# Sleeping a lot and not running on wheel



## Klabbs7 (Jan 24, 2014)

Hi, my hedgehog will be turning 1yr next month and for the past few weeks he has been sleeping a lot and not running on his wheel (from what I can tell, some nights he doesn't touch it). Any ideas on why this is happening?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

What temperature is his cage? Do you have a heating system for him? How much light does he get & when? Has anything changed in his environment recently? Is he still eating & drinking normally? What is his behavior like when you have him out for social time? Is it normal or does he seem more lethargic than usual?


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## Klabbs7 (Jan 24, 2014)

his cage is between 74 and 76 degrees at all times. It is a red light, but he has had this for some time now (the past 3 or 4 months). I did recently move, 3 weeks ago. He is eating and drinking normally. generally, he has acted the same way he always does. He hasn't appeared to be lethargic.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Personally I'd switch out the red light first, just in case. It's worth a try, at least. Because typically one of the common causes of sudden ceasing of night-time activities is a source of light disrupting them. If it's not the red light, check for anything else - one person's neighbor had recently gotten extremely bright lights in their yard that was disturbing their hedgehog. Check the wheel for any possible problems too (unsteady, wrong slant, etc.) It's possible he's just upset about the move as well. It's good that he's eating & drinking, at least. If you're not finding anything in terms of lighting, you could try a bump in the temperature, just to see if it makes any difference, but it could be a case of waiting him out to see if he returns to normal.


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## Klabbs7 (Jan 24, 2014)

Do you have any suggestions for a different type of bulb? I use to use a CHE but I found that I didn't really heat his cage well, part of that may be because my house is chilly.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

What wattage of bulb were you using? And how big is your cage? Do you use a thermostat with the set up? If it wasn't keeping your cage warm, it could have been a wattage too low. It could have also been a defective CHE bulb, which happens sometimes. For most cages a 100-150 watt bulb in a 10" lamp with a thermostat will do fine. Some cages (bigger than 4 square feet) may need two lamps with 100-watt bulbs to heat evenly to a warm enough temperature. If you get a Zilla 1000-watt thermostat, they have three outlets so you can plug in multiple lamps & not have to buy multiple thermostats too.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Also check to make sure there isn't any other light getting into his cage at night, through a window...door...etc.


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## Klabbs7 (Jan 24, 2014)

It was a 150 watt in a 8-1/2-Inch dome. His cage is a 2 1/2X 2 1/2. I think I may have to get two CHE bulbs. Thank you both for your advice!


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