pugs and pygmy hedgehogs.

I wanted to blog about this beautiful iPhone 5 case Daniel ordered as a gift for me for Christmas. I'm so happy with it. He ordered it from this etsy seller  who apparently already followed and read my blog - crazy! Harriet does lots of other pretty illustrated design goodies including sweet drawings of cats, dalmatians and of course pugs, head over to her etsy shop to take a peek you won't regret it!

Some of you have been asking how Pickle is. She's doing great as always! We have to keep a closer eye on her during the colder winter months as African pygmy hedgehogs do not like the cold! So we have a little electric blanket underneath her cage and a microwavable heat pad in her bed so she's nice and warm! We've also been buying her some more toys such as tubes for her cage, she loves running and hiding in them!

Quick questions answered about Pickle -

Where did you buy her?

A licensed local pet shop. We were told by pets at home that they will have them soon too! 

Are they illegal? 

Not in the UK.

What does she eat? 

Dry cat food. Hedgehogs can eat other things but we don't like to mess with her diet as she got poorly once after eating a meal worm even though they're usually fine for hedgehogs! A little tip hedgehogs are lactose intolerant so never give them milk!

How much did she cost? 

I bought her as a little bundle pack so we got her indoor plastic cage, food, wheel (which hedgehogs need!) and everything set up including pickle for £370 she isn't cheap as she is classed as an exotic pet! She is worth every penny to me though.

Does she play? 

I wouldn't recommend a pet hedgehog if you're after lots of interaction or cuddles and definitely not for children. Hedgehogs are very hard to handle and are nocturnal so they usually only come out at night. Sometimes we hear Pickle out and about at 6:00pm but she doesn't like bright lights and loud noises.

Does she bite?

She has only bitten Daniel once. That was due to him having the smell of cat food on his hand, she was hungry. Hedgehogs defence mechanism isn't to bite its to curl up into a little ball and if that happens on your hand you will know about it, they can draw blood!

African pygmy hedgehogs are much smaller than the ones you may sometimes see in your back garden in the UK. If you see a hedgehog out during the day there's a good chance it might be poorly don't handle it as this may cause distress just call the RSPCA if it seems injured or distressed.