Goodbye Bedding

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome Home Niko!

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!