# tricks :)



## hedgiegurl16

I heard hedgehogs can learrn tricks but I don't know what tricks hedgehogs can learn or how to teach them tricks and I would love to see Sonic do tricks  so what tricks can they learn and how do you train them the tricks they can learn


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## Guest

Never heard of hedgehogs learning tricks, they kind of do their own thing, a few have been claimed to recognize the sound of their name but I haven't really heard them doing any sorts of tricks per say.


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## Hedgieonboard

Hedgies usually won't do tricks. I have little things mine will do but on a whim they may decide not to do them if it suits them that day lol Both of mine use the potty now and I was able to finally get Sandra from pooping on the wheel and now she goes just on the paper towel like Loken does. This wouldn't work on some hedgies but everyday when I clean the cage I'd put some poop where I wanted her to go. When I had her out playing I kept the mealworms handy and when she did the I have to go dance I put her in the spot I wanted her to go. If she went in that spot I gave her a meal worm. It took a long time and a lot of work because I never forced her and had to use extreme patience and wait for the situation to come up to work on it each time. I've had her for over a year now and she's just now taking too it. 

Some little things mine will do is Sandra will come when I call, if I cup my hands she will run into them to be picked up, when she hears me cleaning the top cage she comes out to sit and wait for her turn. Each thing I rewarded with mealworms until she associates the action with meal worms, if she displayed a natural response to something I liked I would reward it. Loken never liked to come when called but I still work with him and he's starting to do it now, I've had him a week or so shy of 2 years so it was a lot of trying lol A cute thing too is I was able to get Loken to go into a clean hedgie bag when I clean the cage. I lift the Igloo and while I'm picking up stuff to clean Loken will get into the clean bag that I'm going to use in his Igloo for the next few days. I give him mealworms and then let him sleep in a bin while I clean out his cage. To start out with that trick I would crunch and hold fabric in my hand, when Loken would go to the spot I'd give him a mealworm. We made it a fun game at playtime, I'd crunch and hold something to get my scent on it and if he went to it he got a reward. So now all I have to do is hold the bag a few seconds and he will go into it


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## PJM

My hedgies each have cute little quirks that I love. When we notice one of those unique habits, we reward & encourage it. I think that's about as close to tricks as my crew will get.

Zoey will run up on hedgie-daddy's shoulder whenever I put her in his lap.

Pepper will run up to my chair when she's done roaming the livingroom.

Cholla will come out of hiding whenever I shake a cup of mealies.

We may be able to trick friends & family into believing it's the hedgies that are trained & not us. But we all know the truth. :lol:


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## Nebular

Norman doesn't do tricks, but he has certain habits that he's picked up. If I cup my hands in front of him, he'll climb in to be scooped up. He knows that chopsticks means it time for meal worms. And he know that the alarm clock means it's almost bed time for him, but that he'll have 10 minutes to wander around my bed before I plop him back in his igloo. For the most part though, he's done a better job of training me. Want a snout rub? Stick the face out from beneath whatever he's covered up in during snuggle time. Want a tummy rub? He'll roll onto his side, expose his tummy, and look cute. Want to be petted and scratched? He snuggles in next to me on the couch and presses his snout against my arm.


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## Kalandra

I've seen that mentioned by others, and honestly in all the years I've had hedgehogs, tricks are not something they want to do. They are highly intelligent animals, so it isn't they cannot learn to do tricks, its more they don't want to. A hedgehog does what it wants and that is the way life is. I have had one that would come to me when I called her name a certain way. She was a weird one. Otherwise, good luck training them. If any tricks are learned, it will be them teaching you to do things... like get mealworms when they huff a certain way. Get out of bed at night to fix their snuggle bag, because it isn't just right... Yes that one is from experience.


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## Guest

Kalandra said:


> Get out of bed at night to fix their snuggle bag, because it isn't just right... Yes that one is from experience.


That....is....so....CUTE >.<


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## I<3Hejji

Hejji doesn't really do tricks either, but he has some adorable habits that I like to think are tricks. Every night Hejji gets to run around his room and explore (it has been completely hedgehog-proofed and we watch him play), but some nights he just wants to lay down and sleep. On nights where he just wants to sleep we lay a certain fleece blanket folded in half on the ground and he crawls in between the layers and lays down so we can pick him up in it and take him out to the living room and snuggle him  Before we started putting the blanket down he would just sleep in a corner of the room, and then he started sleeping snuggled up next to one of us, and now when he wants to cuddle he knows to just climb in his blanket. On sleepy nights I have even tried putting down the special blanket and a random one and he always goes to the special blanket to sleep


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## CrazyDogLady

Has anyone ever tried clicker training a hedgie? A few of my dog training colleagues have gone to a clicker training workshop where they trained chickens (chickens!) to do tricks using a clicker. Granted, they were simple tricks like walking in a figure 8 around two cones or do a little dance in place, but if you can clicker train chickens it has to be possible with at least some hedgies.


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## Hedgieonboard

A lot of hedgies wouldn't respond well to the clicker, that kind of noise tends to make them go on the defensive. Click noises make both of my hedgies pull their visors down and will ball up if if it did it again. It is an interesting idea if another kind of noise was used


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## CrazyDogLady

Hedgieonboard said:


> A lot of hedgies wouldn't respond well to the clicker, that kind of noise tends to make them go on the defensive. Click noises make both of my hedgies pull their visors down and will ball up if if it did it again. It is an interesting idea if another kind of noise was used


Good point. Any kind of sound could be used in place of a click. Marine mammal trainers use a whistle. I guess it would take some experimentation to find out what wouldn't be scary to most hedgies. I'll have to give it a try when I get my own hedgie.


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## Nebular

Sudden noises in general tend to spook them. The only "trick" a hedgie would likely do in response to a clicker or whistle would be to quill up and huff, and that's not exactly something special for them. :lol:


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## CrazyDogLady

It can be sort of a nice side effect of clicker training that the animal can become less sensitive to noises. The sound is always followed by something good, so you actually recondition the brain. The trick is to muffle the sound at first so it's not as startling. You can also use a word in place of a click. You don't have to use a sound at all though. You can use a small flashlight. There are lots of options. I think it would be a fun thing to try. Hedgie enrichment!


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