# Ramona inactivity



## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I had Ramona put for a half hour today and it's pretty clear she is not going into a torpor or hibernation. She also has a heat lamp over her cage ensuring she is warm enough and put house is set at 74 on top of that. Despite all this Ramona eats very little (she eats meal worms well!). She doesn't use her wheel at night and there are nights she doesn't get up at all. Having said all this she appears healthy and has a good amount of energy when we play and is a very personable little hog. Are some hedgies more sedentary? She is a little skinny but not dangerously so. I would say she is a lean girl. Thoughts? She came from a very good USDA breeder who well vets her animals and was healthy at her check.

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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

How old is she? How much does she eat exactly (do you count kibble or weigh her food)? Have you introduced her to the wheel and seen that she knows how to use it? How can you tell she doesn't get up at all some nights? Is she drinking enough water/peeing well (white liners can show urine if you're concerned)?


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

She is 4 months. I do not weight her food. It could be adequate for a small hedgehog. I guess I expected her to eat a lot because she poops a lot! I have introduced her to the wheel, and she does know how to use it. As I said, she will sometimes use it during our play time in a pen. She is drinking enough water. Her urine is a nice pale yellow. I know this because we had play time two different days in the bath tub and well....she went! As for knowing she does not get up all night, some nights I stay up and watch as I do my work - night job. Other nights I set things just so so that if there were any movements such as the wheel used etc shifting would become obvious (I'm crafty like that!)


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I'm open to anything anyone wants to suggest! Thank you all.

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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

grins&needles said:


> She is 4 months. I do not weight her food. It could be adequate for a small hedgehog. I guess I expected her to eat a lot because she poops a lot! I have introduced her to the wheel, and she does know how to use it. As I said, she will sometimes use it during our play time in a pen. She is drinking enough water. Her urine is a nice pale yellow. I know this because we had play time two different days in the bath tub and well....she went! *As for knowing she does not get up all night, some nights I stay up and watch as I do my work - night job.* Other nights I set things just so so that if there were any movements such as the wheel used etc shifting would become obvious (I'm crafty like that!)


Your presence might be why she doesn't get up. Piglet won't run if he knows I'm in the room or if any light is on. So she may just need a schedule more in tune with her internal clock. Try to have the lights off by around 10pm and work in a different room if you can. She may not come out to run right away, but give it a couple hours. Pig wakes up around 10-11pm but doesn't start wheeling until around midnight.

Try doing that for a week or two and see if you notice any change in her eating. What do you currently feed her?


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I wanted to add I trimmed her nails last night in case that was the issue! I haven't seem any changes but she is still enjoying and using her playtime with me.

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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I feed nutro naturals weight loss Cat and meal worms.

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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Depending on how many mealworms she gets every day, you may want to consider switching to a food with a higher calorie count, since Ramona is a baby and that food is pretty low-cal.


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## deftones (Jul 26, 2013)

My hedgehog's cage is in my bedroom and she will not come out unless I have all the lights off. If I have just the tv or computer on and turned the volume low some times thats okay but usually, within 5 minutes of me turning the lights off she will come out and I'll hear the pitter patter pitter patter crunch crunch crunch of her running her wheel and eating.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I have a black heat light on her. Is that a problem? It's extremely low light.

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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

It depends on the hedgehog - some are really sensitive and some are not. Try turning it off/using another heat source for a few days and see if she's more active.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I would switch to an CHE which doesn't give off any light at all and make sure its hooked up to a thermostat to control it. You should also have a thermometer in her cage to keep an eye on the tempt there. If possible make sure its completely dark and quiet at night.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Agreed with above comments - I'd try switching and see if her activity, etc. increases. A friend of mine had red lights for her hedgies, thinking they wouldn't mind it. She tried changing to CHEs after using the red ones for weeks (maybe months?) and discovered her female started eating/running a lot more.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I am getting the CHE today. Anything else I should order while I'm at it to help her out? Also, should I get the 60w or the 150w? I don't know which to get...


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## Brittany (Sep 15, 2013)

I agree with the above comments. Other than the blue light, its completely dark in there? My guy only comes out when its dark, and if I turn on the light he will run back into his house. What wheel are you using? Maybe she doesnt like that one, or maybe shes just not a big wheeler. I was thinking maybe you could get her a few crickets as a treat. She might like chasing them.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I am still ordering the CHE but I really think people don't realize how little light it's putting out. It's essentially a light bulb painted black. The moon puts off more light! Don't tell me that the hedgehogs don't have the moon in the wild lol! Beyond that, yes, she is in TOTAL and complete darkness. I am more apt to believe she just isn't into the wheel or the type of wheel she has (flying saucer) I may order her something like the Carolina storm wheel Or other hedgehog specific wheel. I read more on how much hedgies should be eating and she does seem to be eating the proper amount. I guess I just expected her to eat a bit more. She is free fed because she is thin so it's harder for me to know exactly how much she's eaten.

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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Actually wild hedgehogs are less active on night with a bright moon. They are usually out in the early part of the night and the later part of the night, when the moon isn't as bright. Our domestic hedgehogs are nothing like their wild counterparts and are not even found in the wild. With domestication some traits have changed and some are very very sensitive to light and won't come out even if a bit of moonlight is shining in a window.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

Nikki that is very interesting. I still ordered the CHE, so that should take care of it. Where did you find out all this information on the wild hedgehogs and lighting? I'd be interested to read it.

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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Its well known that wild hedgehogs are actually diurnal not nocturnal. The rest I have learned from years of experience and talking with other experienced long term hedgehog breeders and rescuers. Many who have done research on our domestic hedgehog.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

nikki said:


> Its well known that wild hedgehogs are actually diurnal not nocturnal. The rest I have learned from years of experience and talking with other experienced long term hedgehog breeders and rescuers. Many who have done research on our domestic hedgehog.


Nikki, would one then say that the domestic hedgie is also diurnal or you feel they are nocturnal?

I'm scoping out new wheels to get her, as I truly believe she hates the wheel she has (flying saucer 12 in). Any recommendations owners?

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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I think Nikki meant crepuscular - active during dawn/dusk. (Diurnal is active during day.) If I'm remembering correctly, I've seen many people agree that their hedgehogs tend to be most active around the same times - first part of the night, then again in the early morning (and I've definitely experienced accidentally disturbing Lily if I had to get up particularly early - she wasn't pleased!). Maybe not all domestic hedgies are like that, but then...they've gotten weird since we started breeding them. :lol:

I'd definitely recommend a bucket wheel or cake cover wheel! There's several breeders that make and sell them, including LarryT (Carolina Storm Wheels), who's pretty popular with his wheels. If you check out the For Sale forum, in the wheels subsection, there's threads for people that sell bucket/cake wheels. These kinds of wheels are usually pretty quiet (unless made badly or if they need a bit of greasing along the ball bearings), they're completely safe, and they're very easy to clean.  She might not like the uneven running surface style of the Saucer, so an upright wheel might be more comfortable for her.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I ordered a CSBW! Let us hope she likes it. The flying saucer may strike my hamsters fancy!? Who knows ... Sooooo to recap today I ordered the hedge more cat food to get variety, a 150w ceramic heat emitter, and a $30 bucket wheel! This girl costs me more than kids  lol! SHOUT OUT TO LARRYT!

Lilysmommy I agree. Ramona is definitely crepuscular. I cannot speak to other hedgies but this lazy bum is crepuscular


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Going by the hedgies I own now and have owned in the past I would say it varies by hedgehog. I have some that are more active late evening early morning and some that are more active around midnight to 4 am. 

As for wheel, I would recommend the Carolina Storm Wheel by Larry T. I know some hedgies love the FS wheel ( I have a couple that won't use any other kind of wheel) and some hate it. Most seem to prefer the "bucket" type wheels like the CSW.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

Ok. Ramona has her CHE heating system and she is warm! She has her Carolina Storm Bucket Wheel. She still only gets up at night to eat and not to run. She will run during the playtime we have and happily so...why do you think she doesn't run at night?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Hm...This might have already been covered, but are there any lights on in the room with her cage at night? This includes tv, computer, night lights, moon or street light from a window, etc. Some hedgehogs can be pretty picky about having it be completely dark. Have you tried covering her cage with a blanket to make sure it's dark enough for her?

Edit: Derp, it was half of what was covered in the topic, sorry.  That's really the only other thing I can think of though...I know it sounds weird, but some hedgehogs are just really picky about that light. Have you tried having her run on the wheel at night? I wonder if she's one of the rare hedgies that just does not like to wheel and would rather run around their cage. I know there's a few like that.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

Are you certain she isn't running on the wheel vs she's a tidy hedgie who doesn't like to poop on her wheel? 

Ways to test if she's using it, but just creepily tidy:
1. Set up an odometer to actually measure distance run
2. Dust flour on the wheel (to track tiny footprints, but it can get goopy if she pees in it)
3. Mark with a bit of tape how it is positioned when you go to sleep (which can fail if the wheel auto-settles to the same position after being disturbed).
4. If you have a smartphone, some of them have apps that will turn the camera into a kinda-crappy infrared camera. You might be able to link that in with some sort of motion-detector app to remote-spy. I haven't actually tried doing this yet, but it's semi-feasible if you're comfortable with creatively breaking software...


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

We have running WITH a tiny bit of poo on the wheel last night! She did most of it off of the wheel (thank you Ramona) but there is definite evidence she took a little run last night 

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## ZeeMartin (Aug 5, 2013)

my hedgie Lizzy tollerates quite a bit of light in the room, as long as I sit quietly at the far side and don't go near her cage... Spike prefers it dark or he wont run. he'll come out and eat, but not wheel. I've got a black fleece drape I drop over all but the corner of his cage at night to give him maximum dark. Keep in mind you have to have a thermostat set up if you're heating with a CHE inside that - the fleece drape holds the heat. leaving one corner open helps with air circulation.

I've noticed that wheeling has increased for both Lizzie and Spike once I got their *daylight* hours consistent... I've got desk lamps on a timer that shine directly in the cages from 6:30am to 9pm. About 2 weeks after I started that I saw two things: a definite get-up time about 20 minutes after the light goes out, and an increase in wheeling.

I still have some light after 9pm (whatever I'm using) but I try to keep the lights closest to the cages off and I use the night-drape on Spike's cage.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

She's awake running vigorously on her wheel now  big smiles and thanks to all for suggesting new heating fixtures and to LarryT for the great wheel!

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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

Yay!! I do so love a happy ending. (And a follow-up to a thread indicating the problem was resolved; no orphaned thread for you!)


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Woohoo! Glad to hear the good news.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I know 100% that she was running for a great while last night, but her wheel was clean this morning *shrugs* guess I'm just lucky!


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