# Is my hedgehog dumb?



## DrPennyPickles (Aug 29, 2021)

I have had a difficult time finding the sweet spot of making my hedgehog happy. She doesn't explore much, just tries to dig and hide, and weirdly, when she does have an adequate place to hide, she just sits there. I'm so confused. 

For instance - I decided to replace her bed because her old one was enclosed and it stressed her out to get her out of it. So I opted to get her a soft pet bed, and put some fleece blankets in there so she feels protected. She also has already-existing PVC pipes in her cage, so plenty of hiding space. 

She explored around her bed and the blankets for a bit, and in her tubes, then came out and rather than sleeping in her bed, in the tube, or under a blanket, she just stopped, eyes open, not moving. She's been there for 20 minutes, eyes open.

This is just an example, but I would say the biggest underlying thing is that she doesn't explore. She freezes. she doesn't even ball up (although she does her fair share of that, just not always in this context).

I don't know, is she kind of a dummy? My impression was hedgehogs were very exploratory, curious, and smart. The breeder I got her from told me of another hog she had that would take bedding pieces in her mouth, carry them to the other side of the cage, empty them out, until she had a big enough pile to climb on to get out of her cage. 

I can't even imagine my hog being smart enough to move her blanket where she wants it if it moves.

I have been trying my darndest to find her enriching things that she actually explores and ends up liking, but because she doesn't explore, she never gets into it. It doesn't seem to make a difference if she's in a dark quiet room or out in the open. Most recently I tried giving her a sand bath, I have been reading that hedgehogs LOVE them. She just sat there.

Is this normal?


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

She us still young, and she is still getting used to being in a new environment, with all new smells and all new things. All hogs adjust different to this.

When I first got Holly, anytime she saw me by the cage while she was exploring she would freeze. Because to them freezing means they wont be seen.

If you are constantly standing there she is is going to feel scared and just freeze.
Set up a camera that has night vision, and see what she does when your not hovering around her enclosure.

Also another point here, you replaced the bed because you thought it was stressing her out to get her out. But remember what they see, strange new giant hands coming and picking them up, small or big bed, they are still going to be a bit scared.

You need to give her time to adjust, add something like a blanket that smells of you, help her get used to your scent to.

Remember it can take a lot of time to find what your hogs like, it can take time for them to bond with you and not freeze when they see you there.


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## DrPennyPickles (Aug 29, 2021)

Ria said:


> She us still young, and she is still getting used to being in a new environment, with all new smells and all new things. All hogs adjust different to this.
> 
> When I first got Holly, anytime she saw me by the cage while she was exploring she would freeze. Because to them freezing means they wont be seen.
> 
> ...


Hi Ria - Thanks for your reply.

Just to be clear, we've had her for 2 months, and she hit a point for maybe like a week when she seemed to be warming up. Then she just switched back. Which is when we began trying to find different things for her. 

To clarify, the fleece blankets she seems to like (and i did sleep with them in my pillow case first, so they do have my scent). The blankets are not the problem. The bed, she crawled under and on (surprisingly, she explored it) for some time before she paused mid-cage.

We do have a camera set up (which is how I know her behaviors). We got it because we were concerned she was not being enriched at night when we don't see her. Turns out, most often she just sleeps and eats. We felt like we were making headway when she began playing in her wheel more, and just exploring in general. But, like I said, then she stopped. That phase came after quilling, so we figured that may have been part of it. But now she's over it, and it feels like we are constantly trying to find what makes her happy so she can relax and fulfilled.

I mentioned the sand thing before, and I understand it takes them time, and I intend to try it again with her a few times. But that was just one example of how she doesn't seem that bright. Do they get smarter as they get older?


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

A few random thoughts:

Some hedgehogs are explorers, others are not. Each has their own personality and preferences in how they behave. I've had some that liked to explore and manipulate items in their cage, and others that really couldn't care less about such things, but found running on a wheel to be their thing.

However, you mentioned that she was more active then stopped. Is her cage warm enough? Is she getting enough light during the day? Or what is the environment like at night, is there too much light that may be disturbing her, too much noise, etc. 

If her cage is cooler than she wants it to be, or if she isn't getting enough light during the day, she may be a bit sluggish or less active. Also look at her environment at night. Some hedgehogs like it to be really dark at night. A nightlight at the oppoosite end of the house was enough that a hedgehog I had once to not get up at night. 

How often are you changing things in her cage? Does she have a schedule of when you do things? I have had some that too much change, or unknown made them less active and defensive. Some were real creatures of habit and once I kept to a schedule they were happier.


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## DrPennyPickles (Aug 29, 2021)

Kalandra said:


> A few random thoughts:
> 
> Some hedgehogs are explorers, others are not. Each has their own personality and preferences in how they behave. I've had some that liked to explore and manipulate items in their cage, and others that really couldn't care less about such things, but found running on a wheel to be their thing.
> 
> ...


Hi Kalandra - Her cage is typically between 76-78*, so I think it is warm enough. Is it possible she wants it warmer? The times she was more/less active, her temperature stayed constant, so I'm not sure that is the case?

She has a programmed light that stays on (and changes light temperature with the phases of day) from 7am-7pm. She is in a relatively quiet room (my husband's office, gets used maybe 2 weeks out of the month). She has a towel/blanket that covers her cage on one side to keep ambient light from the porch coming in at night. In fact, we noticed she was more active when we moved her into that room after being out in our living room (we have a small space, it was difficult to find a place well suited for her). It's pretty dark in there at night.

As far as changing her cage - I usually spot clean (food/water dishes, wheel if she used it, working on a littler corner) once/day, change out her bedding/cage liner 1x/wk.

Does that give any insight to what might be happening? She seemed to be more active last night (yay!), or rather early this morning. Background: one issue we have is that she seems to get in her wheel just to potty. Sometimes she runs for amusement, but initially to potty, then I suspect she finds it difficult to run in it because it's slick. So We've been trying to figure that out. We have a Silent Runner which has the front cover on it. I've tried a number of things to help with this, but just yesterday, I tried taking the front off so that when she potties, it drains out (one of the advantages to the Carolina storm wheels, which we didn't realize until after purchasing the Silent Runner). It may have been coincidental, but she pottied IN HER LITTER CORNER, AND ran in her wheel! (she typically just strolls). That's only one night, though... we'll see.

A couple days ago I began feeding her live worms insteead of dried (I had not idea they were so easy to keep in the fridge). We were feeding her live roaches 1x/wk which she loved, but I hated it... ICK. She clearly loves the live worms better, and I know theyre better for her.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Warmer? Unlikely, she may want it a little cooler. One thing you might consider trying is to bump her temperature down to about 74. 76-78 is at the high end of the range. Hedgehogs can become less active when its too cold or too hot for them. Cold is more dangerous due to hibernation attempts, but I have had a couple of hedgehogs that definitely were less active when their cages were in the high 70s or low 80s. I think that typically happened with the bigger hedgehogs (600 gram range kids). But it may be something to consider, I suppose.

I've also had a hedgehog or two who wouldn't use their wheel again until it was cleaned. If the tilt of the bucket was bad and it had a pool of urine or too much filth on it they wouldn't use it again. So you may be on to something with your recent observation. How to fix that with the wheel you have... that could be tough.

Some can just be really finicky and even after caring for many they keep you on your toes to figure out what is going on.


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