Posted by djs27 on March 26, 2003 at 22:05:30:
Hey everyone,
Usually I find an animal that I really want and then talk myself out of it by finding all of its downsides. For example, I decided not to get a ferret because of their tendancy to eat stuff. My bathroom is a mess and I could see one trying to eat cottonballs, etc.
I'm no stranger to caged animals. I am a grad student, so I automatically rule out dogs and cats. They just need too much time for me. I don't mind taking an animal to the vet if they need something done, but I don't like the idea right now of routine vet visits for checkups of healthy animals. I currently have tons of crested geckos, a uromastyx, and lots of snakes all in my reptile room. I also keep a flying squirrel in my bedroom. After getting her, I found many downsides to having this animal, but I love the little scamp anyways (she nips us a lot..heh).
The last caged animal that I should mention (aside from lots of saltwater fish) is a winter white hamster. He is over 2 years old and their life expectancy is about 2.5 max. His eyes are pure white from cataracts. I won't kid myself... I know he is incredibly old. I'm not awaiting his death, but I know it will happen soon.
With all the other animals that I have, you can imagine that there isn't a ton of space left over. I really don't want to sound morbid here, because I absolutely love my hamster a lot, but the space where his cage is located would fit a hedgehog cage nicely. We actually expected Casper, our little winter white, to pass on a while ago. They don't live that long and I'm thrilled he has lived as long as he has. I refuse to get another dwarf hamster because most other breeds are super nasty. The true winter whites very rarely bite. We got him from a research lab that was basically shutting down. They studied melatonin and the effects of diurnal rhythms and day/night cycles. Since this closed site was my one time source of winter whites, I will not be getting any more of these buggers.
Sorry for the long intro... I just didn't want you guys to think that I would be a bad dad; I love my animals a lot. I just want to be able to fill the void when my hamster passes on. At the animal shelter that I used to work at, we got in a few hedgehogs. This is where I fell in love with the guys. Unfortunately, I was in undergrad and living at my parents and in the dorms. The option of extra critters was not there. Using what I know from my humane society and the research I've done on other care sheets, I really think hedgehogs are the animal for me.
Now for what you've all been waiting for, my long drawn out question. Are there any down sides to owning hedgehogs? As I've stated before, I talk myself out of animals in order to narrow down the exact species that I want as a pet. So far, I havn't been able to find a real downside to owning these critters. However, I havn't really been able to talk to many owners. This is where you come in.
If you feel that there are any downsides to keeping hedgehogs, please let me know. I have the cage space, they don't really smell, minimal vet visits (disregarding emergency), I already buy most of the food anyways, I have time to play and I have time to clean up after them.
I'll talk to you guys later,
Dave
