Pliny the hedgehog passed away today at about 5:30pm. He had been very ill for weeks, and while Eva and I had been giving him antibiotic shots and feeding him by hand for over a week, he was not going to get better. We’ll miss him. He was a very good ‘hog.
We just moved to a new place, and while we have an internet connection jury-rigged, he’s not set up to use it yet. So he’ll be taking a break from blogging until everything’s in place for him.
Actually, we’re going on vacation, and Pliny’s going off to stay with a friend. New sights, new smells, same cage. He’ll be taken good care of, and he’ll return to blogging around the 25th.
We gave Pliny his first bath on Sunday. He was NOT a happy hog. Apparently some hedgehogs absolutely love to swim, while some hate it. Pliny, it would seem, falls into the later category. This is a pity, since hedgehogs look so cute when they swim.
We cleaned and filled up the kitchen sink with a inch or two of warm water. Once placed in, Pliny immediately started trying to climb out. It wasn’t deep enough to force him to swim, but enough to get his belly pretty wet. He got soaped, scrubbed with a tooth brush, and rinsed. Getting him thoroughly dry almost took as long as the bath. It’s important to keep him dry and warm. Also, when wet, his quills stick together, making him look even more bedraggled and, you guessed it, cute.
Thankfully, Pliny will only need a few baths a year. A bath every so often can keep a hedgehog looking its best, and also cut down on the amount of hedgehog proteins accumulated on their quills. This is useful to decrease my allergic response to getting poked.
Welcome to what I believe is the world’s first blog not just about a hedgehog, but written primarily by a hedgehog. Pliny’s the hedgehog in question, and he’s still busy adjusting to his new home with us, but I’ve taken the liberty of setting up his blog for him in advance. Once he’s settled in I’m sure he’ll start posting like no ‘hog before him has.
