When you say spike, do you mean like a porcupine, with the quills comming out?-If you do, the answer is no. Their quills don't come out (once in a great while they will shed around one quill..)

They do jump and hiss to scare you when they are nervous or frightened, and if your hand is close enough, the quills could hit you. It does hurt a little, but, the pain quickly goes away. (When they are scared, they pump blood into their quills to make them basically stand up to protect it more)

With Splinter, we only use a glove to pick her up, then she calms down and we can hold her with our bare hands..It really depends on how they are raised and cared for.

You can let them run free with or without a ball..Just to forwarn you, if you do get a hedgie, they are wonderful escape artist, and can easily hide from you! Strong supervision will be a nessecity (sp?) when they are not in a ball. With a ball, they don't have to be watched as carefully, as long as they aren't by stairs or other pets that would like to "play" with them.

Here is a couple of more sites!: http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/comemee.../hhcare8A.html

Let us know what you decide on!-
Steph and Splinter