# When do you *really* spend time with your hedgehog?



## Mecki (Nov 4, 2017)

I'm curious. Aside from the standard recommendations of the "best" times to interact with your hedgehog, when do you find that you _actually_ spend time with your hedgie?

Are you pretty consistent with set times or more random?

And for any of those various times, which of them are active times and which are napping times?


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

Our little girl is very punctual. She is not very happy if she is not brought downstairs at 8:15 PM gets her 2 mealies and her shredded chicken and then has nap-exploreing-watching TV till 10:30 then its back to her pen for wheeling.


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## Stella'sMama (Dec 3, 2018)

I usually just do it at night. Usually by 9 or earlier. I just watch TV and do homework with her on my lap


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

I get Holly at 7pm but she doesn't actually wake up, then we cuddle until 9pm and then at 9-10 we have a play time and she gets her insects. She loves it. If I'm late getting her she hates it.


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## Shrewbat (Jan 30, 2019)

Shrewbles only doesn't mind being woken up at around 9pm... But she usually snuffles around with us for a few mins, poops (2 or 3), wees, eats a few pellets and then climbs back on my lap for a nap for an hour or so (and of course strokes and scratchies from mom). We put her back in her house... Usually she hops on her wheel and stretches... Then she drinks water, eats some more pellets and goes back to nest. But when I've checked on her later or in the early hours of the morning, she's out and about. She loves her wheel!


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## Brooke Lancelot (Jan 30, 2019)

I take Igor out here at 5 am or 6 am and then I place him in my bed with me and he sleeps there the whole day until 6 - 8 pm then I put him in his cage, give him his two mealworms and applebits. It might not sound like alot, but I believe it has helped alot with our bonding.


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## Askeptosaurus (Nov 10, 2015)

Ours alternate which ones get to run around the Hedge-proof room each night and it's usually just generically "when we start to go to bed." I also let them sleep in my hedgehog-proofed bed during the day when I sleep. I think the body stank helps bond them with us.


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## Antares (Mar 25, 2014)

I generally take Yuki out around 7/8pm and let her just sit on my lap while I'm doing my thing at my desk in the den. She'll crawl around and I'll interact with her before she'll curl up and nap. I can tell when she wants to come out when I hear some rustling from her hut and she sticks her head out from under her blankie and looks up at me


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## horserider1130 (Jan 3, 2017)

im very random with the times i hang out with my little dude, but i think he likes it that way. whenever i have some spare time when doing homework or bumming around i get him out and he gets to decide what he wants to do. sometimes he naps in the fleece blanket on my bed he loves, but sometimes he wants to explore the bed and then i'll let him do that and play on the floor. i think he likes knowing im not going to make him do anything, he just gets to decide what he feels like doing and i facilitate it


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## moustachemoose (Dec 23, 2016)

When Cecil was little, I had him out from about 9PM to midnight, give or take. As he got older, I'd take him out more like 7 or 8PM until 10 or 11. He was very mad in the mornings and in the afternoons between about 4PM-7PM. He was an angel between about noon to 3PM. LOL all these kids are a little different. 

He was always a lazy boy, so no matter when I took him out he'd just want to curl up and nap.


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## tananana (Jan 27, 2019)

How do you know when they get upset if you haven't taken them out yet? I've been trying to figure out when Penny Jo likes to get up and be with us, but she's such a cuddler that I can never tell because she sleeps in her cage and comes out and sleeps some more.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Holly is like that such a cuddly little one and I was told when gets older she wont be so cuddly, well she'll be one on Saturday and she's as cuddly as ever !!
She tends to huff at me if I'm late but if I'm not late she doesn't huff at all really. And if I miss a night then I get huffed at even more and spikes really badly, and sometimes even bitten. Or she'll act like an angle and scare me by not being very active for a night.

Holly likes me getting her out at exactly 7pm. If I'm too early or to late she tells me all about it !!
After a while you'll learn to know, but Holly doest mind too much as long as she gets to cuddle me and sleep😂


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

Coco is bomb-proof; the girl would snooze through the ending of the world, she loves her sleep. Sometimes I take her out at 6pm, sometimes 10am, and she just chills either in the pocket of my hoodie or in one of her cozy tepees or snuggle sacks while I do work until I put her back (which is usually 8-10pm, depending). And she could be with me for literally the entire day haha, depending on what I'm doing. I'm not really consistent with time, but she doesn't seem to care. I just make sure that I handle her and spend time with her daily, so she doesn't revert back to her old ways. When I first adopted her, she was incredibly anti-social and would huff anytime someone entered the room. I can't say I blame her, since I was her third home (at only 7 months old) and she didn't know who she could trust anymore. She'd calm down for a bit, but then would be triggered again in like 10 minutes and was a non-stop huffy ball of spikes. Now, she's a total sweetheart. She is oh so careful with fingers when people hand feed her snacks, and has only ever bitten me twice - months ago - when she mistook me for food.

She huffs initially if she's awoken from a nap, but what hedgehog (or human, lol) doesn't?! She usually settles in 2 minutes, and is happy to hang out wherever - so long as she's comfy and gets paid in snacks and massages! She usually wakes up at about 11pm-ish, and i'll spend a further 30mins-1hour with her, giving her her dinner and just hanging out before bed.


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## Aj.t (Jan 29, 2019)

Hey there! Like Emc said, daily consistency is key. Example: Christina- mi princesa, mija, my angel, is ANYTHING but an angel, and that’s all my fault. When I first got her, it was a good deal out of timing; the breeder had some hoglets and they were selling fast. But, I got her right when I started a temporary manager position while also being full time in high school. Long story short, she didn’t get socialized and desensitized properly cause I wasn’t hanging out with her every day. So, even today as I’m still working with her daily, she’s a more reserved and “grumpy” diva. It fits her name great lol. Sorry that just seemed to go on a tangent lol
My point- the time isn’t as important as the consistency. Just make sure you’re getting them out every day. It doesn’t have to be for hours at a time every day but rather as long as you can. With Christina, I usually only get her out when she wakes up herself- if she’s wheeling, eating, running around, anything like that. I try to let her have her time when she’s sleeping. 
I hope this helps 🙂 I probably went off topic I’m sorry


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## Brooke Lancelot (Jan 30, 2019)

@Ria

My boy does the same! Well, the part where if you miss a day, then there's trouble. When my cousin comes over to visit, I'll sometimes have to go sleep over at her dad's place, then I'm not there for the night with Igor. The next morning when I return, goodness, lord have mercy. He's a devil. He'll bite more than usual, he'll huff, puff, click and spike up. Its like he's telling me he's angry at me for leaving him. 

I guess he didn't have human contact as a hoglet either since he's agro. I should've called him Agro instead of Igor. 😂


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## Bella.hedgie (Apr 16, 2019)

I have a very odd sleep schedule, so I am usually up late at night. I usually take Bella out around 11-12ish and have her out for an hour. Most of the time she just burrows around in my bed or uses my pillows as an obstacle course. On occasion I’ll set up an obstacle course of toys and what not and let her explore that.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Haha Igor really is funny. When I miss a day I bring food for her to make her happy with me again maybe you should try that with him


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## Brooke Lancelot (Jan 30, 2019)

He takes the food in an angry matter too! He'll huff, click and snatch the food from my hand, turn around, showing me his butt, and then eat the food 😂


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

That sounds like a typically hedgehog 😂 holly snatches it angry but doesnt bother turning around


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## Brooke Lancelot (Jan 30, 2019)

😂😂😂


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