Is OTHER wrong in the post ? POST : First time poster here with a moral dilemma. 

*Backstory: I own a pet hedgehog named Loki.He needed to have an eye surgically removed recently and has finally recovered, but needless to say has been through a lot of stress. (Surgery, anesthetics, vet visits, antibiotics, etc.)

My vet posted his story to Facebook, with my permission, because hedgehogs are fairly unusual as pets and she was proud of saving his life. This is all fine, personally I don’t use Facebook but apparently the post got a lot of traction within our community. 

Apparently, our neighbors saw the post as well and showed the pictures of my little companion to their 5 year old son. 

*Side note: I’m not close to my neighbors, just the occasional hello.*

Just today, the father rang the doorbell and asked about Loki, referring to the post. It was kind of them to check up on him and I told them that he was doing well, to which he asked if they could see him. More specifically, if his son could see him. 

I understand that he is a rare pet and am aware of how exciting he must be to a kid, so I agreed. 

I asked them to come back later in the evening, since Loki is nocturnal and I avoid waking him up during the daytime (this was around 2PM, in Loki-time that’s like being shaken awake at 2AM)

He agreed and came back around 4:30ish (PM), with their son. He was really excited about seeing my hedgehog, so I let them in and brushed over the fact that they ignored my request. Loki wouldn’t be happy about me waking him up this early, but it would be fine. Plus, I don’t know the kids schedule, so maybe anything later wouldn’t have worked. 

I led everyone to my room and gently lifted the fleece blanket off my grumpy hedgie. After a while, he calms down.

The kid *looses his shit*. I mean excited squealing, jumping up and down, etc. This startled Loki and he curled up into a hissing ball (they’re easy to startle), to which I picked him up to calm him down. 

The parents then ask if their son can hold him as well. He gets even more excited. 

Here’s where I want to know if I was the asshole: Hedgehog spikes can hurt when they’re defensive, and I wouldn’t trust a kid that young not to drop him out of fright. My hedgehog doesn’t know his scent and the kid was very fidgety prior to this, so I was concerned that this would scare Loki and lead to him being held improperly or dropped. And most importantly, I didn’t want to risk any further stress after his surgery story. 

I was polite, but firm when I said no.

The kid was upset, but ultimately understood and thanked me gloomily for showing him my pet. Despite being unhappy about not being allowed to hold him, but took it very gracefully. (Especially for a kid that young!)

Here’s the thing: When we were at the door, the mom pulled me aside and told me that it was unnecessary of me to refuse her sons wish and that I had made him upset. She still thanked me, but shook her head as she left. 

Am I the asshole? Could I have handled it better? 