Meet Penelope!
Her name is Penelope, and she is amazing.
Late in 2015, I started thinking about getting a pet in the HS media center. Fish were the obvious choice (low maintenance, easy to enjoy) but I don't really like fish, don't want to clean the tank, and am uncomfortable having large amounts of water in a room full of books and tech.
Some research later revealed the perfect answer was a hedgehog!
Low maintenance!
No dander!
No smell!
Can (sometimes) be litterbox trained!
So cute!
So in early January, I contacted a breeder in Gladstone, IL and bought a super cute 5 month old African hedgehog.
Welcoming her to school was a whole school activity.
The shop classes built her beautiful living quarters. They took an old dog kennel and built a base, a second floor, a ramp, a house, and a lounge chair!
We had naming contest and got 148 name suggestions!
When we narrowed it down to 6 and had a schoolwide vote, 168 people voted, which is more than half the school! In the end, she was named Penelope!
She runs around the media center in a ball, but, as a nocturnal wee beastie she is often asleep, But, for those who say she does nothing: