Fritter isn’t a huge fan of me taking pictures of him, so I have to be very careful when I do it lmao. Today he really wanted to know what the heck my phone was and after poking his head out got up close and personal with my phone lens
Fritter was still awake when I went in to feed him (7am) and needed to run around for a bit before curling up in his snuggle sack to sleep
Tried to include mostly recent drawings that weren’t super boring (just headshots and the same exact angle)
Things I know I need to work on
- shading
- consistency
- folds
I also am aware I draw the same character a lot the 4th and last drawings are not that character, they’re drawings of myself.
I don’t draw constantly anymore, but I wanted to know what could use work. Most of these drawings were in the last few months, but I only have a few things that I’d consider to be my art style because my art varies a lot 😓
Fritter had his cage cleaned today, so he was traveling around the house with me while his liners were being washed. I mostly sewed today, so not a ton of disruption, he was mostly content.
He did briefly fall asleep in my hand before trying to meet one of my cats. He was very upset that I had the nerve to stop him in his tracks while he waddled across my bed to her 😭 She was just chilling on my bed and didn’t approach Fritter so I had let her stay. Fritter took this as an open invitation to figure out what she was he’s so clueless and it’s very cute
Obligatory photo of cat included
So… I’m new to selling fursuit parts (I am not advertising my commissions here), and I’ve made my first major mistake.
I recently took on a floor dragger commission and thought I had enough fur already to make it (the commissioner seemed to be very hesitant about paying for materials) so I waved off material cost and just took the base price. Well, I did not have enough fur, and I’m not sure how to approach this.
I don’t need an entire half yard of the fur, but I can’t buy it as any smaller and of course I used big z fur and it’s going to cost 40 dollars to buy a half yard 😭
It’s the “Cafe Solid Shaggy Long Pile Faux Fur Fabric” I’d greatly appreciate it if anyone who has leftovers of it would let me purchase it
I made the mistake, so I’m taking accountability and handling the cost myself, but how can I avoid this in the future? I usually overestimate how much materials I’ll need, but I didn’t realize just how big this tail was going to be…
I’m so lost on what to do with prices because I want to ensure I make profit while also having reasonable prices. I’ve been told multiple times that my prices are too low, but they really aren’t when the material cost gets added on. If I charged them for fur, it probably would’ve been 120-140 usd I would profit 80 usd off of that.
This is definitely a learning moment for me 😭 I will 100% never work with someone who seems to be hesitant about paying me again
Edit: I asked them if we could discuss possible payment options for the fur and they were extremely sweet about it 😭 they even said that I was “the only one who’s good at tails” I feel so silly for being nervous to ask
Fritter is not very happy that we took his snail hide and replaced it with an igloo hide. It was his fault but I do feel bad for him 😭
He basically can’t be trusted with plush hides, he ripped a hole in the snail hide and ripped up some of the foam. Clearly not safe, so we had to take it 😓 He’s not sure if he’s a fan of the new hide yet
He was very cuddly earlier though and fell asleep snuggled into my arm 😭 I love this spunky little guy so much 😋🫶
I woke up early to see Fritter before he went into his hide for the day. 100% worth waking up at 5 am
I cut out most of the clips where he went into a hide for a couple seconds before coming out again. He’s so fast and such a cutie. I’m going to try and go out and get him a tunnel and stuff soon, so I’ll post about that when I do
Fritter has just ruined his second hide to the point that I don’t believe it’s safe. It’s a plush snail and has foam in it, so he keeps getting it all over himself, that cannot be good for him.
Since this is the second time he’s done that in a short period of time, I think I need to consider finding more enrichment ideas, he clearly is going to hurt himself if this keeps up
I currently have some balls, his wheel, a dig box (with fleece scraps), and a few cat toys (he only likes one of them though). I’ve given him toilet paper rolls because that’s the main other thing I see recommended, he’s not a fan. I think a snuffle mat would work. Idk, I need ideas.
Fritter’s original plush hide was a bee hive, he would go under the cushion and scratch at the bottom. He ended up stuck between the fabric and I had to pull him out. As this was obviously horrifying for me and likely stressed him out, I intentionally got a hide that doesn’t have that type of bottom. Well, he’s moved to scratching at the walls.
I tried to take the snail house away today and I felt like the worst person in the world, he loves that thing. He went to go climb into it and was so confused when he couldn’t find it. He then went looking for it and I just felt so bad for him 😭 I put it back but I’m going to get him a new hide ASAP so I can replace it. I check in on him regularly throughout the day already, but I’ll pay closer attention until he has a new hide to make sure he’s safe.
So please let me know if you have any suggestions for enrichment 😓 I’m thinking something related to burrowing or digging would be best since that’s kind of what he’s trying to do. I already plan to get a few live insects and a small treat dispensing toy if I can find one. I know it’s not recommended, but I do have a wooden hide, I may have to resort to using it if this issue doesn’t get better 😭 advice desperately needed
Fritter’s not a big fan of cameras, so it took a bit to take this pic, but he’s so cute
Tiny baby
Fritter is getting his cardio in this morning. This is the third time he’s been running around today 😭 he’s doing it again right now
For proof of my work, there’s a picture of the fur I have from most of the tails I’ve made. (I have more pictures of the spots in the room to prove it’s my house as well)
Anyways, I’ve been told that I’m way undercharging for my work. This is the first time I’ve done commissions other than material cost ones (which are the main examples)
My pricing is based off of size and material cost. Complexity does not change the price, but needing more materials does. Obviously, I know this is unfair to myself, as I will have to put in a lot of work on more complex things and not get paid for the extra effort. However, I can’t come up with a way to fairly increase the cost based off design, which is why I just add material cost. So yes, I only earn 20 USD from a small tail regardless of complexity.
I’m not that concerned about how much I make off of this, it’s an occasional thing that I’ll do over breaks to have something to do, I’m not in a bad financial position. I do it for fun, I just don’t want to do it for free lmao
I’d like to have suggestions for pricing that is realistic for my skills and that buyers would be interested in. Most of the time, fabric costs less than or around 30$, so keep that in mind, as it is added to the cost.
Fritter still eats like I’m starving him, and I was wondering if changing the time I feed him from when I wake up and instead feed him before I go to bed is a good idea?
I know people typically feed hedgehogs in the evening, but Fritter was kind of on a morning schedule when I got him, so I was nervous to mix things up.
I think he eats like a maniac in the morning because he finishes his food quickly at night and gets hungry.
My concern is that he still eats a lot during the day, so maybe I should just split his food between evening and morning?
Idk what the best approach to this is. He’s about 5 months old and gets 2 tablespoons of food a day. I’ve been occasionally giving him a little more when he has almost nothing left before I go to bed. He isn’t obese or gaining an unhealthy amount of weight, which makes me confused about whether I’m not feeding him enough or something 😓
EDIT: I should clarify that I never actually thought Fritter was overweight, I was trying to joke about him eating a bunch, my bad. But yes, he’s not fat, he just eats like a pig
Fritter was crunching and munching after I refilled his dish
He has to climb into the dish to eat so I’ll probably be getting him new bowls pretty soon 😭
Fritter is getting better with socializing!
I know he’s not going to be like a dog or anything, but he’s getting more comfortable with new people 😋 he met one of my friends yesterday and wasn’t too huffy, approached her a few times
He’s so brave now
I’d like to make a posable tail, but I’m not sure how to go about it. Optimally, I’d like to still be able to make it pretty stuffed, and not super skinny, but I have no clue whether that’ll work lmao.
I know some people use doll armature for things like that, I just don’t have any experience working with that
If anyone could point me to a tutorial, or give me advice, I’d appreciate it!
Recorded Fritter in the middle of what I think were zoomies. He did this the other day as well and was going into his hides and then coming back out, running behind and underneath the wheel until he got hungry.
Just to ease any worries, he has another hide, it’s being washed. And I know I’ll eventually have to get something bigger than the snail hide, he can currently turn around fully in it, and often curls up to sleep with no trouble. His butt is sticking out because he has to scratch at the bottom before he goes all the way in lmao, but rest assured he fits fine for now.
Fritter has recently become obsessed with climbing up onto my shoulders. It’s basically all he wants to do when I hold him.
I’m not sure why he likes to do this so much, but he usually climbs onto my shoulder and then onto the couch (which I lean against so he doesn’t fall and hurt himself when he does this), or he chews on and tugs at my shirt collar.
I think it’s really silly, so I’m just curious if other hedgehogs also do this lol.
Maybe he’s just being moody, but Fritter is acting strange. It’s midnight, so no vets are available and the er vet basically just euthanizes exotic animals.
I pulled him out of his cage and he refuses to unfurl more than just enough for his nose to be visible. So I assumed his face must have been hurting. Well, I sat him in his cage and he pulled out his face, no marks, nothing looks wrong.
Then he just sat there. I’d like to say I’ve bonded with him, but not enough that he would just sit on the opposite side of the cage from his hide. So I assumed it must be a foot issue. He wouldn’t let me see, so I ran a bit of warm water on him in the sink to get a look. Everything looks perfectly fine. And while obviously not wanting a bath motivated him, he quickly started wiggling in my hands, the second I walked back into his room, nothing.
He’s just curled up and shaking now and I’m kind of freaking out. The exotic vet is closed on the weekend, so we won’t be able to get in until Monday. I’ll look to see if there’s more exotic vets near us, but this was the closest one and they’re already over half an hour away, but I’m willing to make the trip if needed.
He was acting normal this morning when I changed his water, fed him and pulled him out for a bit. I left the house around 2:40 pm and got back around 10 pm, but the door is baby proofed (dog can open doors, so we lock it) and he is not housed with any other animals.
Please let me know what I can do or look for while I try to figure out a vet
I apologize if this breaks the rules, I don’t know where else to look in the meantime 😓
Fritter had this hide and has a snuggle sack. Well, he ripped through one of the layers in the beehive and got stuck between them. He was not happy. So clearly he needs something a bit more sturdy. Any recommendations?
I’m sure he’ll eventually rip up the snuggle sack but I can easily make a new one.
I’m thinking this behavior is because he wants to burrow, so I might make it a habit to pull him out and let him dig in some kind of bin for a bit.
Fritter escaped his enclosure again. I think I need a camera to figure out how he’s doing it but I’ve changed the walls of the enclosures to plastic instead of grid so he could not climb them, but here we are.
If there’s anything noticeable that he could escape on let me know, but he’s seriously got me puzzled on this escape. He is kept in a room by himself so he is perfectly safe but I don’t want him falling onto the ground if I can help it 😭
I do have taller plastic pieces that I could use if that’s the best solution.
He’s such a stinker