Cuddles, Flakes, and an Email to the Zoo

Phinneus ate his first mealworm! Almost all pet hedgehogs I know love to eat mealworms. Most owners use them as special treats to spoil or reward their hedgies, but Phin wanted nothing to do with them...until recently! The trick is to hold him on his back while he is in "ball mode"- that is all balled up so only his face is peering out- and then dangle food in front of him. This is what finally got him to chomp the worm, and since them he has been enjoying them. I also got him to nibble some watermelon. This is all part of the effort to improve his diet and help his skin. It is still nastily flaky, two oatmeal baths and several new foods later. The skin behind his ears is mercifully healthier, but on his back it is like a fresh snowfall.

In other news, I recently took a visit to the local county zoo, as I usually do. I went to go look at the African Pygmy Hedgehog that they keep in the Discovery Center (with the creepy crawlies, the bats, sugar gliders, and a few tattered looking monkeys). That poor little hedgie looked like it was in a sorry state. Not that I could see it's face; the hedgehog (albino from what I can tell) was crouched inside a log with it's back facing out and it's quills up. It had no visible source of exercise or activity, was bedded on some suspicious looking shavings, and had a dish of cat food and a water bottle. Although many people say that water bottles are okay for hedgehogs, I personally wouldn't wan to risk it because they can break a hedgie's teeth and injure their little tongues. Water bowls on the other hand present no dangers and just require a little more maintenance. Shavings can dry out their skin, and feeding a hedgehog one type of food will leave it malnourished. All in all this little hedgie needed help so I decided to contact the zoo by sending them a friendly email which listed the ways I have mentioned above to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of their hedgehog. I offered to donate supplies as well so that they wouldn't be able to refuse on the grounds of expense. Now I just have to wait and hope that they take my suggestions. I am also hoping that they won't read the email as an attack on their zoo, as it really is a lovely little place and I only want to help their critters. Updates will follow on the status of their hedgehog.