My Precious Pet Series: Spike the Hedgehog

As you know I love my animals and they are a lot of inspiration behind my crafts. So, I am going to do a series called "My Precious Pets", each telling the story of each pet. I hope you come to love these guys as much as I do...

Spike the Hedgehog

     The adorable Spike the Hedgehog

I was first introduce to hedgehogs many years ago. We use to do a petting zoo for special events, and so I was always looking for an animal to make it a little more interesting. I found a hedgehog at an Alabama exotic animal auction and fell in love. I was excited to get home and research the little animal, but my research stopped short because I live in Georga and they were illegal. Glad I didn't purchase one before I researched them.

     Cuddling in his Cozy Sak

Last fall I was trying to find something for my sons 11th birthday that was approaching in January. He, like me, is a lover of all things animal and has always been super gentle with all animals. He's had a wonderful (surprisingly friendly) dwarf hamster that he named Hotdog (he was 3). He use to put Hotdog in his shirt and laugh hysterically. He had an adorable grey Dwarf bunny named Bugs and a Siamese cat named Sophie, whom we had to find new homes for because of my son's severe allergies. This nearly broke his heart. His next pet was a Bearded Dragon that he name Colonel. This was a wonderful pet for him that he had many years. Colonel died last summer, we're not sure why. So this lead me to my search for easy-to-care for pet that is easy on the allergies.

     Running around his playpen

In my search for small animals, I came across the hedgehog again. Of course my interest was peaked. I read everything I could find on the Internet, then my search began for our little pet. This was difficult because by this time, Aaron's birthday was in a few weeks and all the breeders I found had waiting list. I found an ad on Hoobly.com for some hedgehogs that were 8wks old in Alabama (4 hours away from us now). I contacted the breeder with many questions and to my satisfaction, he had 2 males to choose from. So off we went.

      Sleeping in his cage. His spikes went up when my flash opened for the picture.

Both hedgie were friendly, didn't ball up or pop. A little hissing though, but we weren't deterred. One was an albino and the other was grey pinto. I'm probably not using the right color name because they're so many and I can't tell difference in many of them. Aaron chose the grey pinto. We put him in his travel carrier and set out for home.

     "A little privacy please!" Using his litterbox...good boy Spike!

Aaron named him Spike (yes, he chooses his pets names hisself). We went through the normal adjustment period in which Spike would ball up, pop, and his at us, but he has mellowed more than I ever thought possible. I made a small animal Cozy Sak for Spike because he likes to bury and it made him easy to handle till he got use to us. Spike has mellowed so much, we use him as a therapy hedgehog. He travels with twice a month to the nursing and assisted living homes. The residents are excited to see him because he's so different. They like hearing about how to take care of him and watch him run around in his ball. Although we don't let anyone else hold him, they do pet him and he's just loves it.

     Providing therapy for the nursing home residents.

Aaron plays with Spike all the time. I love to see him watching TV and telling Spike about what's going on, just like a friend was sitting there with him. Spike is a wonderful addition to our family.  I thank God for bringing him into our lives and that we are not the only one's being blessed by this adorable, loving, therapy Hedgehog named Spike.

Need a Cozy Sak for your small animal? My shop has several colors to choose from. Receive 10% OFF your Cozy Sak purchase with coupon code SPIKE10.
King Mtn Treasures