# Thoughts on her choice of sleeping area



## beautsbelle (Jul 19, 2011)

Hi all, 

Well, Roxie is in her new cage, and I do think she likes it. Much larger and softer. My husband got my CSW to fit in the cage (but it is too big and I am waiting for the CSBW to get here, that will fit much better) so I am glad about that. In her old cage, she slept under her wheel. I was not sure if that was for security or what. She never went in the tent we got with her, so we took it out. 

Well, now she has an igloo with lots of fleece strips to sleep on or under and she has now gone back to sleeping under her wheel. And the way this wheel fits, it is a tight squeeze. Why is she doing this? Is there any way, other than removing the wheel during the day, that I can entice her to use her igloo? You would think that would be so much more comfy than under that cold plastic wheel. 

I am just sad, because I feel like it is my fault for letting her live in that cage for so long that she wants to continue to sleep under her wheel. Ug. I don't think I will ever not blame myself for being so ignorant when it comes to an animal. 

As always, I welcome thoughts. 
Andi


----------



## Guest (Aug 2, 2011)

Hedgehogs are interesting creatures with sleep, I think there are even some people whose hedgehogs didn't like the Medium Igloo but even full grown like to cram into a small igloo. It is likely an nature thing of them wedging into a small place and their thought pattern is more safety because if they barely fit then no predator can get to them.

As long as Roxie's behavior and eating, pooping, and drinking habits remain the same its not too big a deal IMO. However you can try to just keep getting her to go to the igloo, but a hedgehog is going to pick their place to sleep, Celeste as a matter of fact loves PVC pipes and I took here 4" out to clean and placed a 3" one in temporarily (she can get through fine) and since then has decided she loves sleeping there probable being so secure is the thought pattern. I don't bother trying to argue with a hedgehogs logic unless I think there is a health issue.

Keep the igloo in there cause they may decide to go back to their habits also...

I had the same problem with the Carolina Storm Wheel when I used the pan that came with it as I litter tray.

I have since turned the litter tray into a dig box with rounded aquarium stones that they love! and I just place a paper towel doubled up under the wheel and they stopped sleeping there, they both love to sleep under the wheel before hand. Feral has recently decided to tug and carry the paper towel around like a dog or something which is cute to me.

Those might deter Roxie from sleeping especially since without the provided litter tray you can lower the wheel further to kinda deter it. However if a hedgehog wants something they will go for it hence why we recommend protecting your c & c cages with coroplast up to 10 inches as even if they've been in it for months without climbing if all the sudden they smell or want something out of the cage they go for it lol

Hedgehogs are just silly and random creatures sometimes.

Don't feel bad...Hedgehog information is still very vague and you couldn't have known, when you buy fro ma breeder of any animal I think its reasonable to believe they know what they are talking about even if its not the case.


----------



## panda (May 23, 2011)

You already have some good advice! I just want to agree and say I wouldnt feel bad at all, you clearly care very much for your hedgie & youre doing a great job. I also wouldnt blame yourself for her wanting to sleep under the wheel, Norma usually has at least 2 or 3 different places where she can snooze and has been found underneath her wheel occasionally. :roll: they are just goofy little creatures sometimes.


----------



## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

I would try moving a clip light to the area of the wheel maybe? Hazel never sleeps any place but her little hut and when the light timer comes on she very deliberately jams the door full of fleece to avoid the light lol!


----------



## panda (May 23, 2011)

Norma blocks the door also.. which i find funny because well.. dont they like sleeping in the light because they are nocturnal?!!! haha... my chinchilla loved sitting right out in the sunlight of my window to sleep.


----------



## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

I wouldn't worry about it too much, like others have said hedgies can be VERY silly about where they like to sleep. Lots of people have posted about their hedgies sleeping under or near to the wheel, so Roxie is in good company. 

My hedgie Liam used to love sleeping in his igloo, but one day he discovered liner diving and has never looked back. I tried to deter him, but no matter how I arranged his cage he always found a way under. Eventually I just took out the igloo and let him be. A lot of times, I find him under the liner, wedged in between his PVC pipe and tissue box - I guess it makes him feel safe! :lol: 

With hedgies, I think you just have to learn to live and let live. :roll:


----------



## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

I found that Nara does not like the igloo either. I think it's because she can see light through it. When she did sleep in the igloo, she had to have her hedgie bag. 

Does your hedgie have fleece blankies or a hedgie bag? Like others have said, they like to burrow into a small space. 

Nara likes to block the entrance of her house too! I can hear her re-arranging her fleece blankets when I do it wrong.  

For awhile she slept in the boutique size tissue box which was supposed to be her dig box. Silly hedgies.

They pretty much do what they want to. Remember they haven't seen youtube so they don't know how they are supposed to act. 

Donna


----------



## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Just an observation: with both Snarf and Sumo, we noticed that they seem to like the pressure of the wheel when they're under it...when we let Snarf choose his sleeping spot, he always wanted up on our bed, squished under tight sheets and if there was a pillow or folded blanket on the bed, he scurried under that, as well. I worried about hims getting too squished but he was perfectly content...there are all sorts of tiny drool stains everywhere on my very expensive Egyptian Cotton sheets. :roll: 

Sumo is the same. Right now, he is flat as a pancake (all 510 grams of him :shock: he makes a BIG pancake) under fleece and a pillow beside me on the couch. If given the option, he always moves under the pillow. If he's digging, he stops as soon as I put my hand on him.

We have an old, heavy sleeping bag that we call the 'Miracle Cure' cuz if either hedgie is unsettled for any reason, two minutes in the sleeping bag and presto! they are sleeping like the dead. If you sneak a peek, Sumo is sprawled out, happily snoozing in a puddle of drool. :roll: 

So...anyway...I think the wheel is comforting cuz of the tight, squishy feel it provides... :? I think?


----------



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

TWCOGAR said:


> Hedgehogs are interesting creatures with sleep, I think there are even some people whose hedgehogs didn't like the Medium Igloo but even full grown like to cram into a small igloo. It is likely an nature thing of them wedging into a small place and their thought pattern is more safety because if they barely fit then no predator can get to them.


That would be my hedgehog. :roll: I got her the small and the medium sizes, one for when she was still a baby, and one for when she "outgrew" it. She was definitely NOT interested in the medium sized one when I tried to switch them out. :lol: Milly can no longer walk through the entry way of her small igloo, so she just noses under the whole thing and lies down with her booty hanging out. :lol: She absolutely loves to cram herself into tiny spaces. When we have play time and she decides she is tired, she walks up to my resting hand and noses her way under it so she can sleep with my hand on top of her. She is also one that sometimes likes to squeeeeeze under her wheel to sleep. And she's a liner diver, but she always gets under and crawls to the food and water bowls and sleeps in between them (I think the weight of the bowls pulling on the fleece feels good to her). After 2 days of soaking wet fleece and me freaking out that she was going to hibernate, I started putting 1 piece of fleece, all bunched up, just laying on the floor of the cage. Since then, she sleeps under the loose piece of fleece about 75% of the time.

Don't worry. Hedgehogs are wired differently than us. :lol:


----------



## beautsbelle (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks for all the advice. I feel much better. She just looks so, So squished! I guess she must like it. Hopefully she will gravitate to the igloo one day.  

I don't have a hedgie sack, but lots of fleece for her to get under. She did use the igloo when there was no wheel, so at least she knows it is there.


----------



## crasysgirl1 (Aug 20, 2011)

I got my hedgie last night and he decided to sleep under the wheel for a bit too. i was scared it was gonna crush him so i moved it over and put my shirt over top of him instead! when I woke up this morning to check on him he went inside my shirt and curled it around him like a big ball. He's already being a goofy hedgehog and ignoring his igloo and fleece strips i have for him too


----------



## beautsbelle (Jul 19, 2011)

Roxie has actually been going in the Igloo during the day off and on. She still sleeps under her wheel at times, but for the most part, she just goes where she feels. Some days she can't get under her wheel, because she is up "partying" all night long, and somehow the wheel is on the other side of the cage. She likes to re-arrange the place at night. I'd love to get a night cam!


----------



## crasysgirl1 (Aug 20, 2011)

Haha what a silly hedgie  I made a little box for my little Bowser with tons of fleece strips and one of my old shirts. He loves sleeping in there it seems. But I'm sure he'll start exploring other spots to sleep though too


----------



## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

In Hazels cage I have a regular security camera from Swaan...they almost all have night vision feature these days and are not very expensive. I enjoy watching her at night  just when I think she is routine and predictable she does something super funny lol. She has taken up sleeping in her new tunnel to 2nd level....it really bothers me because she has so many comfy places to snooze other than there!


----------



## beautsbelle (Jul 19, 2011)

That is what Rox did when she had her tunnel to the loft. She stayed in there, and I could never really see her. We had to take the ramp out, as she would not come out, and I could not get my hand in there to encourage her out. She filled the tunnel. I have to revamp it to make it easier for me to get in if I have to. (the little stinker!) All these soft, fluffy, comfy places to sleep and she wedges herself in the dryer vent. 

May have to look into the night cam. I'd love to check her out in action. She sees me and stops what she is doing.


----------



## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

lol brats :shock: I had hoped Hazel would stop the tunnel snoozing but each morning there she is. I have it hooked on to the cage with fleece strips so when I check on her in the mornings I unattach the end she is at , compress the dryer hose up to where she is and hold it down to the bottom level near her bag. Even though she is balled up so I can't get her out by hand she usually comes out on her own. If not I leave the tunnel set on the bottom level with her still in it lol (she can't climb back up only out) and by the time I've refreshed her water and cleaned up she is in her bag again. It is a pain in the butt :twisted:


----------

