[laura'sharley]

I am new to the whole hedgehog thing but I am sure loving it!!! :-D I have a few questions about toys though.

1. What do most hedgehogs like to play with? I've heard of toilet paper tubes but my little guy won't go near his! He also has a little cat ball with a bell and several small stuffed animals that he also refuses to touch. So any other ideas of toys to put in his cage?

2. How many toys should I put in his cage? I wan't to make sure that I don't crowd it up too much...but he does have a pretty large cage (about 9 sq. ft.)

3. Are there any toys that I could use to play WITH my hedgehog, not just watch him play?

4. What toys are not hedgehog safe? I want to steer clear from anything that might potentially hurt my hedgie.

Thanks so much!

 

[Abbylee]

Hi! I'm new to hedgies too, but to what I read up on they cannot have anything that can get their little toes or nose stuck in. I have cat jingly balls and a toilet paper tube (that I cut a slit through so she don't get stuck) in my hedgies cage, but I'm not sure if she plays with them. Sometimes they are moved from where I left them but I never hear her play with them. But I'd just keep maybe a few toys in there but don't overload the cage with them. Instead I'd add more tunnels and such things. Maybe even a big pile of bedding. My hedgie don't even use her little hut. Only her huge mound of eco bedding . Anyways, good luck! Hope someone more experienced than me can go more in depth.

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[sklock65]

Others may or may not agree...but I'm overly cautious and would be particular about what I would leave in the cage vs what I would let hedgie play with while supervised.

The only things I leave permanently in my hedgie's cage are PVC pipe pieces and fleece strips. I left a plastic ball in there once and it literally did not move for days! I have fleece strips in his igloo for him to burrow in and I also have a "fleece forest" setup that he seems to love. I attached long pieces of fleece to the top of the cage and he seems to like walking through it.

As far as toys for supervised playtime I have some experience with that as well. My hedgie never took to toilet paper rolls but obviously lots of hedgies like those. We bought a bunch of ping pong balls and sometimes fill his playpen. He likes to push them around with his nose. He has pushed a small toy truck around a few times and is always up for exploring new little stuffed toys...although once he meets a new one he isn't usually interested again.

My best advice is to just keep trying. Every hedgie is different so it's worth a shot to try new things. We have found that sometimes bribing hedgie with a piece of food in or near a new toy will kind of force him to go over and explore it. Some hedgies seem to be more playful than others so be patient...and creative!

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[Annie&Tibbers]

Lots of hedgehogs don't play with toys.

My small friend invents a lot of toys while we roam around the house together. He loves leather, so I collected some scraps from a leather-working friend, and he likes tug-of-war, so he has a dog-toy with elasticized bits to pull on. During supervised playtime, I give him piles of books & things to climb around (making sure he can never take a big fall), and interesting scents to explore.

 

[Brittany]

1. Some things they like, other than ball and toilet paper tube, is…well almost anything lol. My guy gets bored fast, but if I put some laundry on the floor he will like to dig through it (for like 1 minute until he is bored lol), other tubes like plumbers pipes, I make a mound out of his extra fleece liners for him to climb up, stuffed animals (preferably hedgie sized), Stuff to push around like a toy truck (you can also put treats in, my guy even likes little boxes to push around sometimes, some even play with paper towels, newspapers, etc.
2. I put 1-2 things in mine, and cycle through them so he doesn't get bored. The rest he plays with when I take him out. But you could really just use your judgment and you should be able to tell if too much floor space is being used up.
3. My first hedgie LOVED to play tug of war with her stuffed monkey toy, she would also do this with socks. My new guy wont really play with them. Each hedgie is different.
4. Nothing they could choke on, nothing heavily scented or cleaned using strong chemicals

 

[sklock65]

I forgot about one (odd) thing I stumbled upon! I'm not sure I've seen other hedgies do this but one day I put a shoebox lid on top of hedgie only to discover that he will walk around "wearing" it and actually hisses when we take it OFF! Sometimes they like the weirdest things. Just be sure there are no strings they can get caught on. Always a good idea to keep on eye on them especially with new toys.

Here's Henry with his prized box too in case anyone's curious. (You can see around 0:50 how low and stretched out he is under there...almost like he feels like he is exploring a deep cave or something haha)

😊

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[Brittany]

@sklock - My guy does the same thing lol. Just last night we gave him a paper plate and he went underneath it and was walking around like a turtle with it on his back. So funny and cute! They really do like the strangest stuff!

 

[laura'sharley]

Thanks so much for the creative ideas. He loves the fleece forest