Thistle's First Bath

All of my little hoglets are experiencing a nasty time of quilling right now. Poor little Thistle seemed to be experiencing the worst of it so I decided to give him his first oatmeal bath.

Neat Quotation

"It came to me that every time I lose a pet they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new pet who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be an animal, and I will become as generous and loving as they are."

Redecorating Bedroom

With a little time off from work, I got started redecorating my bedroom. I've been stripping wallpaper, spackling, and painting for a couple of weeks now. There has been an endless round of visits from my curious four legged family members. Here's what happened when I stepped off the ladder to get some more paint; help just jumped right in.

Where's a camera when you want one

I so wish I had a video camera with me tonight. One of the little hoglets was out exploring on his own tonight. It was so cute the way he/she kept following momma around the cage.

Later that night all of the hoglets came out to walk around the cage with their momma. It reminded me of a family of ducks with mom taking the lead. So Cute!

Hoglet Anointing

At three weeks of age it's hard for me to believe that a little hoglet will already self-anoint. Just check out the tongue in this photo.

Hoglet Surprise

I got the shock of my life on Friday, February 27th when I went to clean out Annie's cage. Just as I lifted the T-shirt she was hiding under, I got a glimpse of babies. I didn't even have a clue that she was pregnant when I brought her home! Immediately I dropped the shirt, took out her exercise wheel, and backed away from the cage until I could find out what to do. Minutes later after doing some reading and talking to some hedgehog breeders I didn't hold out too much hope that the hoglets would survive. I can't tell you the number of horror stories I read about mother hedgehogs mutilating the babies. I was told by more than one breeder to not even think about going near the cage other than to put in fresh food and water daily. It seems that anything that may stress out the mother could cause her to turn on her little ones.

I'm happy to say that today marks the third week birthday of four adorable hoglets. At this point, it appears that everyone is alive and healthy. Eyes are starting to open this week. I'm hoping that they will soon start exploring so that I can see them more. What is really amazing is the fact that I lost four dear hedgehogs last year and now there are four new little lives in my home; including another albino hedgehog just like my dearly departed Casper.

Here is a photo I was able to take at the end of week two when their mother, Annie, was out eating and had left the bag open.

New Additions: Blizzard & Annie

I really had no intention of ever replacing any of the animals that I've lost over the past year. However, after losing my last hedgehog, Thorn, I really missed having a little ball of quills around the house. Once the new year came around, I put out the word to family and friends that I was looking for another hedgehog. I was able to bring a new hedgehog into my home on February 3 thanks to the help of some friends. Well actually I brought two home since I couldn't decide between the two that were being housed together at a pet store in Columbus, Ohio. I call them Blizzard and Annie.

2008 Christmas Card

Family of Cats Adopted

Late last Spring the female cat that hangs out on my porch (see previous post) had a litter of three kittens. These kittens were a source of delight for me as I would watch them play this summer. Just about the time the kittens were big enough to start venturing out a bit in the daytime, my neighbors moved out of their home and closed up the garage where the kittens had been staying. Of course this brought them over to my porch and underneath my house. I kept worrying about them getting attacked by other wild cats in the neighborhood or getting hit by cars. Then one night when a group of raccoons came on to my front porch and went after the kittens I made a decision to adopt some cats. I spent the next day catching each kitten and then later bringing in the mother. All have settled in quite nicely and have the run of the house with my other critters. I call the mother Elektra.

Here are the kids:

Harley


Shadow


Lexi