# snuggly afternoons?



## isosceles_kramer (Dec 22, 2010)

Hey all,

I've had Hodge now for about 12 days. We've gotten to the point where (if he's awake!) he'll let me pick him up, tickle his belly and feed him treats. Sometimes he snuffles a little but mostly he's just active, curious and totally entitled. Which is what i'm hoping for.

He still snuffles if he's disturbed while sleeping. And he's decidedly nocturnal. Decidedly. He sleeps a lot anyway, but he usually starts getting up around midnight and stays awake until about 5 or 6 am.

So here's my question.. 

Sometimes, maybe twice a day for 15 minutes to half hour at a time, I pick him up, place him on my lap and let him snooze. Usually he wakes up when i lift him up (sometimes not) and he doesn't always snuffle when he does wake up. But i feel like i'm disturbing his rest.. Is this kind of attention good for him?

As much as i think we both enjoy it when i hold him quietly i AM waking him up sometimes. I don't want to stress him out. They're sort of secretive animals in a few ways I notice.. and so it's hard to say whether these daytime snuggle sessions are good for his sleep cycle.

I've been proactive in aggressive and rewarding socialization because my goal is to give him a whole room of his own in a few months and let him have the run of it. And that would be a lot easier if he trusts us and wants us around.


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## abrowndog (Nov 26, 2010)

We've had Priss for about 6 weeks now and we have been taking her out of her home (I hate the word cage!) every night for about an hour or so. We do so between 7:45 and 9:45 depending on whether or not it's a school night because she technically belongs to my 12 year old. 

We have figured out that if we wake her during the day, evening tummy time is not as fun. If we turn off her light for about an hour and then take her out, she is much more alert and interested in being up with us. When she starts getting fussy, we take her up, put her back in her home and wait another hour to clean her wheel and change her liner. 

She is very private, and she hasn't pooped or peed on us. I think she gets cranky because she has to go. I know I get cranky when I have to go so...

Welcome to the world of being owned by a hedgie!


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Welcome!

I don't like disturbing my hedgies sleep cycle and just as abrowdog said I found my hedgies are in a better mood if I let them sleep all day. I do, however, wake them up in the morning before I go to work to check if they are ok, and I wake them up again when I come back from work and do the cage cleaning. But, it only takes me a few minutes and I put them back in their cages. 

Hedgehogs are nocturnal and will sleep all day, but I've read stories of members here who will take their hedgies out during the day and let them snooze for a while on their laps, and the hedgies are happy and healthy. So, as long as you are not forcing Hodge to stay awake, you should be fine.


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## ThePliny (Jun 3, 2010)

It will just depend on the personality of your hog. Pliny is quite content and happy to sleep under blankets on my desk, or curled up in a hoody pocket during the day. As I have said before, he seems happier there (often splats out or sleeps on his side with his leg akimbo) to being in his house. That being said, I only take him out to sleep on me during the day if I know it is going to be for a few hours; I think it would be more stressful if you were only taking them out for 15-20min, by the time they settled down to snooze, it would be time to move them again.
Pliny is quite nocturnal, but once in a while he will decide that he needs to have some tube time in the afternoon (usually if I need to go somewhere), but this is not often.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I knew there was someone who had her hedgie in the hoody pocket but wasn't sure who it was!


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## ThePliny (Jun 3, 2010)

Yup, Pliny and I are the infamous 'hedgie in pocket' duo! What can I say, he is a bit of an odd hog. I have a collection of fleece sweatshirts and hoodies that I might have purchased with Pliny in mind ....


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

ThePliny said:


> I have a collection of fleece sweatshirts and hoodies that I might have purchased with Pliny in mind ....


After I first read about you and your hoodies, I remembered this awesome fleece hoodie I had with a very large zippered pocket across the front. I was complaining to my BF that I had donated it to our local thrift store months ago and he said he had never taken the clothes in - they were still in his trunk. I made him haul them all home and grabbed my awesome hoodie! The only time he hasn't been busted for procrastinating. :roll:


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## mcwojo (Dec 29, 2010)

So I've had my hog for 3wks now. I'm reading conflicting stories about social time. Is it too late to start a new routine? I usually take her out in the morning when I get up to say good morning and then about 5 when I get home from work. Now I'm wondering if I should wait a little longer and take her out later. She still rolls in a ball and huffs but usually after a while will stick her head out of her fleece and sniff around a bit.


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