cute!

Hazel continues to amaze me. I've been doing my research on hedgehogs, and from all the stories I've heard, most hogs take weeks to warm up to their new owners and are notoriously grumpy when they're faced with even the slightest change. Not my girl. Hazel seems to haven taken it all in stride.

She demonstrated that ability when I first met her. The breeder brought out a shoebox with two little snuffly balls of quills in it. The coffee shop was loud, and bright, and it was the middle of the day when they'd normally be sleeping. The bigger hog, Hazel's sister, voiced her displeasure at the outing by hissing and 'popping' her quills at anything that made a sound. But, Hazel almost immediately uncurled and started sniffing around, completely unphased by the surroundings. I picked her up, expecting her to curl into a huffy little ball, but she kept her quills flat and set about busily exploring my arm. She poked her head into my sleeve, pooped on my hand, and then ran up my arm and went to sleep in the crook of my elbow. I figured that it was love!

Even when I brought her home, she was absolutely fearless. She sniffed around the floor for a bit, attacked a chunk of the carpet that had some interesting smells on it, and then let me hold her for a bit. Not even her new cage could scare her. She sniffed it a bit, and then climbed under her blankets and went to sleep. And slept, and slept and slept...

She's quilling right now: losing her baby quills and growing a much thicker (but less sharp) set of adult quills. I typically find between five to fifteen tiny little quills in her cage each night. She sleeps a lot as a result, because I image it takes a lot out of her, and is also pretty darn uncomfortable. It works out alright though. I'm still in major crunch time, so I wouldn't have a lot of time to spend with her . I planned it this way, since they recommend giving hedgehogs a week of adjustment time when they first come home, which means that by Monday, when I'll finally be done with the crazy hours at work, I'll have plenty of time to start litter training her. Hopefully she'll be feeling better by then.

So. Cute!