# won't sit still!



## matildas_friend (Jan 10, 2015)

my hedgie, Matilda, is 10 weeks old and I've had her for 2 weeks now. every night, I take her out of her cage and (try to) hold her, but she's very squirmy and does whatever she can to try to get out of my hands! she might sit still for maybe 30 seconds, but then she's back at it trying to get away from me! I try to hold on to her as long as I can in hopes of her calming down, but it can hurt sometimes!!

is this normal because she is young? is she just not used to me? am I holding her wrong?


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Sounds like you might just have an explorer hedgie. Some hedgies never really want to cuddle, they want to see what the world has going on. Get an extra large playpen area, fill it with obstacles for her to sniff and climb over, and sit in there with her. She'll get your smell and equate you with fun instead of being stuck where she doesn't want to be. 

Explorer hedgies can be a ton of fun, they're much more active than cuddlers, so you can watch them run around and be silly!


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## matildas_friend (Jan 10, 2015)

okay, I'll try that! thanks!


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## galya (Jan 28, 2015)

Hi, my hedge has the same problem. She is about 10 weeks old and i have her for 3 weeks. At first she slept in my lap when i took her but now she is huffing and puffing whenever i try to take her. And when i hold her she is doing whatever she can to escape. But she doesn't seems like an explorer - when i leave her to go whenever she wants she just finds some place (away from me) to hide and stays there. I tried with treats but it didn't help - she just doesn't pay any attention to them. All she wants is to escape from me.

Should i force her to stay in my lap/hands in order for her to get used to it or should i leave her? I really don't know what to do with her. I thought it might be because of quilling and she indeed leaves quills after her but the quills on her back seems to be really thick and i can not see any new quills coming out.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Do you have a snuggle bag? If she wants to get away to hide somewhere, she probably doesn't like being exposed. A fleece blanket or snuggle bag on your lap, something she can get under, can really help a nervous hedgie. Remember, hedgies are prey animals whose biggest predator was usually large birds of prey. They came from above, and a hedgie's best defense against those long talons was staying under something. Us big ol giants showing up, leaving OVER them, coming from UP, and then taking them from the SAFE PLACE, out and about? Yeah, I'd be pretty freaked out too.


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## galya (Jan 28, 2015)

Thank you for your advice. Yes, we have a snuggle bag and she seems a lot calmer when she is in it. I tried and took her with the bag and put it on my lap and it worked! She even fell asleep  But when we hold her while she is in her bag does she bond? I thought that she needs to lay/sit/sleep directly on me so that she can get used to my smell.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Nope, fleece isn't that terribly thick and she'll get your smell through it. You can also put the bag under your pillow at night when you sleep so it gets all stinky with your smells too, kind of a double whammy. Most hedgies start off sleeping on people in their bags and after time they associate your smell with safety enough that they'll sleep on you without the bag.


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## galya (Jan 28, 2015)

thank you for the info  Hope it will work and she will get comfortable ...


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