[Cotton Toes]

Hi! I have an amazing hog, A.Ham, who is about 3 years old. She recently suffered a bit of a back injury and is not as rambunctious as she use to be. A.Ham is slowly getting her mobility back but has a hard time using her wheel. Does anyone have any suggestions to encourage A.Ham to move around a bit more that is not exercise wheel related? She lives in a large enclosure and spends roughly 5-6 hours free-roaming her room in the evening. A.Ham is not overly food motivated which seems to have foiled all of my other attempts.

 

[Ragou]

A flying saucer allows a more natural curving of the spine during running to my knowledge. Also, it has to be large enough (ours is fifteen inches in diameter). But you may want to extend the time until she gets her wheel back because she might still have back pain and it may revert the healing process if she strains her back. You could let her run around in a safe area in your flat, maybe? I have seen hedgehogs playing with table tennis balls and toilet paper rolls in videos. You could hide interesting-smelling things in different spots if she's not so driven by food. But you can still try portioning her food and hiding it in several places too instead of putting it in her bowl. Give her a burrowing place, using ground paper or cut fleece or pompoms. These are my ideas for entertainment

 

[Cotton Toes]

Thank you so much Ragou! This was super helpful!

 

[Ragou]

I am glad I could help! Let us know how she's doing

 

[RichPalmer68]

I use some foamboard sheets cut into 8" x 24" planks and tape them together to make a wall so I can cordon a front hall for the four of them to scurry about. I will put down some cardboard packing shapes and other boxes, an opened oatmeal tube, shoes and hats (they love to hide under hats), and some food and water. They might hide for a while, but them I'll here their pitter-patter all over the place. Be prepared to clean up the poop everywhere. Also, no boots that they can get stuck in.