Rosemary

Hello, lovelies!

Meet Rosemary, our newest addition to the family.

She's a cute little couch companion.

Rosemary (or Rosie, as we've begun calling her) is an eight week old African Pygmy Hedgehog. She was born on September 3, 2013 and we adopted her on October 11, 2013.

First photo I took of Rosie on the day of her adoption!

I'd researched hedgehogs in the past, and I happened upon a local and reputable breeder while doing so. I bookmarked the website and then all but forgot about it. After getting our hopes dashed and having to re-home a kitten we'd adopted earlier this year, we were leery of getting another pet and we didn't talk about it very much.

During our vacation last month, after we'd gotten back from the aquarium trip, J turned to me and said, "I've been thinking... we should get a hedgehog." I think my squeal of delight was so loud that the car in the next lane heard us.

Well, he certainly didn't have to tell me twice! Within two weeks, I'd contacted the bookmarked breeder, paid for a newly-born hoglet (what awesome timing that was), and ordered all of the supplies for our new quill-covered addition.

She has been a joy. We've learned that everything on the hedgehog forums is true -- you absolutely do have to socialize hedgies in order for them to adapt to you. They are not like dogs and cats -- they don't come to you after being around you for five minutes. We get her out for several hours a night to hang out with us while we watch TV or snuggle on the couch, and she has come a long way. She used to hide and sleep in her little fleece cozy-sack and she would refuse to come out, going so far as to huff and ball up if we tried handling her directly.

Grumpyface.

 
We've only had her three weeks, and now she's not shy at all. We get her out and she's all over the place. She crawls on us, she attempts to climb couch cushions, she sniffs everything in her path, she shoves herself under our hands or our arms and goes to sleep.

Sleepyface.

Climbing the cushion -- VERY successfully. Part monkey, this one.

Everyone else in our lives seems to have fallen in love with her, too. I can't wait to take her to family gatherings during the holiday season! So much fun for all of us (and so many new smells for her, ha)!

So that, my friends, is the story of little miss Rosemary (so far). Prepare yourselves; I'm sure many more photos are to come in the future!