# HELP - if my hedgehog doesn't start being quieter I have to give him away



## ninetshka (Nov 16, 2015)

Hi, so I brought my hedgehog home last night for the first time. He settled in fine and his cage is in my room.
However, I could not sleep all night because of how noisy he was. He woke up at around 10PM, starting making noise, went back to sleep at midnight until 1:30AM and from there on he was running up and down his cage, crunching food loudly, trying to escape from his cage, rattling it and pushing the objects in his cage about. At 4 in the morning, even though I was using earbuds, it got to the point where I had to sleep in my living room. 
This is the cage I bought him: 




I thought it was suitable because it is larger and cheaper than a Zoozone 2, had open bars for ventilation, and I also read that pan cages suitable for guinea pigs would be good for the hedgehog. However, he keeps trying to climb through the bars, so what should I do? Is there a certain material I can place so that he will stop climbing? Also, I have been considering getting a vivarium/bin cage/zoo zone as they are enclosed and therefore he won't escape, and also since it is more closed then it makes sense that less noise would escape.

Overall, it's probably my fault for underestimating how loud he would be . I've asked my mum if I could place his cage in any other room in the house and she adamantly refuses, so that is not an option either. I really need to significantly reduce the amount of noise I can hear at night or I will have to give him away, I have no other option, since I have my A level exams coming up and I cannot afford to lose any sleep


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## nuttylover (Jun 5, 2015)

That is a bit small. Hedgehogs need a minimum of 2x4 square feet. Does he have any toys? It might be a sign that he is bored. Other than that hedgehogs are really noisy at night since it is the time that they are the most active.


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## ninetshka (Nov 16, 2015)

nuttylover said:


> That is a bit small. Hedgehogs need a minimum of 2x4 square feet. Does he have any toys? It might be a sign that he is bored. Other than that hedgehogs are really noisy at night since it is the time that they are the most active.


Really? It's 47' by 23', I thought that was big enough. He has two balls, a wheel, a tunnel, and two stuffed toy hedgehogs and fleece to burrow in.


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## nuttylover (Jun 5, 2015)

May I see the complete set-up? The length is alright but I think the width of the cage might be small so I was thinking that the cage might be a little crowded for him. Hmmm. Sounds like you have a normal hedgehog. They are really active at night. My Chestnut is also noisy during his playtime hours but I have learned to zone out the noise (it makes me sleep when he is noisy because it means that he is alright and feeling good LOL). You could try putting coroplast on the grills for him not to be able to climb through.


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## nuttylover (Jun 5, 2015)

My bad. It seems the cage is big enough with the measurements you gave me. The picture just looked small so I was a bit confused


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

I can hear Finnick through the wall right now stampeding around on his wheel. When he was in my bedroom I actually bought noise cancelling headphones and turned on the noise cancel feature with no music and that worked. Is that an option?


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Unfortunately you have a pet that is nocturnal so he's going to be up and moving around all night. There are a couple things you can do to minimize the noise but I don't think expecting him to be completely quiet all night is fair to him. What kind of wheel do you have? Some wheels are a lot noisier than others. What kind of bedding do you have in the cage?


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## ninetshka (Nov 16, 2015)

nikki said:


> Unfortunately you have a pet that is nocturnal so he's going to be up and moving around all night. There are a couple things you can do to minimize the noise but I don't think expecting him to be completely quiet all night is fair to him. What kind of wheel do you have? Some wheels are a lot noisier than others. What kind of bedding do you have in the cage?


I live in the UK and can't get a Carolina Storm unless I pay like 30 pounds for shipping so I have a Jellyhogs wheel, which is like a handmade bucket wheel. My bedding is Carefresh, but I am going to switch to liners.

I'm thinking of buying a vivarium, would that conceal more noise than an open pan cage like the one I have now?


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## ninetshka (Nov 16, 2015)

FinnickHog said:


> I can hear Finnick through the wall right now stampeding around on his wheel. When he was in my bedroom I actually bought noise cancelling headphones and turned on the noise cancel feature with no music and that worked. Is that an option?


Which ones did you use? I've had a look online and all the high quality ones seem to be outrageously expensive


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

I don't think a Carolina Storm wheel would be that much quieter than the wheel you have anyway, I have seen the wheels like the one you have and they seem very similar. I am sorry your mother will not let you move your hedgie into another room. What is her reasoning? Does she think it will be too messy or smell? I don't want you to have to give your hedgehog up, because they are really fun to have and he is just doing what hedgehogs do. I don't think he will continue to try to escape forever, he is probably just getting used to the house. Do you think you could get an ambient noise machine and put it right next to your head at night? Do you know what I mean? It is like a clock radio that makes various noises like rain, or city sounds, etc. I use one to drown out my neighbors barking mutts!
Best wishes,
Susan H.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Crunching food noises? Other than the headphones suggestion, the only thing I can suggest is you'll get used to it and be thankful he's eating. 
The running, does he run on his wheel or just around his cage? The wheel, if your hearing it squeak, it needs the bearing greased. If it's thumping against the side or bottom of the cage, you could attach the wheel to the side of the cage.


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## jvl (Dec 11, 2014)

Switch your bedding to well made fleece liners that have some padding. If your wheel is well made, it'll cancel out all the rattling noises. All you'll hear is little feet pounding away.. and I find that really relaxing, I sleep with my hedgehog at the foot of my bed.


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

They are pretty expensive. Mine are Bose ones. There's a brand that Walmart carries, and it's not too bad, but I can't find it on the website.... I think they were $35 Canadian.

Sorry for the late reply, a friend of mine suddenly decided he needed me to do all the graphics for his video game. >.<


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## Risetofall3 (Dec 17, 2015)

Try sleeping with a fan on! Me and my brother both have hogs in our rooms and both keep fans. It easily drowns out any wheel and crunching noises. It's just about the cheapest way to get ambient noise. Just don't have the airflow pointed directly at your hogs cage. Mine lives in an aquarium so this doesn't bother him.


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