Louie

Louie is my pet hedgehog. Most of the time when people find out I have a hedgehog they ask "what in the world made you think to get a hedgehog?" Well, I had several guinea pigs growing up and while they are very sweet animals, they can get kind of smelly. My friend Lisa has a friend that had a hedgehog and she told me all about it. So of course the animal lover that I am... had to get one! That is how I ended up with my first hedgehoge named Rosie.

When I lived in Enid and was still in college I got another hedgehog (Rosie had passed while I was in highschool... sweet girl) and still have him. His name is Louie. Louie has been on many adventures in his short little life...

Below are some of the adventures that we have had through the years:

Below: Louie likes dark places... unfortunately he got stuck in this one. There are bite marks on the inside of this koozie from him trying to get out. Rest assured I rescued him and all was well.

Below: This is Louie's and most pet hedgehogs favorite toy. I think when they get their head inside (and yes, he can get himself out) they think they are tunneling. Pretty cute. He would sleep with his head in it if I would let him.
Below: Snoozing on the couch.
Below: Louie's wheel might actually tie as his favorite toy (he has a green one now...much more manly). He literally runs on this thing all night long. He was an expert escape artist until I got him one. 3 mornings in a row I had to hunt for this little guy. Fortunately he had found a pile of clothes to rummage through and eventually fell asleep there not far from his cage.
Below: Louie was tubing and fell into his food bowl and got stuck.
Below: At my apartment in Enid I had an extra bedroom. When I didn't have any roommates, it was Louie's play room. I accidently left a roll of paper towels on the floor one day and Louie started tunneling with it. He was having such a good time that I couldn't take it away from him.
Below: Louie is breaking out of his paper towel roll tunnel.
Below: I love this picture of him. The paper towel all around him is from where he had been trying to dig.
Below: Jungle Louie!! Louie enjoys the outdoors... but I have to be careful. If he finds any kind of poop he puts it (anoints) all over himself. Then he of course gets a bath.
Below: I decided one day to expand Louie's cage. He had been living in one sterilite tub, so I decided to add another one on. I went to Lowe's and got a piece to connect them. I had a blister by the time I was finished. Here Louie is checking out his new tunnel to go back and forth between his tubs.
Below: Peek-a-boo!! Sometimes I line the couch with pillows and Louie plays behind them (again the tunnel thing).
Below: Louie was visiting Lisa's Pre-K class and decided it was time to play a game. For some reason he is trying to dig. Louie has probably visited hundreds of elementary students in his short little life.
Below: Peek-a-boo again! He was snuggling in a blanket with me.
Below: GRRR Louie really isn't mean. I had icy hot on my legs and the smell made him bite my pants. He then would anoint himself with the new smell.
Below: He kind of looks like a ferret in this picture. He had just had a bath and I was drying him off and keeping him warm.
Below: I just love this picture of him. So sweet.
Below: Louie just playing in his wood chips.
Below: This is another one of my favorites of my little man. His eyes look so full of mischief.
Below: Unfortunately in this picture Louie was being taken to the vet. He had a big sore on his foot. The vet had never seen a hedgehog before... I wanted to know whether or not it was infected. He ended up being fine and his foot healed right up.
Below: Just hanging out.
Below: Louie LOVES LOVES LOVES mealworms. So much he crawled into the bag and went to town on em.
Louie has had some medical problems arise. He has been losing quills for about 1 1/2 months now. I have been trying to treat him for dry skin and possible mites with not much success. He has been eating fine and his activity levels have not changed, but I found blood in his urine on Monday. He has been to the vet and we are attempting to try to figure out what is going on with him. This time I took him to a vet that is more familiar with exotics. Awaiting urine tests results.

Ju