# All she does is sleep



## LuckFupus458 (Jul 30, 2018)

I have only had Arya for about a week now. The lady I got her from says that she thinks she is about 2 years old. I have noticed that all she does is sleep. I keep lights on for her all day from about 9am until around 10pm. I put food out for her around 8:30pm and she will get up to eat and then goes back to sleep. When I take her out at night for our bonding/play time she goes right back to sleep. She has zero interest in the bucket wheel I got her. I am just worried that she isn't getting enough exercise because it seems like all she does is sleep. My son is going to help me build a playpen next week so she has more room to play but she obviously cannot stay in it all night. How can I be sure that she is getting enough physical activity? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

What's the temp of her cage? Do you have a heating set up? Sometimes if they're too cold theyll sleep more. Also she may just be getting used to her new surroundings. 

Do you know whether she had a wheel before? You could try changing the tilt and level for her. My boy definitely uses his more when it's tilted a little back (helps keep him it it). Leave a treat on the wheel during. The night and hopefully it encourages her to use it


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## LuckFupus458 (Jul 30, 2018)

Yukidama's mama said:


> What's the temp of her cage? Do you have a heating set up? Sometimes if they're too cold theyll sleep more. Also she may just be getting used to her new surroundings.
> 
> Do you know whether she had a wheel before? You could try changing the tilt and level for her. My boy definitely uses his more when it's tilted a little back (helps keep him it it). Leave a treat on the wheel during. The night and hopefully it encourages her to use it


I do not have a heating set up as it stays fairly warm in my room. I do have a thermometer in her cage and it reads between 76-78 all the time. She has never had a wheel. The lady gave me one of those giant balls for her and said she loves it. Only thing is, she doesn't. The other night I did put a treat on the wheel for her and when I woke up it was gone. She may have just eaten it though. I saw another post where someone said they have an odometer on their wheel and I think I may get one. Since the bucket wheel I got makes absolutely no noise I cannot tell if she uses it or not. I will also see if the tilt can be adjusted. 
If after getting the odometer it shows that she is not using the wheel is there any way to get her to?


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## SquirtleSquirt (May 9, 2016)

If you're talking about those exercise balls, those are not good for them. You need to get a heating setup with a thermostat asap. It may be 76-78 during the day but when you sleep the temperature most likely drops. Usually you know whether she was on the wheel or not because hedgies tend to defecate and urinate on the wheel as they run. Do you have a litter pan under the wheel to catch the urine and feces? If you don't you should get one and place it underneath the wheel to check whether she's used it or not. If she's used it, there should be urine and feces under the wheel or on the wheel. I put paper towel with no prints on the litter pan since it's easy to use and also you can check the color of the urine properly.

You can also try putting it on the lowest height setting (if it's height adjustable) and put her on it and try to slowly move the wheel.


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## LuckFupus458 (Jul 30, 2018)

SquirtleSquirt said:


> If you're talking about those exercise balls, those are not good for them. You need to get a heating setup with a thermostat asap. It may be 76-78 during the day but when you sleep the temperature most likely drops. Usually you know whether she was on the wheel or not because hedgies tend to defecate and urinate on the wheel as they run. Do you have a litter pan under the wheel to catch the urine and feces? If you don't you should get one and place it underneath the wheel to check whether she's used it or not. If she's used it, there should be urine and feces under the wheel or on the wheel. I put paper towel with no prints on the litter pan since it's easy to use and also you can check the color of the urine properly.
> 
> You can also try putting it on the lowest height setting (if it's height adjustable) and put her on it and try to slowly move the wheel.


It actually gets warmer in my room at night. The thermometer sometimes reads as high as 85. I have a tower fan I turn on when it gets too hot, not blowing on her of course. I've put her on her wheel a few times and slowly turned it. She may just be overwhelmed. Her cage was too small when I got her so I had to get her one twice the size. I added a wheel and switched her from wood bedding to fleece liners. She did come with an igloo and she still has that and I have not washed it so she still had something with a familiar scent. I will get a litter pan for her wheel and see how it goes. We are both still adjusting and we had a major setback so I think I am just going to have to be slow and consistent with her. I am probably just "new mom" paranoid, lol.


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## LuckFupus458 (Jul 30, 2018)

*Update:*

I took the advice and tilted her wheel. As it turned out it was able to go one notch lower so I lowered it too. I gave her a dig box filled with fleece strips and some pom-poms that I dripped some lavender and coconut oil into the center. I put a few little cat toy mice and a ball with a bell inside in her cage too. Let me tell you...little Arya had herself a party last night. She dug all through the box and found the treats I hid. I had even left some strips around the cage and she gathered them and put them in the dig box. The little mice too! I can tell she was running on her wheel by the poopy footprints inside!! This morning when I woke up she was still outside her igloo and playing around in her cage. When I turned my light on she promptly picked up the pom-pom with lavender on it and took it inside the igloo and went to sleep. :lol: I was so excited and happy that she played all night I almost cried!! Thank you all so much for your help and advice! You guys are the BEST!!


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## hedgehodgey (Aug 8, 2018)

I would definitely give your hedgey some time to get comfy with new surroundings. Also, make sure they are warm enough and have something nice to snuggle/cuddle with. My female gets really cold easy. My male, can handle a lower temp, but female easily rolls up in a ball. She has tried to hibernate a few times and I wrap her in her fleece blanket and then put a heating pat around her for a few, then she warms right up and is fine. Thankfully i learned this really quick, so she has her own heater that is nice and warm..


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