# Light, heat, and blanket questions--Please help!!



## nuttynutmeg (Dec 12, 2011)

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and to being a proud hedgehog owner. My husband and I picked up our baby Nutmeg last Saturday, so we're still getting all settled in with her! I've read up on how hedgehogs need a certain number of hours of light per day, and so I have a question about that:

My hedgehog has a few blankets in her cage, and she sleeps a lot. When she sleeps, she's always cuddled up deep under the fleece blanket. We leave a lamp on while we're gone at work all day so that she has that constant light...but when she's under that blanket, I assume it's dark? Is that bad for her? Is she not getting the light she needs because she keeps herself buried under there all day?

Also, at night I've begun to place a light fleece throw blanket over the cage, because it seems to make her more active. When we first introduced her to her wheel, she kept scurrying off, but as soon as we threw that blanket over the top of her cage we could hear that pitter-patter of little feet on the wheel. So, is it okay to keep a blanket over the cage at night? Also, my hubby and I stay up relatively late (midnight-ish), so is _not_ having her cage covered bad for her because we have lamps/monitors on that could mess up her internal clock when it should be dark?

One more question, this time about heat. Currently I have an oil-filled space heater set up next to her cage, but I just ordered a CHE lamp from Amazon and will be switching to that heat source when it arrives. I bought:

150-watt CHE bulb (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQCQO)
8.5" clamp lamp (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQCXM)
Thermostat (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQD9A)
Thermometer (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MD3MFA)

Can someone experienced with CHE heating please have a look at those items and make sure it all looks okay? I am just SUPER paranoid about her attempting to hibernate and it's been driving me crazy lately. Want her to stay healthy and perfect!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Even if she's under lots of blankets, you still want to have the light on a regular schedule. They can still tell it's on (kind of like if you have a shade over the window when you're taking a nap during the day, but you still know it's day), and if you don't have it only long enough, it can still lead to a hibernation attempt. Her burying herself in the blankets isn't going to provoke a hibernation attempt though, so she should be fine.

A blanket over the cage at night is fine, and I know several other members have to do something like that as well so their hedgies feel comfortable being active. Some are very sensitive to any light in the room and even a little bit of light (from a nightlight or something similar) can keep them from coming out. If she's more active with the blanket over the cage, I'd definitely say keep doing that.

Yup, the CHE set up is all the right stuff, but one note - You may want to get the 10 inch clamp lamp instead. They spread the heat out better than the smaller lamps so that the cage is more evenly heated. You could try that lamp out though, and see how the cage temperature does with it. Everything else looks great and should work well for you. Also, you may find that it takes a bit of playing around with settings to get her cage at a stable temperature, especially with that thermostat. I've read a lot of comments from people that have used that one that said it took a bit of fiddling to get it to the right temperature, but once set, it did a great job of regulating the CHE.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Lilysmommy is a pro and all her advice is great.  

I just wanted to add that you should be really careful if you're going to use something to cover the cage while using a CHE as a heat source. I have 2 CHEs and I absolutely love the way they work, but use lots of caution and common sense. 6 months or so ago, a member posted a picture of what happened to some of her fleece when it came too close to the CHE (scary stuff!), and I myself had a scare. Shortly after we brought my hog home, my fiance moved her CHE from the top of the cage to our bed. The green light on the thermostat signaling that the CHE is turned on was out at the time, but that quickly changed and we literally had a hole burnt right through our comforter. They can get extremely hot. So just be extra careful at night when setting up the material you use to cover the cage. I think I read here that if you use a cage cover, you should make sure the fabric is at least 1 inch away from the edge of the CHE dome.

Good luck!


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## nuttynutmeg (Dec 12, 2011)

Thank you both for the advice!

Yeah, when my CHE arrives (Monday!) I plan to stop covering the cage with a blanket because I'll be clamping the lamp directly to the top of the cage. So, I'll just have to have a specific "lights out" schedule so she gets her dark time. 

I just got my thermometer today and probed the cage. It was at 80! Here I was freaking out she that was too cold...maybe she was too hot all along. She usually borrows beneath her bedding and lays on the cool plastic bottom, but also does the "splat" thing where she lays out with her feet behind her. Maybe all symptoms of her being too warm? I can't wait til my CHE lamp comes so I can properly regulate the temp to be consistent.

Also, I wonder if maybe she's quilling. I've seen a lost quill or two in her fleece blanket. I'm curious if her recent behaviors are symptoms of quilling? She's been scratching more (not a lot, but she does itch), and really doesn't want to be touched. The first few nights I had her she just froze on the spot and huffed when I'd attempt to pick her up, and as soon as she was in my hands she'd uncurl and explore, climbing and sniffing. Now when I try to pick her up, she frantically scurries to get away. Like, scampers away from my grasp, as if either she's frightened out of her wits or my touching her causes pain. Could that be because of the quilling, or something bigger? She has climbed the bars of her cage before and fell. She hasn't climbed at all since using her wheel, which she runs on for probably a good 3 hours per night. And she sleeps a lot, but I know that's normal for babies (she's going on 10 weeks now).


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

The "symptoms" you describe could certainly be from quilling. Quilling can cause major grumpiness for some hedgehogs. She is the right age to be quilling right now. Take a look at her skin, you should probably see some quills poking through.

Splatting can be a sign of being too warm, but some hedgehogs just splat normally. Both of my current girls splat when they sleep, no matter the temperature.


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## Mphillips113 (Aug 11, 2014)

Hi, I just got my hedgehog today, and I have a hut with a soft blanket in it, and I made like a little cave type thing, but when I came I check on him, he was all the way at the very bottom of the blanket, and he's been under there for a few hours, is that normal? And do I have to keep a light on? 

what type of fruits can they eat?


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