# Chameleon-Style Tongue Flicking?



## TikkiLink (Dec 4, 2013)

I've meant to ask this for a long time... Does anyone else's hedgie flick their tongue periodically when held upright or on their back?

We have to put her on her back to clip her nails, because my fiance and I both have poor vision and can't see the quicks clearly unless she has her paws upward in strong lighting. She doesn't mind being on her back for short periods of time and seems to enjoy belly rubs, but when she gets fidgety she will periodically flick her tongue waaay out really fast like a chameleon, and her tongue is pretty long! Sometimes she even does it if I'm holding her straight up and down so that her face is parallel to mine. She only does it when she gets fidgety. Has anyone else seen this behavior?


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## Katten (May 10, 2014)

Yes. I worried at first that she had a cold, but nah, she just licks her nose when she's upside down. I've actually managed to snap a few photos of her tongue sticking out, hehe.

I wonder if it's an impatience thing for them, like a human cracking their knuckles or tugging on their hair.

Or they expect a treat...


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## gracefulchaos01 (Mar 19, 2014)

Mine do it too whenever they are being help in a ball or close up. I also worried at first they were perhaps "picking their noses" but it's not that, it's just something they do and honestly, its adorable to me.


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## TikkiLink (Dec 4, 2013)

Huh, interesting. My hedgie does't lick her nose when she does it, she just sticks it straight out like she's reaching for a fly, but it's the same behavior, I'm sure. It's just so funny because her little tongue is so long!


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## gracefulchaos01 (Mar 19, 2014)

A lot of animals can "taste" the air. My guess is that is really all this behavior is a reflection of.


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

> A lot of animals can "taste" the air. My guess is that is really all this behavior is a reflection of.


Snakes are very well known for using their tongues to sense their environment. It's not something I know much about. My brother has a couple of snakes.

............................................................

Sophie has always flicked her tongue around a lot. I've never tied the behavior to being in a particular position. It is just something that she does pretty much all the time. Animals get information about their environment in many different ways. Some rely heavily on one or two senses; other process information from a variety of senses.

Truthfully, tongue flicking and lip licking aren't something that I've researched much, but it has always been a strong behavior with Sophie. I see it every day. It appears to be absolutely instinctive. Same as using her sniffer. She holds her head up and sniffs this way and that. It's pretty funny to watch and she does it all the time.

Some animals rely heavily on their whiskers as a type of 'sonar'. Their whiskers are so sensitive that they can sense everything in front of them and to either side. This is kind of on my list of interesting things to check out. I suspect that that importance of hedgehog whiskers may be underrated. I know how fast Sophie can move in her cage in absolute darkness. Partly, most likely, it helps that she knows exactly where everything is supposed to be. But she moves too quickly for that to be the whole story. I've long wondered how much her whiskers help with navigation. She has two large cages with a bridge connecting them; about 26 1/2 square feet total. Her whiskers seem the likeliest 'sense' to allow her to move so quickly and surely in complete darkness.

(Of course, my list of 'interesting things to research' is about a mile long. Ha!)


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

I've seen this with my hedgehogs when they don't want to be held on their backs. I don't think it has anything to do with sensing the environment like snakes do; it is most likely just because they are stressed out and trying to wiggle back around.
It's different from actually licking their nose.


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