# do females go into "heat"?



## beccanwm (Jan 14, 2011)

My hedgehog started doing the weirdest thing this morning. She was having her usual Sunday morning routine of snuggling with my boyfriend and watching football. But when he started petting her back very gently she stood up on her tip-toes and stuck her tail has far out and up as she could. As soon as he stops petting her she lays back down, but every time we pet her back she goes into the weird position immediately. It's hilarious, but what is she doing?? At first I thought maybe she's in heat? But I read that females have to be in the presence of a male to ovulate, and it's usually in the summer, and they lay their spines flat. It's winter, and she's not all spiked up, but her quills raise slightly.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

No females don't go into heat, they are induced ovulators which means the act of breeding and being with a male induces them to ovulate. She is probably just comfortable or has a itch or it just feels nice to her.


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