Hello again GGR readers!
I have gotten a few messages mentioning that it has been awhile since I published a hedgehog update. Really it’s been awhile since I have provided any sort of personal update altogether. That is something I am going to work on getting better at this year. I hope to connect more with people by letting them see more of my day to day life.
I know I start every year with some kind of “This year I want to do X” type post and so far I have completely sucked at following through. Maybe that will again this year, but I am hoping not. 2019 is the year of goals! Biggest ones being to write consistently, and to weigh less than 200 lbs before I’m 30.
Yikes, just thinking about that freaks me out. Not the concept itself, that sounds awesome, but the level of discipline and follow through that is required. Obviously up until now that has been lacking. Oh well, we will touch on that another time, too much for this post, because this one is gonna be all about the bush bacon. Update #1: She is still cute as hell.
Update 2: Apparently when you talk about your hedgehog often enough and you post about them enough on Instagram you become labeled a hedgehog person. This really came to my attention when I started opening up Christmas gifts this year. The hedgehog theme was real.
Not shown, the OTHER hedgehog ornaments I received. The hedgehog puzzle. Hedgehog wrapping paper. And the hedgehog gift to end all hedgehog gifts: Holly’s new cage! Holly officially passed the 1 year old mark around Thanksgiving and it was decided that it was time for her to upgrade. Although the two story cage that we started out with was a good first step, she had officially outgrown it and needed more space to derp around. For an update on what her original cage looked like check out my first Holly post here.
The biggest issues with it were that she had basically become almost too big to fit through the hole from the first level to the second level where her food was kept. Also she needed more space for a bigger wheel because she was too big for her original one. And damn if she does not love that wheel. I don’t know how much hedgehogs run around in the wild, but she could spend hours just spinning that thing.
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This was a gift from the parents who have no chill. My mother operates under the “Go big or go home” motto at all times. So. Holly was basically upgrading to a hedgehog palace. I don’t want this to seem like a complaint because it certainly isn’t. I make these comments with a combination of amusement and love towards the mother who overdelivers.
So Step One: the assembly. This is where I am going to stand on my little soap box and give a shoutout to simple and well illustrated instructions.
I cannot stress enough how much a bad instruction set can ruin the experience of putting together a new item. Although to give credit where credit is due, some of my most creative and enthusiastic cursing has come thanks to bad instructions. So there’s the silver lining. Utilizing these beautiful words and pictures, initial construction was a breeze.
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Unfortunately, either due to a manufacturing problem, or rough handling during delivery, we did end up encountering problems. These metal pegs that were meant to attach the top portion of the cage to the bottom were bent to the side and warped so that they no longer fit together.
Fortunately, the wife and I are both problem solvers. This was one of those times in construction where the fix is just, “hit it with a damn hammer”. And hit we did. Much to the frustrations of every creature in our house with sensitive ears, the hammering (with gusto) did the trick.
Once those issues were ironed out the rest of the cage came together pretty quickly. At this point the verdict was reached that there must have been some type of issue when it shipped because once we got the doors on they were pretty wonky. Not because there was anything wrong with the way they attached, the frame itself was slightly bent. Still, it more than passed muster for Holly.
We soon filled it up with all of the random hedgehog accoutrements we have picked up over the last year. Our Idea was to go for as natural a layout as possible, minus the blue igloo and new running wheel. We even threw in a sand pit for her to play in. Holly was obviously very confused and slightly stressed during the move but she soon settled into one of her rock caves for the rest of the afternoon.
The next morning we awoke to what we took were good signs. First off, almost everything we had put in her habitat had been moved around in some way or another. So she had definitely spent the night moving around and exploring her new home. Also, judging by the amount of sand and bedding she had tossed, out of her new home, it seems like she had had a good time doing it.
I should mention that as of right now the bedding thing is the only downside to her new cage. Because of the face that it’s all grates and bars, she pretty much continuously knocks her bedding out of the cage and onto the floor. It is something I am currently working on a fix for, my next step is going to be adding some siding to the cage to try to keep everything contained. I will update with new pics once that is complete if it solves the issue.
So that’s all I have to report as of today. Happy hedgepig. Happy family. I also wanted to thank everyone for the feedback I have been getting on the Letters to Brian series. I’m glad y’all are enjoying it. I should be posting another update either tomorrow or at the beginning of the week next week. It’s making me happy to know people are enjoying it so much. So again, thanks.
Also I will get back to posting some of my normal tech and gaming stuff soon as well. Lots of good games launching in the next couple of months.
Take Care!
-CDL
Geek Gone Rogue 