# Lazy Hedgehog u.u



## Mr.President (Nov 29, 2011)

Hi everyone! I'm new here, but I've been following the forum since the Summer. In August, my husband and I got our first hedgie. Her name is Mr. President.
Here she is:
[attachment=0:t26jlmis]MrPres1.jpg[/attachment:t26jlmis]

She's an amazing addition to our family! She seems happy, healthy, and overall seems to behave as I would expect based on the feedback I've seen here and read in books. Except for one thing... Mr. President is incredibly lazy!

She never seems to wake up for more than a few minutes at a time unless we wake her up and take away her hiding places. She's always been that way. She sleeps until we wake her up around midnight (I work 2nd shift). We have a nice playpen for her, so we hold her until she gets too rambunctious then we put her in her playpen. When we first got her, she LOVED her wheel. As soon as we set her in her playpen, she was in her wheel and trying to mimic Turbo Hamster. (If you haven't seen the turbo hamster youtube clip, you should.)

After a month, she seemed less interested in her wheel. She didn't appear lethargic - she'd still sniff around, explore a bit, etc., but she didn't do much in her play pen and would soon find the most contained spot to sleep. We were concerned about her diet and double checked with the Vet that we are giving her the right amount of everything she needs. So we thought maybe she likes it a little warmer. So we bought her a heat lamp and thermometer. Turns out the thermometer was broken and we bought the wrong heat lamp. So around October she tried to hibernate!  It was so scary! She was incredibly lethargic & her tummy was cold! We took immediate action to keep her warm, bought a MUCH better heat lamp, heating pad, and thermometer, and she perked right back up! 

Unfortunately, she hasn't regained interest in her wheel. She runs for a short amount of time each night, which is better than she had been doing. But she used to run for hours. In all other ways she seems healthy. But I'm concerned that she'll get overweight from lack of exercise.

My big question is: Is this normal? I haven't seen any threads on lazy hedgehogs, and everything I read indicates they love running and tend to run 5 to 6 miles a night!! Is there a way to encourage her to use the wheel more?

(PS. She's never been interested in any toy except her toilet paper tube. I've tried balls with bells in them and other things she can roll, push, or drag around. She's just not interested. We've even tried hiding treats in her toys to try to get her to interact. Does anyone have any suggestions for toys she might like?)


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

That picture is very cute. =O
I can't really help on the topic of wheel. But as for her weight maybe just cut back on mealies and give more crickets. Also what food is she on? Maybe try slowly adding a food with a lower fat content to help make up for the lack of running. 
But I'm sure someone else will come with more experience with lazy hogs.

Oh and another I suggest is I see that she has a wood hiding thing. You should replace that with a plastic igloo or something similar. Wood can harbor mites.


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## Mr.President (Nov 29, 2011)

Mites?!  I didn't know that, thank you!

I thought about the food too, but we're following the Vet's suggestions. She's already on very low fat cat food, calcium supplement, and mixed veggies and the occasional fruit or lean meat. (She really likes peas, but we mix it up so she doesn't get too many peas every day. She doesn't seem to care about most fruit except apple.) She only gets a few crickets and maybe 1 or 2 mealworms each week.

Luckily, my vet showed me how to keep an eye on her body fat, so I know she's not getting overweight yet!  
Thanks for the feedback!


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

Also we suggest fleece bedding but you don't have to change if you like your aspen. lol
What brand?
It should have a protein/fat ratio of about 32/10. 
No corn (they can't digest it)
A calcium supplement isn't really needed. They should be getting it from their food.
And I'd say add a little more bugs to the diet. They're insectivores.
Dubia roaches are a great feeder. They don't smell like crickets and aren't fatty like mealies. They don't climb well so you put them down and the hedgie has a good time chasing them. 
lol


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## Mr.President (Nov 29, 2011)

Haha, I don't think my husband could handle giving her roaches! When we were doing our research, we found that crickets and mealworms were most common, and he had to get over that. Roaches are nowhere near his comfort zone! :lol: 

She has a mix of cat food, neither has corn. One is Blue Buffalo Weight Control (28/9) and the other is Innova Senior cat food (38/10, I think). The calcium supplement and number of insects is going by the Vet's recommendations. We were lucky to find a specialist in small exotics.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Just a note, getting rid of the wooden hide isn't going to do much if the bedding stays as aspen shavings. Any wood, including bedding, can introduce mites.


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

Lilysmommy said:


> Just a note, getting rid of the wooden hide isn't going to do much if the bedding stays as aspen shavings. Any wood, including bedding, can introduce mites.


I didn't wanna say anything cause I wasnt sure about that. Now I know. Lol 

Haha I haven't touched the dubias yet. I just dumped them in their tank. Waiting for them to breed though. But theyre kinda less gross then crickets. At least they don't jump. o.o


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## jdepu1 (Jul 29, 2011)

This is very similar to my hedgehog!! He is about a year and a half old.. he was a rescue. And when I first got him he hadn't had a wheel..so he was super excited about it and used it for hours and hours. Now he doesnt seem interested in it. He will get on it in his playpen when he is out playing at night, kinda stand on it while it swings back and forth... run for like 30 sec stop...get off walk around and then repeat. He never seems sleepy and if you put treats in or dig boxes he loves those...but he just seems too lazy to run on his wheel hahaha. And if I don't put treats around he will just explore for a bit, do his little routine for about 10 min, and then appear to not care about any of his toys/wheel, and just go under this little house thing i made for him and chill. hahaha i don't know if he is bored? but if he isnt interested in his toys I don't know how to help him be un-bored. I kind of think hes just a lazy bum :roll:


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

To the OP - Do you have a thermostat for your heat lamp? I noticed you mentioned the heat lamp and thermometer and heating pad, but not a thermostat, which is basically a must-have item if you are using a heat lamp.

I don't have any experience with a lazy hedgehog, so I don't feel comfortable touching on that. But, if the heat & light requirements that hedgies have aren't being met, I know it can cause lethargy/hibernation attempts. Make sure her cage is around 73-78*F and that you have a light on near her cage for 12 hours a day. Using natural light from a window doesn't work. You can use a lamp, the overhead light, an aquarium light, etc, and if you don't think you'll be able to turn it on and off at the same times every day, just get a light timer.  

Mr. President is gorgeous.


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## Mr.President (Nov 29, 2011)

Hanhan, thanks for the compliment! I'll tell Mr. President you think she's pretty!  

The heat lamp we have doesn't have a thermostat. We have a digital thermometer with a probe hanging in the cage to know the ambient temperature as well as a thermometer neat the bottom of her cage to register the temperature under her hide-away (where her heating pad is). The heat lamp is on a dimmer, so we can adjust it manually, but it's doing well when it's on the highest setting.

We had one of those hibernation scares a month or two ago. The old thermometer we had was crap - the hand was stuck near 80*, but it would have stayed there if we put it in the freezer. :x 

Right now we're turning lights on and off manually, but I'm hoping to get another lamp with a timer very soon.
She seems like a very alert and happy hog besides her disinterest in her wheel, just like jdepu's hedgie. Weird. I guess we just have a very lazy Mr. President! :lol:


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## lcam85 (Nov 30, 2011)

Hey Mr. President,
What advice did the vet give about watching her weight?


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## Mr.President (Nov 29, 2011)

My vet told gave us very specific instructions on what to feed her:

Per Night:
2 tbsp dry, reduced fat cat food or a mixture of dry/canned insectivore diet (she recommends the cat food)
1-2 tbsp veggies
calcium supplement (8% calcium minimum

2-3 times per Week:
3-5 insects, preferably calcium loaded (We haven't found the calcium loaded ones)
Crickets are lower fat than mealworms, but either are fine in moderation
Up to 2 teaspoons baby food, lean meat, hard boiled egg, pinky mice, etc.

She told us to think of insects as potato chips. They're a good snack, but not a meal. 

She also told us that hedgehogs vary widely in size and how quickly they grow, so it's not really feasible to say: "At 8 months, she should be 14 oz."
Instead, when you hold her cupped in your hands, feel her tummy. You should be able to feel her little organs (such as her liver).
I hope that helped!


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## lcam85 (Nov 30, 2011)

It does! Thanks!

Question. The veggies, does it have to be fresh or can the veggies be the baby food kind? My little guy loves is baby food carrots but won't touch the actual stuff. I guess I could always grind up the real carrots to a consistency of baby food and see if he'll try that


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## TeddysMommy (Apr 24, 2011)

Hey! Welcome to HHC (or at least joining)  Mr. President's is just Stunning! A real beauty  I have a deathly fear of roaches, so I can relate, thankfully for me, he will only eat freeze dried meal worms, no live, no crickets, he refuses them  
Enjoy her!


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