# Only comes out right when I turn the room light off!!



## Longx412 (Apr 29, 2010)

I have him for 4 months and I notice he comes out when the light is off. He is 7 months old. His light is on at 8am to 8pm. My room light is on til i go to bed. I notice he will come out just to snack and then go hide again. Is that the life of a hedgehog or do I just have one that is just shy or afraid of the light? He is pretty tame and will open to you when you handle him. He is good with showers that I give him once a month.

Im a late night person so I dont go to sleep til 3am to 5am. so lights goes out when i go to bed. Right away I hear him making noises 5 mins after light is off.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals. You need the lights to be on 12-14 hours a day only...Your hog needs 10-12 hours of darkness too.


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## Longx412 (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks for replying. Yeah I know they are nocturnal. I'm giving him 12 hrs of light like I said. 8am-8pm. thats the light over his enclosure.

I'm talking about my bedroom light(ceiling light). The hedgehog is in a plastic bin, in the corner. 

Just asking if everyone's hedgehog like this.. Only comes out when its COMPETELY DARK!

When my room light is on during night time he doesn't get the full lighting due to shades of the bin and its place in the far corner of the room.

I just know that he is a very shy hog when he is left alone in his enclosure.

Just curious if thats what hedgehogs do. Only comes out in complete darkness? Not even take a peak late night to see what i'm doing? At least move around at night time...

Again I'm a night person and only time i see him at night is when i put food in there and he comes out to eat it and only goes back to sleep when hes done.

I have a heat emmiter over him so temp is abouve 72 degree..


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Some are like that yes. 

I have one currently that if there is too much light in the room, she simply will not come out. I noticed a decrease in her activity this year when I opened the bedroom door again (I leave it closed when I have a space heater running). There was a blue night light that I had moved over the winter (which was no where near the door). Apparently I moved it to a spot that was causing her cage to have more light than it used to. Moved it back to its old spot and she became more active.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

If you want your hedgehog to come out when you are still up turn off the room light and just a lamp where you are so that your hedgehog gets even less light. Some people also cover the cage with a towel to block the light.


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## Hollierae (Apr 12, 2010)

I normally get my little girl out around 9 P.M.. play and cuddle with her, then i put her back and she'll eat and drink a little then go back to bed.. Then ill cover her up and she comes right back out and does whatever she does during the night... I normally keep the ceiling light on and even have the tv on.. She's fine as long as she's covered.. I think she's use to the noise around here tho


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## starby (Apr 25, 2010)

LarryT said:


> Your hog needs 10-12 hours of darkness too.


 Is it bad if he isn't having this much time in the dark? I'm a college student at the end of my semester and I have the light on until 3 or 4 most nights. So Wimbley is only getting about 3 hours of dark at this point. Wimbley doesn't come out when the light is on even if I have my lamp on pointing at the wall to make it as dim as possible.

He is only 7 weeks old so I think he is supposed to sleep a lot anyway, plus I'll be done soon and he'll have more dark when it's the summer and I'm not up all night doing work.

...but in the meantime. Am I being cruel to him by having the light on so much?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

The thing about not giving them the darkness is...
You're basically making them fast for 20+ hours at a time...As many hedgehogs will not come out with any sort of light. 

I wonder...If they could be induced into hibernation if made to fast for too long? 

For the OP, I too would suggest getting a desk lamp which has a flexible neck, so you can direct the lighting away from your hedgie's corner. See if that helps. 

Just because you are using a bin, unless you have drilled many MANY ventilation holes, I wouldn't suggest covering the bin with cloth...

I have a wire cage, and I'd cover my boy's cage when I head up to my room. And I'm up till 3am most nights as well, and he's fine like that.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

If you only turn the light off at 3-5am sometimes, that is like only allowing you to get out of bed at about 7pm to eat, drink, run around a tiny bit and then crash until the next day, that late.

Your hedgie is normal to want complete darkness. And he really does need a longer time of complete darkness to be healthy. Having the ceiling like on is just like it's still day to him. He should, like Larry said, have 10-12 hours of complete darkness to get up as he pleases.


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## Longx412 (Apr 29, 2010)

thanks for replying guys/girls! This really help me determine that its a normal thing. I know they are nocturnal but didn't realise they really hate the light. I mean rats/chinchilla/hamsters are nocturnal but they don't hide completely from the light. When its night time they come out and play versus the hedgehog when its night time it needs to be dark for them to come out on their own to play.

Now I'm going to try other things like you guys mention. I'll just leave my TV on with some noise and turn off my bedroom light. I will cover his cage as well and see if TV noise is a factor?

This gives me a little satisfaction that I don't have a really shy hedgehog and he is only doing what he does naturally.

Thanks!!!


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

The TV noise may not be a factor but the flickering light may be. A lot of hedgehogs wont come out with the flickering from a TV or computer. Just wanted to let you know in case you have it on and he still doesn't come out.


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## krbshappy71 (Jul 17, 2009)

Christmas lights also work, if you have some handy. They give off enough light to move around the room and do stuff but aren't as bright as an overhead light. I "tricked" my hedgies with them for awhile. Computer monitor light isn't quite as bright but if you have a lighted keyboard you can keep working on a computer with main light off so you can enjoy the hedgie antics.

They might be ok with a night light, as well, or if you really wanted to get serious, how about installing a dimmer on the main room light and keep turning it up slowly over the nights to see just how light you can have it and still have them come out.


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