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hedgehogs are wall-huggers

3K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  hogaholic 
#1 ·
so Izzie, my wonder-hog, is quite the wall-hugger. By that I mean that when she is placed in a spot, she looks for a wall, or something that she can stand next to, or ideally, bury into.

I have a nice hallway in my large apartment in which she loves to run- she's a little tubby so I take her out as often as I can. anyway, she has her nightly run.

As a younger child with my then hedgehog "Piggy," I recall Piggy and I playing on a couch. I would put her on my stomach as I laid down belly up. she would just chill on my tummy and sleep if I put a shirt or blanket over her. We also had this couch that was made of such fabric that Piggy could climb up it the back-supporting part of the couch, 90 degrees with no help.

So now, with my somewhat hesitant baby Izzie, I figured I'd see how she would respond to being asked to either climb up the cushion of a couch or fall down.

Interestingly, she would not climb up. she kept throwing herself into my hands which were holding her up. She wouldn't stray from my hands and even fell her face into my palm (weird considering she's particularly huffy).. When I just put her on the top of the back of the couch, a narrow ledge, she just fell into the direction that I was in.. knowing I would catch her. we got a lot of "face time" because her face kept colliding with my hands due to gravity!!

I want her to be stronger- I want her to be able to climb around and try to find her way out of things. When she sits on her "hedgehog couch", she acts resigned, as if she has no where to go. But hedgehogs are so mischievous!! they try to find a way out or down in any confining situation!

I want her to become strong enough to start climbing around and exploring her environment, instead of sitting there where I put her down, without a thought to try to get somewhere else... I guess I just miss the temperament of Piggy :/

But when we have these long interactions in which I challenge Izzie to try some thing new, as she works through it, she becomes entirely less huffy. She lets me pick her up to try again and doesn't ball up. At times, she squirms in my hands, quills down, to get what she wants. It's kind of cute and each time is like a new bonding experience with her.

I want her to become stronger, to loose a little weight and to gain muscle. I want to be able to construct obstacles for her, like pillow hills or something, to both strengthen her fat ***, and to teach her that she can explore her environment and that she should test her little legs out on any barrier she sees.
 
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