My Hedgehog is Extra GRUMPY Tonight

Hi all! So tonight when I got home I decided that I NEEDED to have some snuggle time with Shadow. Except there as a problem. He didn't want to snuggle and he kept hissing at me and twitching and curling up into a ball!

My little nugget hiding his face behind his quills

This isn't usually the case, especially at night. Since he's awake at night, he's always up for playing and has no problem letting me hold him. Tonight, however, I went to stroke his quills and he kept hissing at me, almost like he was in pain.

So of course I did a little bit of research and came to the conclusion that Shadow might be quilling. Quilling is when baby hedgies shed some of their quills and grow new adult-quills. Almost like how human babies loose their teeth and grow adult teeth, and usually they are in pain so they chew on everything. Unfortunately for hedgies, there's nothing that can be done to ease the pain they're in when they're quilling.



Baby hedgies can quill until they are about six months old, and they usually occur several times before they reach that age. For all you hedgie owners out there, just remember that their skin is extra sensitive during the time they are quilling, so if your little hoglet is acting extra grumpy, shy, or sensitive to your touch, be extra gentle when handling them! Talk to your baby in a calm voice and continue to gently hold him or her.

The quilling usually stops in a week or two, so stay patient and keep loving your baby hedgie as I love mine!