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Is something wrong with my hedgie?

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Nancy 
#1 ·
I bought a six week-old hedgehog, Steve, about two or three weeks ago, which is about eight or nine weeks old, and he sleeps what seems like too much. He sleeps usually past nine o'clock sometimes past eleven, central time. Would waking him and making him get up an play at around nine, or is waking a sleeping hedgehog a bad idea?

I also looked around on the forums and found that you can tell a lot by their poop. He poops a lot, and sometimes in his food bowl. I also read on many different pages that they poop in one area of their cage, but Steve does not . Is their anything to worry about?

Thanks,
Chad
 
#2 ·
Your hedgehog is young and will do things a lot differently as he gets older. It isn't necessarily a bad thing to wake him , as long as you do it at an appropriate time for him ( as you probably know , they are nocturnal) but even so , an occasional wake up during the day is not going to hurt them. It can become a problem I have learned if they do sleep TOO much. But , babies can sleep more or less than they would if they were adults.
 
#4 ·
About the poop, it's more important to know what it regularly looks like than where he poops because he is a baby and in a new environment it will take him time to settle down and get a routine. If you decide to start waking him up try to do it at the same time every night and just hold him for a while. If he wants to sleep he can do so on your lap and that way will learn your scent.

Good Luck
 
#5 ·
Chad,

I do not think he is necessarily sleeping too late. Ours sleeps fairly late, too, though we do play with her daily. She was rescued from a care center as she had been neglected, abused and abandoned. She was not the friendliest little thin when I went to visit her but that tough exterior melted when my son, a Steve Irwin type, first handled her. So, we do try to play w/ her daily to keep her as sweet and tame as she became in his arms. I have three young sons (just turned 9, almost 7, almost 5) who love her and have to accept that she is nocturnal. She is estimated to be 1.5 yrs.

Be sure Steve is active at night - is there evidence he is using his wheel? If food and waste seem OK, I wouldn't worry. I would try to handle him about 30 min. per day. As mentioned above, if he wants to sleep on your lap, that's OK. We use a couple of mealworms or bananas to wake up "Spikerina" and she rarely balls up for us. I think she knows treats are coming when we go in for our play time!

Good luck.
Dana
 
#6 ·
thank you very much for all that help, but today i came home and looked in his cage and saw that he had his poop rolled up into a big ball in his wheel, i didn't know if that should be something to worry about or not? any suggestions
 
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