The Baby Hedgie Is Home!

It was a long drive there and back, but the baby hedgehog is finally home. Hurray!

In nothing fancier than a small box for a desk lamp, my new little friend made the trip to his snazzy new lodgings.

The first thing he did after he got put into his new cage was to start attacking the tree house. I was certain at that moment that he was going to try and eat it. "Oh god," I thought. "I'm going to have to remove it because he'll ingest bits of corduroy."

However, after chomping and pulling at the edge of the doorway for a bit, he began to annoint. I had just laundered his tree house the day before so I guess it smells like laundry detergent and a hint of fabric softener. Perhaps he wants to smell like that too?

Well, he had a bit of water and food, explored the rest of his cage, and then went into his tree house and took a nap.

While he napped, I sewed him a fleece pouch to put into his house. It ended up being too narrow and thick (I was a bit too ambitious with layering...), so now he sleeps on top of it instead of inside of it. He doesn't seem to mind. I think he rather likes it.

For the rest of the evening, he would take turns between poking around and taking naps. I would occasionally take him out with his new mattress (?) to look at him and to just hold him and walk around with him.

He seems to prefer to sleep while I'm around and to explore and play when I'm not there. If I walk away for a while and come back, I'll find him tumbling from the edge of the cage basin where he'd been climbing. He'll put on a defensive pose ("I wasn't doing anything!") and hold that pose until he feel safe. Then, when the coast is clear, he takes off for his beloved tree house, curls up, and falls fast asleep. It's either magical or he's avoiding me. Veeery clever...

He's usually climbing towards the side of the cage closest to the Carolina Storm Wheel. I wonder if he's trying to get to the wheel? I figured I'd let him settle in with his house and other belongings before I introduced the wheel. Also, I'm still trying to figure out if there's a way I can modify the wheel so it can fit into the cage all of the time.

Well, end of day one. Time for sleep!

Cheerio!