Hedgiehog Blog

Niko in Vector

2010-11-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

Practicing tracing photos into vectors in Illustrator. This one is a trace from my last blog post, specifically this photo. Not too bad for just practicing eh? It reminds me of the paper cut out hedgie post card I did a few years ago... which I'll have to post on here since I can't seem to find it in any older posts.

So what do you think? Should I keep practicing until it's t-shirt worthy?

Hedgehog Easter Egg Dress Up

2010-03-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Easter is coming up, and I couldn't resist making my own version of an Easter Egg Dress Up in hedgehog form. There is this adorable animal Egg Dress Up Kit available from HP's Creative Studio, in addition to a bunch of other Easter themed crafts. There's an lion, elephant, bunny, and chick available in the kit, but no hedgehog. Until now...

I created my own hedgehog template available on box.net for anyone to print and play with. Of course I had to test out my own template, but I had no hard-boiled eggs (or the time to boil them). So what is approximately shaped like an egg... a rock! Basically I made myself a pet rock hedgehog, who then of course I had to introduce to my real life hedgehog Niko. Enjoy the photos and let me know in the comments if you make your own!

Milo the cat was watching intently during the whole photo shoot, quiet and curious about what Niko the hedgehog was up to.

Sketches of Niko

2010-01-18T09:34:00.001-08:00

I love it when others sketch Niko. I received my latest sketch last week from a co-worker during our 4 day long workshop. The others I have on my bulletin board include Super Niko going grocery shopping (from a telephone style game where you alternate drawing pictures and writing sentences), and a little Niko fan mail from a different co-worker's daughter.

Hedgehog Petting Zoo

2010-01-05T22:42:00.001-08:00

Niko's cage now lives in the kitchen - a higher traffic area for more play time, including with the cat...

Milo the cat: "mom, mom, mom, mom, hey mom, can I pet the hedgehog?"

Bonus, video of Milo drinking water with his paw:

Niko and Milo

2009-12-27T21:56:00.000-08:00

Niko and Milo are now on YouTube! Here's their first uploaded video together:

Just a little something from when Niko was starting to explore the apartment more with less fear of Milo (since Milo is realizing that Niko is too sharp to really play with). Looks like my previous post's video never made it through processing on Blogger, so I might upload that one to YouTube as well. Enjoy!

Niko, meet Milo

2009-12-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

Niko's been happily living in peace at my little studio apartment for the last year. Now? I've moved into a slightly larger 1 bedroom with wood floors (no more carpet chewing!) and brought home a new member to the family: Milo the cat. This 9 month old cat I adopted from the wonderful Cat Adoption Team shelter.

Everyone's been asking me how the two have been getting along together so far, and my answer is this: cautiously optimistic. Milo still doesn't quite know what to make to Niko's quills, but isn't afraid of him nor trying to eat him (phew!). Niko meanwhile is quite aware there's a curious cat and is doing his best to pretend he's just a spiky rock. But I think over time with supervised together time Niko will get less shy and explore the apartment even while Milo's around. A little video below of their interactions so far.

Milo: tap.. tap.. tap ouch! ..... tap "what is this thing?!?"

1 year with my Niko baby

2009-01-25T14:28:00.000-08:00

So it's been a year since I got my Niko baby. He's grown so much since then, and met so many people and other pets!

Niko is still my hedgie baby no matter how big he gets, because he'll always fit in the palm of my hand like a ball of quills!

Holding my thumb, and one last 'blooper' photo that's just too adorable because of his little foot sticking out.

Belated Holiday Wishes!

2009-01-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

My mom made Niko a king-size cloud that I think would work great for a holiday card background.

Zoomify:

Must remember this if I make Christmas cards next year ;)

Bring Your Hedgie to Work Day!

2008-12-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

Today was "Bring Your Hedgie to Work Day" (unofficial), and Niko got to meet a lot of new faces and chill out in my cube. Here is his little mini-setup under the Niko-Note canvas print out from the fan mail photo.

He also checked out the mess of toys, sketches, and other random stuff that lives in my cube.

Niko even got to do the (inevitable) hedgehog on my printer on top of my B-size printer photo ;)

He met lots of engineers today, checked out the paper airplane contest, and sniffed around the potluck food tables. Here he is in his Cutie Fortress:

And now he's off to "predator land" for winter break, I will miss my baby Niko, see you in 2009!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
From Niko and me :)

The Hedgie in the Pumpkin

2008-10-26T22:38:00.001-07:00

My pumpkin won the "overall" prize at my friend's pumpkin carving party - woot!

Update: One more photo of the pumpkin in my dark kitchen:

The Pumpkin and the Hedgie

2008-10-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Time to pose with the pumpkin Niko-dearie!
Niko: "but I don't wanna!" *runs away from pumpkin*

Oh common, just sit on top of the pumpkin long enough for me to take a photo, and look this way.
Niko: "no" *slides off the side of the pumpkin*

Please Niko?
Niko: *slides off the other side*

...Please?
Niko: "umm..." *slides off*

Fine, don't pose with the pumpkin for me.
Niko: "hehe, I win!"

Assistant Niko

2008-10-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Is ready to answer any of your emails.

First things first, gotta type my name...
Aaaaand reach - okay 'N' is easy enough, but how do I reach the "i" "k" and "o"?
Ahhhh, climb on top of the keyboard, much better :)

Prepping for Halloween

2008-10-19T20:38:00.001-07:00

I've been getting my own costume together for Halloween (which rocks btw), so of course I have to help Niko out with his too! To test out a costume idea, I made it out of paper first:

And then to put it on the hedgehog. The spiky hedgehog. The spiky balled up hedgehog. Yeah, that took a bit of engineering to figure out how to actually get the costume on him, and will need some tweaks to make it stay on... but OMG SO CUTE!

I love Niko :)

Spiky Birthday

2008-10-16T23:24:00.000-07:00

I recently had my birthday, and Niko's birthday is coming up. So obviously, this was the year of the "spiky birthday" complete with hedgehog shaped cupcakes:

Also: my coworker's daughter made this awesome party hat for Niko. Awesome.

Niko: I can't believe you're subjecting me to this...

Zombie Niko

2008-10-16T21:31:00.001-07:00

(as the townfolk look on in fear)
Watch out, what's that over there...

It... it's licking the buildings...

OMG it's Zombie Niko, everyone run!!!
(and so it was, the Last Night on Earth)

Where's Niko's Log?

2008-09-28T12:24:00.001-07:00

As you'll notice in the last post, Niko's log currently isn't in his cage, but it is on my coffee table for him to chill. He's been very odd with his mealworms lately - the other night he ate one but then just nudged at a second one while it made at least 3 laps around the log.

Niko: *nom nom nom*

Niko: "hmm, I wonder if there are more.."

Niko: "oh, hai food!"

Niko: "what you say, look other there?"

Niko: "wait, where'd the food go?"

Niko: "food?"

Silly Siili

2008-09-28T12:12:00.001-07:00

Being fall, I put Niko's fleece bed back into his cage so he can stay warm. Of course, he has yet to sleep in it; let's see where he actually naps. Is he under his duckie blanket?

No... and his bed is empty too. But wait, what's that bump in the cage liner?

There you are Niko!

My cutie Niko who sneaks to eat a snack from his food bowl while still under the blankie and cage liner (if only I could snap a photo of that!)

It was bound to happen...

2008-09-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Just cuddling with Niko after his bath...

careful with the spikes there buddy.

Side note: I think if this were to be on CuteOverload, it'd be called spikes 'n' racks (categorized under the cats 'n' racks section of course).

Watching the Olympics

2008-08-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

Watching some archery with Niko...

hedgie butt!

Reflections...

2008-08-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

... on my coffee table.

The Hedgie in the Hat

2008-08-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Niko crawled into the hat that he was helping me crochet earlier.

Niko Fan Mail

2008-08-07T00:52:00.001-07:00

Niko would like to thank his number one fan for drawing some awesome fan mail for him.

Thanks! :)

@ Cafepress.com

2008-07-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

Niko's Shop

Swimming

2008-07-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

I finally found Niko the perfect swimming island for the bath tub. A plastic box with holes on the side and a solid bottom. That way the box doesn't try to float on the water, and no holes for Niko's feet to fall into. Niko definitely knows how to swim - how much he likes it I don't know..

Niko getting ready to dive...
and splash!

Niko: "Hai mommie"

Hedgie Fort

2008-07-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

As to rival the puppy and kitty forts on Cute Overload, I give you the hedgie fort:

"no stinkeh puppehs or kittehs allowed!"
Niko says, "this is my fort, and if you kitties or puppies try to enter, I'll come after you with my spork!!!"

So to explain the box and the spork, I had just gotten back from getting some camping cooking supplies at REI. I had left the box for my new squishy bowls on my desk while I went to put them in my kitchen, didn't really think about it, and came back to Niko nosing his way inside. I love that the label on the box says:

"Squish me!"

I think Niko and his quills are quite the opposite of squishable :)

I just launched a hedgehog into space...

2008-07-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

... should I be worried?

http://onemorelevel.com/game/hedgehog_launch

At least I equipped him with the most awesome goggles :)

Niko helping me crochet

2008-07-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

I've been teaching myself how to crochet - most recently a hat - which Niko of course has been helping me out with ;)

Let's see, do I want the chocolate-brown, spiky-snowflake, moss-green, or pure-white? ;)

Hedgehog vs Mealworms

2008-07-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

The movie. You knew it was coming...

Who's this?

2008-06-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

Live Mealworms

2008-06-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

I am so grossed out by these things that I can't even post a picture.

I bought live mealworms for Niko yesterday at Petco - totally uncertain if he'll eat them or not. So as I check out I say to the guy at the register "I hope my hedgehog eats them!" to which he replies "you can return them if he doesn't." Sweet! I can return live mealworms if my picky hedgehog who only eats dry cat food doesn't like them.

So then my friend comes over, and before heading out to eat yummy crepes with some more friends, we try one out. The scene is: Niko on the coffee table and a gross huge mealworm crawling around on the plastic lid from the tub it came from. Niko sniffs around, walks around, looks straight at it with his nose almost touching it...! and keeps sniffing around and walking around. Walking over it, I think he even stepped on it. Okay, this is ridiculous, thankfully I can return them.

After eating yummy crepes, another friend also comes over to watch Niko (live Friday night entertainment!) So now there's three of us, watching Niko ignore a big gross mealworm and see other mealworms try to crawl out of their tub. Ew.

Eventually, the mealworm crawls out of it's plastic lid towards Niko's nose. Suddenly, it's like instinct kicks in and Niko snatches it with his mouth, chomps a few times, the three of us are cheering because it's the most action we've seen out of Niko all night... aaaaaand then he spits it out. Ignores it the rest of the evening. I wonder how much Petco will charge for one missing mealworm from a tub of 12?

Okay, we call it a night, and I put the dead mealworm in Niko's food bowl just to see if he'll eat it overnight by accident thinking it's cat food. This morning, it was in fact gone. Hmmmm - okay, so before I go return the remaining 11, let's just see what happens with another live one.

Again Niko ignored it at first. I get totally grossed out because it immediately crawled out of it's plastic lid and was moving around fast everywhere. Niko starts to get excited. He attempts a chomp! but the mealworm gets away and Niko looks a little bewildered (hey Niko, look left, he went that-a-way). He sees it again, another chomp! no, now it's crawling over your foot. Ew ew. Eat it Niko! Eat it! Eat it! (I'm seriously chanting/screaming this at Niko because I think the mealworm is so gross I just want my little bug killer to get rid of it for me). Eat it! Eat it! And he does! Whee! Gross! Whee! Ewwww...

And he actually did eat it this time, not just chomp and then spit it out. I guess I don't have to return them after all.

Niko on the balcony

2008-06-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

About the toilet paper rolls...

2008-06-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

First off, general Niko cuteness:

So in all my hedgie as a pet research, all signs pointed to hedgies loving playing with toilet paper rolls. Just loving it. So far, Niko has totally ignored any toilet paper rolls, as shown by exhibit A below. 'Let's go check out this sound system instead!'

:P

2008-06-23T23:35:00.001-07:00

UPDATE! That first photo makes a pretty awesome looking b/w that I think I'm going to try to do another photoshoot with Niko and create a design for cafepress :)

Remote Attack

2008-05-29T22:28:00.001-07:00

So after ignoring the meal worms, Niko started strolling around my desk...

Oh hey, what's over here!

zomg the remote! nom nom nom!

Yeah, I pretty much just let him chew on whatever fascinates him...

"He'll love them. Trust me"

2008-05-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

U-huh, he'll love meal worms. Suuuuuuuuuure. I bought a can o'worms (just like I bought a can o'crickets). Ya'know what he did? Ignored them. Didn't even lick them like he did the crickets!

So let's go through a play-by-play shall we? First, grab a sleepy Niko...

Next, open the can of worms.

Offer some worms.

Rejected.

Yep, utterly rejected. So I played with Niko climbing around on my arms/back for a while. But this is just part 1. See the 2nd post tonight for part 2.

Minun herkkä Niko

2008-05-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

So I was trying to explain the Finnish word 'herkkä' yesterday, because it's one of those words that I use in Finnish but can't think of a good English equivalent. Wiktionary to the rescue!

herkkä (stem herk-^*) (comparative herkempi, superlative herkin)

Anyways, I feel that Niko is herkkä because of the way he gets startled by anything and everything (and curls up into his little ball). Of course, he'll sometimes become stubborn and want to get out of his little ball ;)

Bonus! Niko trying to eat my tv remote buttons:

mmm, water

2008-05-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

This was the first time I actually saw Niko taking a drink of water from his water bowl. So of course, photo documentation ;)

Mini Niko Movie

2008-05-07T08:57:00.001-07:00

My new point-and-shoot digi camera has movie-taking ability, so here's our star Niko doing what he does best for your enjoyment! (bear with me as this will be kinda like parents forcing you to watch videos of their precious children just sitting around and not doing much... but Niko's my baby)

More Carpet

2008-04-16T23:25:00.001-07:00

Niko still finds interesting pieces of my carpet to chew on... but I forgive him since he's soooooo cute...

And now for mini-cell-phone-videos of the carpet chewing and anointment process:

Shoe Biter

2008-04-16T23:20:00.000-07:00

I got a cute new pair of heels this week, with a leather sole. Guess who wants to bite them!

This one looks like he's laughing (but no, really just trying to bite my shoe):

Silly Niko...

Niko-fied Phone

2008-04-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

I got a new cell phone! (so email me if you need my new number mkay?) And of course, I instantly had to Niko-fy it:

That's my baby! On my phone! Isn't he so cute? And another perk of the new phone, really low res videos!

Update: Niko 'chatting' on the cell (not really, but it kinda looks like he is):

Climbing up the ramp

2008-03-28T19:59:00.001-07:00

So Niko climbed up one of the ramps. Okay, climbed is an understatement. He knew his yummy dry cat food was up there and latched his little front paws to the top of the ramp while his back paws tried their best to follow him up. He finally scratched his way up...

I knew I had to add more traction to the ramp. My initial plan of course was to apply sandpaper on the ramps for purposes of trimming his nails, but I decided to have a little fun with it as well. So behold, Niko's faux rock climbing wall!

Also, Niko is currently sleeping in the faux grass in his play pen...

Hedgie Play Pen

2008-03-25T00:51:00.001-07:00

I started making plans about 2 weeks ago for a play pen for Niko. The main goal being creating ramps with sandpaper so he can trim his own nails... also the reason why I got a clay pot for his cage (in hopes that he'd scratch at it).

Today after work I did my shopping trip to get supplies, the main component being cube organizers to use as enclosing walls.

I also found a cute welcome mat that I think would serve as a good alternate terrain for Niko to explore... and hopefully trim his nails on...

Then I went to Michaels... they had fake grass on sale (still expensive, but half off) which again, maybe Niko would like to explore. The flowers maybe are more for my pleasure than his though...

Okay, and this is where I'm really spoiling him, but I couldn't resist the wooden letters!

And then, the ramps, right, I was making ramps. Well I got plywood pieces!

And a hand-saw... and bowls to prop up the plywood...

Also another toy, I bought a mini glue gun, very handy.

And we have ramps! That Niko so far avoided on his first exploration of the play pen... but I'm sure he'll learn to use them.

Niko checks out his new digs:

This is Niko's new TV. I got a Chumby from work to play with (learn about, interact with, etc). I basically set all the widgets to animal ones, including a feed of the photos from this blog!

Burrowing in the Bedding

2008-03-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while since a post, so ya'll deserve many photos! Here we go...

So Niko's favorite on the floor activity: chewing my carpet! (note the quick tongue lick below)

He also ran around below my sofa, going in circles around the legs of the sofa. You can see his hind leg is taking a little hedgehog step.

And then... he pooped on my carpet, so I put him in his bathroom (the smaller plastic bin with bedding in it). Which he proceeded to burrow into.

A pit stop to check out his reflection on the side...

An innocent face peeking out from under the bedding...

While that was my Saturday, I had a bit of a scare on Sunday night. The fire alarm went off in the building about a quarter to midnight. My mind raced as I tried to think of what I needed to take. "Purse, coat, heart necklace, niko (in niko's carrier... thankfully he was in his fleece bed which made him really easy to pick up and put into the carrier), work laptop? nah, don't need that" Anyways, I got outside with my other neighbors, most of whom had pet dogs. Two fire trucks arrived, and they surveyed the four floors of the building. It turns out that someone had pulled the fire alarm on the bottom floor, but there was no emergency and we were allowed to return back to our apartments. Got back sometime after midnight, but it took me a while to get to sleep because my mind was still racing... what if there really was a fire?

Hedgie on a cloud

2008-03-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

I bought Niko a little fleece bed for him to sleep in... in lieu of shredding the lining in the corner of his cage every night. Of course this morning I found him not in his bed, but I am convinced he can learn! Here's today lesson:

Niko: *burrow burrow burrow*

Niko: *nudge nudge nudge* ... it fell

Niko: ok mom, how was I suppose to use this again?

Niko: *climb climb climb*

Niko: I'm king of the cloud!

Niko: time to curl up...

Niko: hedgie ball on a cloud complete!

Carpet... nom nom

2008-02-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

So every time I put Niko on the floor, he chews my carpet. I know he's doing it so he can get the smell and anoint himself, but at the same time, I don't want a hole in my carpet! Finally tonight I let him have his way. First he tired to bite the mat I have next to my shoe rack. No good, but he tried hard enough to lift his hind legs up as he was biting... looks kinda like a hedgehog pushup...

Then he got to the real carpet and started biting away...

Niko: I will eat you!!!
or alternatively
Niko: This is Sparta!!!

So after eating the carpet, Niko does his anointing...

Niko: So first you gotta lift yourself up a little,
then reach your head back...

Go on...

Niko: Okay, so once you got your head back,
you lick yourself, like this...

One more time?

Niko: First reach reach reach....

Niko: Stick your legs out to reach even further,
and lick!

Niko: There, that's how it's done.

And in case you didn't see the foam from his anointing in the previous photos, here's a close up to show what I'm talking about...

Hedgie Redecorating

2008-02-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

I noticed that Niko just liked to bundle up in a ball in the corner, so I rearranged his cage a bit to make the log just serve as a tunnel to run through and over. And then I left for a weekend of snowboarding. When I left his cage looked something like this:

When I came back, I noticed Niko had redecorated, and his cage looked like this:

I guess he liked using the log as part of his bedroom after all...

One of these is not like the other...

2008-02-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

... one of these does not belong.

Okay, need a hint? It's the one with a spiky butt and a furry head.

I woke Niko up this morning, and he looks like a total sleepyhead in the picture below.

"aww mom, why'd you wake me up? I was dreaming..."

Sofa Climbing

2008-02-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Like rock climbing, but on a sofa. And with a hedgehog. Who can't actually climb up the sofa. But is beyond adorable running around on my sofa ;)

Floating Hedgehog

2008-02-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Now I know there was a reason why I got the glass top coffee table... floating hedgehog!

Also, much to my pleasure, Niko seems to have adjusted to my camera shutter noise, possibly because I kept on snapping away from underneath the coffee table where he couldn't actually hide by ducking his head down. That means I got a ton of photos of Niko checking out my coffee table digs, and I can't decide which is cutest... so you decide! Vote in the comments :)

a. Niko starts checking out the candles

b. Niko looks at the camera

c. Niko sniffs to the left

d. Niko starts (understatement) getting annoyed at the paparazzi

e. Niko looking like the cute baby hedgie he is

f. Niko gets his close up shot

g. And Niko is done with the candle tour

Also, as of today I have had Niko for 1 month. I'd like to say that our progress in getting to know each other has been good, even with my insane amount of work travel in January. I was petting Niko today while holding him in my lap, and he was totally chill, not being defensive (although he does if you surprise him). Hopefully his quilling phase will be over soon and he'll be even less grumpy and perhaps will explore more exotic locations in my apartment!

Cricket Night

2008-01-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

In addition to Niko's new cage lifestyle, I also bought some cricket treats for him. I was going to buy just 1 or 2 live crickets from the store, but a. the smallest amount they had was 10, and b. I don't think Niko would have gone after the live ones anyways. So I bought a can of dead ones. More expensive, but I'm spoiling my baby hedgie of course. And I bought him a new toy. More spoiling.
The package even had a picture of a hedgehog on it, so I figured I'd give it a try. It's also one of those that you can put a treat inside, so I figured it'd be a perfect combo with the crickets.
And if you've ever wondered what the inside of a can of crickets looks like, here ya go. Yum.

Ever hear of a hedgehog anointing himself? It is the most bizarre thing to watch. So watch.

When Niko is anointing himself it's the most animated I see him, and he just looks like he's crazy. Below's the snapshot where I caught his tongue sticking out.

I stuck Niko in his cage afterwards with the toy with the remaining crickets inside, which he seemed to enjoy exploring a bit more - though I'm not sure if he's actually eating the crickets...

Goodbye Bedding

2008-01-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

Two things happened tonight. 1: I changed the bedding in Niko's cage and changed it with a cage liner. This is because the bedding was getting messy as it got all up in his quills so it shed everywhere when I took him out. 2: I finally bought some cricket treats for Niko to try (this will be a separate post).

So this is before, with Niko curled up in the bedding:And me picking him up with the messy bedding. Can you find his moist little nose in there?

I put Niko aside in his bedding covered fleece blanket while I went to work cleaning his cage out.
I replaced the bedding with a cage liner I found at Petco. The store did not have the small animal ones, so I actually bought the bird ones. I think the only difference is the size, and actually the bird sized ones fit pretty well in the cage without having to do any cutting. Here's an after photo of Niko's new and improved cage. I even cleaned off the bedding from the fleece blanket.

Hedgie Burrito

2008-01-07T22:04:00.000-08:00

After cleaning Niko's cage I decided to give him a bath with the newly bought Aveeno Baby Tear-Free Shampoo. I'm spoiling him, I know.

Afterwards I wrapped Niko up in a towel to make a hedgie burrito.

Niko: Why am I in a burrito?

Niko: Stop! I am not a burrito!

Niko decided that he did not, in fact, want to be a hedgie burrito and crawled out of the towel, but didn't escape too far before I got these photos too. The first is like "hey dudes, welcome to my awesome pad" and the second one is just adorable because he's holding his foot!

Hiding from the Camera

2008-01-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

Niko is so afraid of my camera when it takes a photo that he ducks his head in before I can get a good photo of his adorable face. Well, I tried, and instead got this "movie"

Hedgie Mohawk

2008-01-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

When Niko is being shy, he usually pulls the quills down over his face, making him look like he has a hedgie mohawk of sorts. We're still getting to know one another, one night at a time...

(check out the adorable tiny foot sticking out there!)

Baby Niko up at 2:30am

2008-01-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, hedgehogs are nocturnal animals in case you didn't know already. I woke up at 2:30am to his running wheel making a clanking sound. It's a "silent wheel" so something was up. Was it making the plastic cage wiggle and make that sound? Was it the floor of the HOL making that sound? What was it?!?

I had to get up to investigate because I couldn't sleep with the occasional clanking. (Niko is so cute when he runs btw.) I lifted the plastic cage out of the HOL - still made clanking sound. I inserted some bubble wrap between the wheel and the side of the plastic cage - still made clanking. I unmounted it from the cage and put it on it's stand - still clanking!

So, by this time I woke up enough to have my engineering mind kick in to solve the problem. See that yellow knob in the middle? It's hiding a screw. A screw that apparently was loose. I tightened the knob a little by hand, and voila! No more clanking! I can sleep!

Cute Little Ball of Quills

2008-01-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome Home Niko!

2008-01-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

All balled up after a 2 hour drive home. I put a shirt that I've been sleeping in for the last week into the travel cage with him, so he can get accustom to my scent. The breeder also gave a piece of fleece to help keep him warm during the drive. Both are now in his cage for him to sleep under.

Niko started exploring his cage right away, discovering a cozy spot behind the wheel. He's a bit camera shy, so most photos I have of him are a blur since he turns his head away right when the shutter clicks. I don't know what he was doing in the photo below, but if you look close you can see his little teeth!

He finally found his way to the log hiding place. He is there now taking a nap. I hope to give him a bath later this evening and cuddle afterwards to let him get to know me better. This of course means more photos as well!

Your Cage Awaits

2007-12-31T21:32:00.000-08:00

I put all the finishing touches on the cage. The wheel is mounted on the side, with additional mounting holes so I can later reconfigure it later if I so choose. The green bin is shorter, so I think I will be keeping the lid on there (which has holes drilled out) to prevent potential escapes. Now to clean all the tiny pieces of plastic off the floor!

Tunnel Construction

2007-12-31T21:03:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is not only the start of a new year, but also the start of my hedgehog ownership! To prepare, I had to finish the cage. Above are my tools: power-drill (thanks Simo!), exacto-knife, and space heater. The heater is for keeping my hedgehog warm, but also useful for keeping the plastic warm while making holes into it - I unfortunately managed to still get some cracks in the plastic. After tracing an outline of where the tunnel would be, I used the power-drill to make holes along the edge. With the exacto-knife, I cut between the holes, and cleaned up the edges.

After cutting out the hole, the tunnel is wedged in. I used a 4" PVC connector pipe bought from a hardware store. Ta-da, tunnel complete!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-20T22:44:00.000-08:00

I am heading home tomorrow for Christmas, and when I get back I'll be picking up my hedgie baby! So I shall leave you, my friends, with this small Christmas project: my advent calendar.

Cage Starters

2007-12-17T22:06:00.000-08:00

So I made my first shopping trip to Target and Petco to get some (many) of the things I needed. I even found a natural wood shelter that I think my hedgehog will like - refuge from the world of plastic. As I started putting everything in the plastic bin, I realized that the exercise wheel takes up a lot more space than I expected! Now I must use my engineering skills to make a tunnel between the main plastic bin and the secondary (green) plastic bin. According to my measurements, these two bins should still fit in the HOL storage cube from IKEA. I also realized that the small animal corner litter pan is too big to be in this size of a cage - so I plan on exchanging it for the smaller version, and I will try it out to see if it'll work (if not, I guess I'll get a small rectangular one).

UPDATE: I got the HOL storage cube from IKEA today!

Shopping List

2007-12-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Now that hedgie-hood is coming up soon, I need to start my shopping list. First off, the cage (or hedgie-home):

Plastic Storage Bin

The clear plastic storage bin has been raved about as the best cage for a hedgehog on multiple websites. They are about the right size, can't be climbed out of, and are safe for small hedgehog feet. An additional bonus for the engineers out there, you can craft your own multi-bin estate by cutting holes and adding tubes.
size: at least 54 quarts, with tall walls
UPDATE: I got 2 plastic storage bins, connected together by a PVC tunnel

Heating Pad

In case it gets too cold in the room, a heat source in part of the cage lets the hedgehog get warmer if they feel cold (but can also move away if it gets too hot).
option: small pet safe heating pads
option: the hand warmers from places like REI work in a pinch as well
UPDATE: I got a space heater to keep next to the cage

Bedding

Aspen shavings

Water Bottle or Bowl

An idea from some folks in Michigan is to drill a hole for just the nozzle of the water bottle, and hang it on the outside of the cage to reduce the possibility for the hedgehog to climb out of the cage.
The water bowls meant for reptiles are resistant to being flipped over.

Food Bowl

I still have my food bowl from when I had a hamster, and I plan on using this for now, however I may need a slightly larger one for the future.

Hiding/Sleeping Place

One of the many available igloo like domes from pet stores may work, but PVC pipe and cloth-bags have reported as being favorites for some hedgehogs.

Exercise Wheel

An 11 inch wheel with a solid surface to avoid a fat hedgie. This I'll likely need to order from online unless I plan to make one myself.
UPDATE: I was able to find an appropriate wheel from Petco

Litter Box

I hope that my hedgehog will learn to use the litter box, in which case a corner based one would be on my shopping list.
Non-clumping, preferably non-dusty cat litter.

And other items:

Traveling Carrier

A small cat carrier for traveling with my hedgehog, especially on his car trip home from the breeder.

Food

Dry cat food (though apparently the IAMS brand is not recommended)
Other treats to be discussed later

Toys

Toilet-paper rolls are popular, along with various things to push around and explore

HOL Storage Cube from IKEA

To house the above plastic bin cage, and store other hedgehog belongings, my plan is to get a HOL storage cube from IKEA. It has plenty of ventilation, while allowing for a more sophisticated look than a plastic bin ;)

Update : Baby Hedgie Waitlist

2007-12-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

The latest news is that I'll be getting my baby hedgehog in early January. He's already born and will actually be ready to be taken home on Dec 16th, but because of my holiday plans, I want to wait till I am back in town to pick him up. There are three male hedgie babies, two grey and one cinnicot, and my guess is that I'll be getting a grey colored one.

Now this means that I have to get started on preparing a hedgie home, and a hedgie welcome home party!

Christmas Decorations

2007-11-28T23:04:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some of my Christmas decorations, as hedgehogs have been craftily incorporated :)
As you can see, this hedgehog has a prime location near the top of my Christmas tree.

Below is Antero holding his own red tree standing in the glow of the lights beneath my coffee table.

What's in a name?

2007-11-06T21:26:00.000-08:00

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

It took me a good while to find a good name for this blog. I wanted to share some of the suggestions given to me:

cutelittlespinythings
erinaceinae (the scientific name for hedgehogs)
ball of spines
hogspot

The back-story

2007-11-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

I tell people "I'm getting a hedgehog!" and they give me a crazy look and ask why I want a pet with spikes (note: hedgehogs don't have spikes, they have quills). Hence, the back-story.

A long time ago, when I was a little girl, my father gave me a toy stuffed-animal hedgehog, who I named Antero. Despite being a quirky and unusual choice for a stuffed-animal, Antero instantly became my favorite toy who has moved with me back and forth between the East and West coasts.

While in college, I looked up hedgehogs on a whim, and became fascinated with the world of hedgie pets. Of course, at the time I was living in a state that didn't allow hedgehogs, so my dream of having a hedgie was put on hold. That is, until now.

I am now living in a state where owning a hedgehog as an exotic pet is legal, and I am on a wait-list to get a hedgehog baby sometime in early 2008.

This blog is a place for me to share my journey as a hedgie owner with my family and friends, as well as provide tidbits of useful information to others who dream of having a hedgie pet.