Max time to spend with hedgie?

[vasogoma]

I know that for a correct bonding I should spend an hour with my new hedgie, and I have no problem at all with that neither I think she does, but I want to know if there is a max time I should spend with her, I am not sure if spending too much time with her would be counterproductive. RIght now she is sleeping in my lap.

Also, what is the best time of the day to spend time with her and at what time I shouldn't bother her, considering hedgies are nocturnal animals and I do want her to have enough sleeping time.

Thanks to everyone in advance

[jellybean18]

Hi I just got my hedgie 3 weeks ago and I have been spending as much time as I can with him each night ( he normally wakes up around 7 p.m.) I don't think there's a max amount of time you can spend with your new hedgie. I feel like mine is really friendly, especially with new people because I spend so much time with him. I'm new to owning a hedgehog but so far spending as much time with him as I can has worked out great. Congrats on your new hedgehog

[shaelikestaquitos]

If you're bothering them to a point where they can get a good... day's sleep, then that would definitely be too much. Having them out for 1-3 hours is fine, imo, as long as it's around the time that they wake up, etc. I wouldn't suggest waking them up repeatedly throughout the day though. Like, imagine if you were trying to sleep peacefully, and someone kept waking you up repeatedly throughout the night, you know?

[vasogoma]

Thanks for replying Congrats to you too. You totally should upload pics of yours, I love seeing everyone's hedgies!

[moxieberry]

I agree, the more the better. Just go by what the hedgehog seems comfortable with. For instance, some will be more grumpy about being taken out at certain times compared to others. If it's going to be for a longer amount of time, it's good to make sure some of it is going to be able to be time with the hedgehog spent sleeping, but generally even during more active playtime, they'll let you know when they're worn out. Letting them take a nap on you after playing/exploring is perfectly fine, just don't try to constantly keep the hedgehog awake or something if you've already been handling her for an hour or two and she makes it clear that she wants to rest. We handle Archimedes as much as possible, which varies from letting him run around on the bathroom floor while one of us showers (it's the only hedgie-proof room, nothing he can get into or escape behind of), having him hang out with us in the evening (on the bed, couch, sometimes letting him wander around the kitchen counter) - and since it's both my boyfriend and I, sometimes the time with Archimedes is together and sometimes, because of different schedules, we do it one-on-one at different points in the day. We also take him out on trips with us to the store or whatever, typically around twice a week. All the socialization seems to be perfect for him - he was quite grumpy during quilling, but now that he's been done with that for a few weeks, he's incredibly friendly and social. He's entirely relaxed with meeting new people and being pet or held by them, even fell asleep on a stranger's hand, and several times he's done his 'no move' trick (laying on one of our hands on his back, belly up, holding perfectly still so we can inspect his feet/ears/mouth, etc.) with several strangers standing around watching. Typically we have him out of his cage with us for up to 5+ hours total each day, with 2-3 being at the low end, and now and then it's more like 7ish when we take him on a trip during the day, then let him go to sleep in his cage, and then take him out again at night for the usual bonding time. It's increased since the quilling stopped, though - originally it was more like 1-3, because when he was grumpy we wanted to get the daily interaction without pushing him too much. The earliest we actually take him out is mid/late afternoon for trips; if it's just to take him out for normal interaction, we do that closer to when he's going to be waking up, maybe 1-2 hours before his light is set to go off. We tend to stay up fairly late, so there's a larger overlap between his waking time and our waking time, which is what allows for it.

I agree with shaelikestaquitos that you don't want to be bothering them excessively during their lights-on hours, but if the hedgehog is comfortable with it (and able to get little naps if they want to) and your schedule allows for it, multiple hours in a day isn't a bad thing at all. :]

[vasogoma]

Thanks to both of you, yeah I guess so far it is okay the way I've been spending time with her. I still can't leave her to walk anywhere without my constant supervision because there might be one or two bugs lying around who died from a recent fumigation and I wouldn't want to risk her.
What she's been doing every time I am the one who carries her is falling asleep in my lap or hand.
Once again, thanks