Top Document: Hedgehog FAQ [3/7] - Intro to Hedgehogs as pets Previous Document: <4.6> Hedgehog handling / socializing See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge In what limited experience I've had, I have seen no problem with interaction between hedgehogs and other pets -- my wife and I have five cats (Kit & Caboodle, Oreo, Snickers, and Scrapper) in addition to our group of hedgies. Velcro always thought the cats would make nice mealtime treats and chased them whenever possible, while some of the others take little notice of the cats, other than an occasional duck of the head and a snuffling session. For their part, the cats have only shown peaceful curiosity towards the hedgehogs. The occasional very careful paw will reach out and almost, but not quite touch one of the hedgehogs. The cats seem to know that these snuffling little armoured tanks are actually animated pincushions that would hurt if they really connected. For his part, Velcro omce actually shoved the largest cat (18+ lbs.!) out of the way with nothing more than a slightly indignant look from the cat. Aside from this, I imagine that it will really depend on the personality of your other pet(s). I would expect more aggressive cats/dogs to try nipping at or swatting at a new hedgehog (an action that is unlikely to be repeated by any animal with the ability to learn from its mistakes). Some terriers and other hunting dogs might be an exception here, and might be best kept separate from hedgehogs for the safety of both parties (not to mention any humans who try to separate them!) Hedgehogs are admirably well protected -- the worry is ``how safe are your other pets?'' As long as you supervise the first few encounters between your hedgehog and your other pets, there `should be' no problem in either direction. The only time there should be cause for worry is if one or more of your other pets could potentially be food in the eyes of your hedgehog (such as pet mealworms?). By way of an example of this, I would recommend that you not introduce your hedgehog to any herps you might have -- it seems that, for example, hedgehogs enjoy the taste of iguana tail. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Brian MacNamara - macnamara@HedgehogHollow.COM Hedgehog Hollow: http://HedgehogHollow.COM/ - Brian MacNamara - macnamara@HedgehogHollow.COM Hedgehog Hollow: http://HedgehogHollow.COM/ User Contributions:Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:Top Document: Hedgehog FAQ [3/7] - Intro to Hedgehogs as pets Previous Document: <4.6> Hedgehog handling / socializing Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Part6 - Part7 - Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: macnamara@bastet.hedgehoghollow.com (Brian MacNamara)
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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