# sleep sleep and more sleep :S



## Tavia06 (Apr 23, 2012)

My prickly pear is about7months old, she is very good, from day one of being home she would snuggle up in her snuggle sac and run all night on her wheel. I had some trouble with her not eating all her food for a bit, she just didnt seem to want to eat a full tablespoon and a bit. Anyway im a bit concerned because the last couple weeks ive been noticing that she hasnt been using her wheel as much, she still gets up and uses it for maybe an hour max, poops and pees in it, gets nice thick poop boots,and then eats and goes back to bed.. her cage is right next to my bed so i can usually hear her. the last few nights I havnt been sleeping well and as im laying in bed at 2 am shes fast asleep! I dont think she even used the wheel for ten minutes last night! The temperature is about 73-74 as usual, her lamp goes out around 930 and my room is pretty dark cause i go to bed shortly after she gets up. She always has food and water, and toys to play with but she just seems to want to sleep all the time... I was concerned this morning so when I got up I picked her up to check she wasnt hurt or anything and nope she was just fine... grumpy from being woken up :S. has anyone else experienced a hedgie that just wants to sleep all the time?? oh yes and as a side note... she has been eating all of her food lately, pretty much since she started sleeping all the time, ccould she be getting the 2pm nap feeling like humans? I dont give her more food then recommended either in case you were wondering.. just one and a half scoops of a paper ketchup holder thing.


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## Sar-uh (Sep 6, 2011)

73 -74 degrees is on the cooler side. My hedgies aren't very active unless I keep their cages around 76. You might try warming up the cage a little.


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

You know, I don't personally think that is too cold at all, unless your hedgehog is sick or elderly imo. You could give it a try though... It may be that she is getting too much food. What is her weight? Has it changed. I have had 2 hedgehogs so far. The fist one, Snoball (Peeps), I free fed. She came from a pet store and was given Pretty Pets, which is a poor food. In my efforts to help her have a more nutritious diet I switched her to a couple of cat foods. She gained quite a lot of weight and never lost it over her entire life, she was obese and she always slept a lot...Now, I have my second hedgehog Daisy. She is very, very hyper and is getting to be very friendly. For her, I just feed her at night and when she wakes up around dusk she comes to the bars looking for treats. At that time I give her a piece of whatever I am making for dinner, a little chicken, a bit of hamburger, a piece of walnut, a cucumber, whatever. She runs in her wheel while we eat and then I then take her out for our nightly rituals and then put her back in her cage with the food. It is really easy to take her out now because she walks right into my hands, especially if I have food!! I probably feed her about 2tbs. total. I am sure if I free fed her she would not come up to the bars or be as active as she is. The only thing is you say your hedgie does not eat that much. hmm...
I know people will disagree with me on this, but having these two hogs, that is my experience. I don't know why your hedgehog would suddenly start doing this except for the fact that the nights are longer now and maybe she does not feel that she needs to come out of her nest box because she's full and cozy.
What about lighting? could that be a factor.
Good luck,
Susan H.


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## Tavia06 (Apr 23, 2012)

Thank you both for your advice, I turned up the heat in my room and her cage to see if it makes a difference so far shes about the same, she ran a bit more last night but she still slept more than she did normally. Susan, I only feed her once a day, I usually put in about a tablespoon and a half (a mini ketchup holder full) either when i get up and see she has no food, or when her light goes out at night. I dont believe im over feeding her since the breeder told me specifically the exact amount to give her, and I have not really increased her food since she came home.. shes just started eating more of it. Often in the mornings she would still have about half-a quarter of her food left there so i would only give her enough to cover what was missing. some nights she would eat it all. Now shes been pretty good about eating it all. Honestly I havnt ever weighed her.... I dont have a scale and the breeder never did it before i got her. I didnt think it was super important as long as i fed her the right amount. shes not a huge hedgie but shes been rounding out the last couple weeks i think cause she hasnt been exercising
as much but I dont know. Maybe I should cut down on her food a bit?? I honestly dont know how she gains anyway her poops are so big :roll: hahaha thats one thing no body warns you of.. is how big their poops are it was scary at first haha :lol: 
Anyway she doesnt seem different in any other ways, she was quite happy to have her warm foot bath last night and snuggle with me after. I was thinking about changing the lighting schedule.. but its hard because if i make it dark earlier then she gets up and stinks up my room like a poop factory and i cant sleep. but i will look into making it work better with the time change outside. thank again for your input.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

The temperature should be fine, but yeah, go ahead and try bumping it to see if that helps. Definitely don't cut back on her food if you can help it, if she's a good weight she should be eating as much as she wants, and not be restricted. What time does her light turn on? Make sure she has at least 12 hours of light, preferably 13-14 hours, to stimulate long days.


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## Tavia06 (Apr 23, 2012)

Her light schedule is 830-10 right now. It works best so I can sleep haha


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

That should be plenty of time for her.


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

That is so funny what you said about the poop. My first hedgie did not have nearly as huge of poops as Daisy does! Last night I had Daisy out on the couch and we were watching TV. So, she starts crawling up by my neck and licking my neck...then all of a sudden she bites me on the neck, quite hard. At the same time my husband starts yelling "What is that smell!!" "It smells like crap!" Gross! and I'm like "WHAT SMELL" "shut up, she's biting me and your making her freak out!! anyway, I thought he was crazy and I told him not to yell like that because it makes Daisy nervous, etc. etc. It was total chaos! Well, after I put her away I find this HUGE poo right next to where he was sitting on the couch!  From now on I am going to try to make sure she walks around and poops before I take her out of her cage! I have no idea why she bit my neck though..

As for your hog, it must just be the changing of the seasons....that's all I can figure.


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## Tavia06 (Apr 23, 2012)

Hahahahahahahahaha I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time! Hahaha yes prickly pear has poops nearly the size of cat turds hahahahaha and she farts like she's been eating tacos for a month haha. Yeah I usually give her a foot bath where she poops and pees in the sink then we have cuddle time other wise it's a stinky mess hahaha. Yeah I'm starting to think it must be seasonal changes


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## Tavia06 (Apr 23, 2012)

So.... I think I may have a pretty good idea about why she keeps going back to sleep after running only a short time. I have discovered that prickly pear has not had poopy feet in a few days.... which is very unusual... usually she has serious poopboots the next morning. I also noticed that her poops are still "whole" lately.... my conclusion is that she has been running in her wheel... peeing as usual and continuing to run.... but once she poops in her wheel (the only place she does go to the bath room) she gets out cause she doesnt want to get poopy. This is the only explanation i can come up with because i have turned up her heat, i dont over feed her and nothing in her diet has changed, and her light schedule is normal. This is just really strange for me because ever since day one she refused to use a litter box, and would end up covered in poop feet and back from running like crazy in her poopy wheel every night. I dontknow if maybe shes grown out of it and becoming more of a clean freak or what but thatisthe best explanation that i can come up with. Anyone else have that kinda thing happen after the second shedding of quills?


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

Ever since I started using a CHE, which was only a few days ago, I noticed Daisy's wheel was very clean and wondered if it was too hot for her liking, etc.
The night before last the wheel was almost perfectly clean and I noticed that she had pooped in the litter pan! I told her what a good girl she was, and I figured that was why the wheel was clean. Then last night BAM! back to poop all over the wheel. :| So guess who's getting a bath tonight!
I hope your luck lasts!
Susan H.


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