>>5147620
I had a roommate with one, he was quite a timid little guy. The room he stayed in was always very dark, no light at all and I rarely saw him but when I did, he'd get spiky. He never quite got used to me. Sometimes I wonder if they are meant to be pets or domesticated at all but if people keep squirrels and raccoons I guess there's no harm in keeping a hedgehog. They're very cute though.

>>5147672
You have to greet them the proper way.
1. Hedgehogs are nearly blind, but experience most things the same way a very nearsighted human toddler does. The proper way to introduce yourself is to gently and slowly pick them up in both of your hands and bring them to nose level with you and patiently wait for them to unball.
This gives them a chance to unball and sniff you. If you're loud or make fast movements, they'll freak out and stay balled up. Same if you smoke (cigs or weed) or smell like curry.
Do not be loud or obnoxious. Allow the little one to adjust and become curious.
2. Let them get close to your nose. Hedgehogs greet each other with their noses. As long as you're patient, the hedgie will become curious and sniff you.
3. Greet your hedgehog like this periodically. They get used to it and come to expect it.
4. After a day or 2 give the little guy a kiss on his forehead. Expect to be bitten the first couple of times you attempt this more advanced greeting. After he figures out you're not trying to eat him, he'll begin demanding you kiss his forehead. He may even lower his head to accept his forehead kisses.
5. Always be patient. Hedgehogs are indeed timid...at first.
Mine has become so brave he greets even my landlord and relatives happily. He has become so trusting that not much phases him.

I trained all my other hedgies to be highly sociable as well.

>>5147620
they shit everywhere and have a tendency of becoming obese if the cage is not big enough

>>5147620
If I had a hedgehog I would tie it to a stick and use it as a hair brush while I pretend I'm fred flintstone and he mugs at the camera going "Eh, its a living."

>>5147744
Mine only shits in his designated shitting areas. His wheel, his playpen, and his poop tray beneath his wheel.

Sometimes (very rarely) he doesn't reach them quickly enough and hides his face in shame. He had an accident on me once (he was a baby still) and was absolutely mortified for days.

Hedgehogs are very sensitive and see their owners as their parents, if you raise them patiently and treat them with respect. You can't raise them the way you would raise a cat or dog. They act more like very young very autistic human children.

>>5147757
No you wouldn't.
One sad look from the little urchin and you'd feel horrible guilt.
It would haunt you til you died.

>>5147744
That's what a wheel is for, stupid.

>>5147620
Sleep tight Sonic

>>5147757
I hated that stuff in the Flinstones as a kid, I didn't understand, are they now slaves, part of the family, or what?