# Daytime restlessness



## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

So, little hedgehog has me a bit concerned.

The weirdness:
1. Little hedgehog typically runs 7-9 km per night, decreasing to 3-4 km per night if his front nails are too long, and down to mere meters if they get way too long. All his nails were freshly trimmed late last week, which he celebrated by going on an epic 13km run. After his epic run, the following night he ran 1 km, then less than 1 km, then less than 1 km again last night. 
2. Little hedgehog usually briefly rouses sometime in the late afternoon to restlessly claw-dig at the floor for ~5min. For the last several days, he's been waking up repeatedly (every few hours: at noon, at 2pm, at 4pm...) to restlessly claw-dig at the floor for ~15min or until his humans come over to talk to him.

Things that have stayed the same:
- His lights go on & off at 7:00 am/pm.
- Temperature has been steady at 74F for months.
- Food, water, & treat consumption are normal. 
- Waste production is normal.
- Little paws look fine -- no scratches, tangled hair/thread, etc.
- No reason to suspect injury (no trauma I've witnessed, no flinch reactions, no visible wounds)

Things have have changed:
- Ambient weather has changed: the polar jet stream has made its seasonal meander, so we've had pressure changes (and oscillations between grey-rain to sunny-skies) over the past week.
- A set of cactuses moved into the house (same room, meters away) 2 weeks ago.
- A huge amount of dust was raised in his room 2 weeks ago; dust was sufficient to provoke my allergies for several days, but little hedgehog made no indications (sneezes, sniffles, runny nose, etc) that it bothered him.
- Nightly routine has shifted to start with cuddling the co-keeper instead of me first.

So once again, it's not such a huge shift in behaviour that I'm deeply concerned, but the barely-running paired with interrupted-sleep makes me think that something is wrong that I haven't figured out yet. Any ideas on why my little diva is unhappy? Ideas of what to check?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'd place my bets on the weather - even when they're inside and absolutely nothing changes in their temperature & light, they can sense weather changes, and major shifts or impending storms, etc. can affect their behavior.

If anything else changes though, or if weather evens back out and his behavior doesn't change, it might be worth a vet visit, just in case...but it's up to you, since a vet visit without many symptoms to give the vet to work with can be difficult & may end up being a waste of money.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

It really is one of those moments I wish he could just tell me what's up. Is he taking a break from his epic run? Does the change in pressure bother him as much as it does me and he'll be fine once the weather settles? Did he tweak an ankle? Does his wheel offend him? Have the gremlins been tormenting him while I sleep? Has he learned to nudge the magnet out of line for the odometer? Is he spending all his time racing through his tubes instead of on his wheel? Is he dreaming of digging into the apartment below ours? Is he plotting his escape? Is he sulking now the cactuses are another spiky resident, usurping his previously-unique status?

...which all ultimately comes down to, "Is he being a diva, or is something actually wrong?" I'll find out in a few days, I guess.


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

Is this little hedgehog a boy? I have 1 very hyperactive male hedgie that runs all night straight til 8 or 9am as well. Worried me at first coz his metabolism is way faster than his appetite. I feed all of my hedgehogs 4-5 times a day/night with kibbles and about 9-10 superworms a day per hedgie but for me they're not fat enough. I could be just a worry bee though lol.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

Yes, my little friend is a boy. ...and the weather shifted again overnight, and he ran less than 100m. Argh!

If you have a crazy-runner, you can make his kibble-mix higher fat to maintain his weight. The easiest way to do this is to add in a kitten kibble.


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## raurora (Sep 6, 2013)

I may not have an answer for the less running component, but my buddy has been trying to burrow through his liner for a couple days now too! Wakes me up, and its super loud. So you are not alone


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

Annie&Tibbers said:


> Yes, my little friend is a boy. ...and the weather shifted again overnight, and he ran less than 100m. Argh!
> 
> If you have a crazy-runner, you can make his kibble-mix higher fat to maintain his weight. The easiest way to do this is to add in a kitten kibble.


Yes, sure will. I've increased his superworm intake as well as it seems he wont be storing fats anytime soon lol


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## deftones (Jul 26, 2013)

Macey is doing the burrowing/scratching thing as well, just started a couple weeks ago, I thought it odd but nothing more.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

To prove that my small friend is a total diva: he's started running again. 4km, so not full-distance, but still way less concerning than the 100m nights. I'm going to assume it was the weather throwing him off his stride.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks for the update! Glad he's gone somewhat back to normal...they do like to worry us. :roll:


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

...and the weather shifted, and he ran 200m last night. If this keeps up for the entire month-long transition from summer to winter weather, I may actually go batty fretting about if something is actually wrong, or he just doesn't approve of low pressure systems.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

For future archive-divers:
This morning I found crystals in his pee. I am now treating this lethargy as a symptom instead of temporary moodiness, and have an upcoming vet visit for urine analysis. Any further updates will be in the Urine Crystals thread.


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