[lane_m]

My hedgie Wilbur has not used his wheel for the last 2 nights. He is an active hedgehog that loves to run every night. Nothing has changed temperature wise (74 degrees) and he is still eating and drinking. How concerned should I be?

 

[Shelbys Mom]

Does he run a lot during playtime?
That's when one of my girls get's her exercise.
And she refuses to use her wheel.
If he's running during playtime and not using the wheel then he should be fine.

 

[lane_m]

He does run during playtime, but he's been a little quieter the past few days. Still running but not in his usual crazy way. Also, he usually runs on his wheel no matter how much he runs during playtime. Tonight and last night, when I gave him his breakfast he went to sleep! He loves food and usually chows down as soon as I give it to him. Although this morning he had eaten his usual amount. Do they get less active and less crazy about their food as they grow up?

 

[Nancy]

Often when a hedgehogs activity level and food intake drops it is because they aren't warm enough, or they are sick.

74F could be his borderline temperature where he is just on the edge of being too cool. Is 74 your normal room temp or is it obtained by a space heater, heat emitter or have you recently turned air conditioning on? Air conditioned 74 is cooler feeling than heated 74 and usually when A/C is being used, the temperature needs to be kept a few degrees higher.

The easiest thing to try is to up the temperature a few degrees and see if it helps.

Yes they do quit eating as much but that is usually around 5-7 months.

 

[lane_m]

I think you've found the problem Nancy. My a/c has recently kicked in and it's set to cool the house to 74. If I think about it, it does feel a bit cooler than when the heat heats the house to 74. I'll put it up to 76 and see if that changes anything. Thank you.

 

[Nancy]

Ah, that is most likely the problem. If he is in a spare room, just close the vents off in that room then you can have the house the temperature you want and his room should stay a few degrees warmer.