My hedgie hasn't been using her wheel lately?

[Izzy_Scoop]

My hedgehog, Scoop, has always loved running on her wheel.

She didn't have a wheel before we adopted her, and she took to it immediately.

Lately though, she hasn't been running on it at all. She is walking around just fine when I take her out and her nails aren't long. I keep it dark, just like I always have, and keep it warm enough for her.

Is she ill?

She has always been on the smaller side, but she seems to be eating more lately, so that coupled with the lack of running is making her a bit chubby, which is okay to a point.

What could be the reason for her suddenly not having interest in the wheel? She seems perfectly healthy to me, although I am not a vet. We have a very good exotics vet if something is wrong, but I don't want to spend the money on it if it ends up being nothing.

Thank you in advance,
Izzy

[Lilysmommy]

Check the wheel - is anything off about it? Maybe it's wobbly, squeaky, or harder to move than usual. You could try putting a blanket over her cage as well (be careful of any heating elements) and see if it helps, though you said the darkness hasn't changed. Sometimes they change their minds about how dark is dark enough, or something very small changes that we don't really notice.

What kind of wheel is it? How much more is she eating? Is her poop normal? Is she drinking the same as normal or more/less? Do you know how old she is? How long has it been since she stopped running on her wheel? Try to think back to when it was and see if you can think of anything at all that may coincide with when she stopped running - new people/pets in the house, anything new added to her room, changes to her cage, any changes to her routine, food (including new bags of same brand of food), etc.

Sometimes they like to make it challenging for us. And of course, sometimes it is nothing and they take a break for a while just to freak us out. But always better to be safe and try to think of all the other possible explanations before writing it off, just in case. If you absolutely can't think of a cause, just keep a close eye on her for anything else changing.

[Izzy_Scoop]

Originally Posted by Lilysmommy

Check the wheel - is anything off about it? Maybe it's wobbly, squeaky, or harder to move than usual. You could try putting a blanket over her cage as well (be careful of any heating elements) and see if it helps, though you said the darkness hasn't changed. Sometimes they change their minds about how dark is dark enough, or something very small changes that we don't really notice.

What kind of wheel is it? How much more is she eating? Is her poop normal? Is she drinking the same as normal or more/less? Do you know how old she is? How long has it been since she stopped running on her wheel? Try to think back to when it was and see if you can think of anything at all that may coincide with when she stopped running - new people/pets in the house, anything new added to her room, changes to her cage, any changes to her routine, food (including new bags of same brand of food), etc.

Sometimes they like to make it challenging for us. And of course, sometimes it is nothing and they take a break for a while just to freak us out. But always better to be safe and try to think of all the other possible explanations before writing it off, just in case. If you absolutely can't think of a cause, just keep a close eye on her for anything else changing.

Thank you for your help! Scoop really does enjoy freaking me out for no reason, which is why I am not wary about taking her to the vet when I am not certain it is serious, she is about a year and a half by the way. The only change I could think of was that we moved the dog's crate into my room, although we do not have a dog right now (we foster, and do not currently own a dog). She does go through phases occasionally where she eats more and drinks the same amount as usual, she has always been on the smaller side and you could say she has a sense of portion control, usually eating around maybe half of the little bowl I give her.. I am awful at estimating.

Anyways, I will try putting a towel on, and there doesn't seem anything wrong with her wheel. This seems kind of strange, but usually when I clean her cage I put a different little toy for her and a different house or something for her to burrow in, and I didn't do that last time I cleaned it, just put the other things back in (they weren't dirty so I figured it wouldn't hurt) so being her dramatic self she could be annoyed I guess.. although it seems kind of far fetched.

Well, this reply has certainly gotten long! In conclusion, thank you very much for your help!


Izzy