Proud Parents

Today I received extremely exciting news: I am a mom.

Well, kind of.

I am a mom in the closest sense that I plan to be for a while. A proud mom of a baby hedgehog. I have wanted a pet ever since I have moved from home. Residing in the dorms presented a problem with this desire. Now, however, I finally can have a pet of my own. Today, Olivia (the real mom) had her babies at 11:00 a.m. I will be gaining custody of Sonic the week before Christmas, officially making me a proud parent.

My boyfriend and I, after a long discussion, placed our names on the waiting list for a baby boy out of this most recent litter of hedgehogs in Lafayette, IN. Now, this was a huge decision on both of our parts (mainly mine because I will have custody and he will only have visitation rights). As it is with any potential pet owner, it is definitely a high-effort decision. We had to make sure we knew how to care for Sonic, what to feed him (fresh vegetables, eggs, and cat food), where he should stay (in a guinea pig cage), if he can be potty trained (surprisingly, yes in a litter box when he is out to play), what kind of family history he comes from (healthy and non-aggressive), and a variety of other factoids. The information we sought was a result of making a high-effort decision. The perceived risks of this purchase were great when we began our search. Knowing that the baby hedgehog was going to be expensive, we wanted to lower the perceived risk before purchasing; we did this by information search. Now that the perceived risk seems to be minimal in our minds by purchasing Sonic from a well-known breeder of the hedgehog world, we made our decision and anticipate excitement and enjoyment as we begin our journey as first-time parents.

(Picture courtesy of Jennifer Jack, Facebook)