[bryannam97]

Hello everyone! Im a new mommy to my Flynn, whom I'm cuddling with right now! I'm having issues potty training, even though I've only had him about a week and a half. (He's about 7 weeks)

I realize I have to be extremely patient and he may never learn, but his pooping schedule seems off and I feel like it may be my fault. He poops insanely every night on his wheel, which is natural, but he always poops on me. I hold him at about seven to eight every night. I wake him up and allow him, well, wake up! He usually eats and drinks a little them try's and sleep but then I pick him up. I have made the habit to then take him straight to the bathroom sink to give him a poopy foot bath. And as a baby, this scares the poop out of him, literally! While in the sink he poops so much, then when I hold him he's all out of poop usually. I'm afraid I'm making the habit for him to always poop when I put him in the sink. I don't want the sink to be known as the "litter box" to him.

How can I ensure he poops in his cage, like in the sink, before I play with him? I'm trying to potty train him but I'd rather him go just anywhere in the cage, so I could try and train him, rather to learn to go in the sink. I know to be patient but any thoughts will help! Thanks

 

[shmurciakova]

If I were you I would try putting a litter pan in the corner of his cage or else on the floor in a particular corner. After you have woken him up instead of rushing him to the sink hold him for a few minutes. When you see that tail start to go up place him in the litter pan. I would also suggest you put a couple of his poops there so that he will realize that is the toilet area. If he tries to run out of the pan just keep on gently putting him back there again or just sort of stand there and block him. If you put a small pan or box in his cage you can do the same thing, put a couple of the poops there and see if he will start going in that corner. I hope that makes sense.
Good luck,
Susan H.

 

[TikkiLink]

I agree with everything shmurciakova just said. That's what I did. My litter pan is under the wheel, so it's a natural poop spot. Hedgehogs seem to need to move around to poop, so when my hedgehog was still a baby I would take her out and let her wiggle and dig in my arms for a minute then put her in her litter when I saw the poop coming-- usually just waking her up and letting her stay in her cage didn't get her moving enough. Your hedgehog might also eventually just grow out of being a poop machine. It seemed that as soon as mine hit 6 months she can easily go without pooping until much later in the night, and she has not pooped in her foot bath in a long time.