# Hedgehog acting strangely about house.



## julieisforlovers

I made my hedgehog a really cool cardboard house when we first got her. I made it to fit over an igloo since my research said they lived in those. As she got bigger the igloo seemed very snug like she was too big for it, so I took the igloo out and she took to just using the cardboard house. Recently (seemingly overnight) she seems to have gotten too big for the entry to the cardboard house. I came out in the morning to find it knocked over and she was sleeping under her "flying saucer". So I cut open a bigger hole in the cardboard. She hesitantly went in, but seemed fine. The next morning she was again under the flying saucer. I speculated that maybe with the large hole she didn't like that she could be seen while in her house, so today we got her a medium sized igloo. She won't go in the igloo, and keeps trying to go under the saucer. I removed the saucer to encourage her to go in the igloo, and she started trying to hide under the bedding in her habitat. I then placed her in the igloo and as soon as she got over being mad at me she left and is again out in the bedding. I don't know what I'm doig wrong or what to do?


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## Aether

Some hedgehogs are just VERY picky about where they will sleep. Sometimes if too much light is filtering in through the house/igloo, the hedgehog will try to find a darker spot. Many hedgehogs like to lounge or sleep under their wheels (which we humans find to be gross since that is where they use the bathroom!) so that is not an uncommon occurrence.

You could try putting a fleece blanket on top of the igloo to block the light. You could try snuggle sacks or tunnels with fleece scraps. There are many different housing options! You can search the forums for some more ideas. =]

Also, the "getting bigger overnight" is a little strange. Do you weigh your hedgehog often? Is there any chance she is pregnant?


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## lilythehedgie

It could be that she just doesn't want to sleep in an igloo/hut anymore. Lily used to sleep in her igloo every night when she was a baby. One day, she just started sleeping under her bucket wheel. She would just totally ignore her igloo, no matter what I did. Eventually I just took it out. (Lily would mess up her litter pan when she slept under her wheel, so I started putting paper pellet litter in her pan so it would be heavy. Now she just sleeps under her liner.) 

Another reason I could think of is she might be too hot to sleep in her hut. If she seems uncomfortable, you could try changing the temperature of cage. Most hedgies do best with a temperature of about 74-76 degrees Fahrenheit. 

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. If her sleeping under her flying saucer isn't seeming to cause any problems, I would just let her do her thing.


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## julieisforlovers

My only concern with her being under the saucer is it completely covers her and I'm not positive she can get out on her own.


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## giraffles

Lia has started ignoring her house too! It's full of fleece scraps for her to burrow in, and usually she loves it, but the past few nights she's dragged her snuggle sack under her wheel and slept there. xD My issue seems to be temperature related, as my home is built of fail and can't heat evenly; resulting in it being nearly 80 degrees upstairs in my room while being a chilly 62 downstairs. So I would check the cage temperature, specifically checking in/around her igloo, because as mentioned she might be too warm where she is. 

And some times they just like to sleep in weird places. I've also found Lia passed out on her wheel after a night of running, or sleeping in her snuggle sack on the opposite side of her cage. :'D 

But to address your concern, is she flipping the saucer onto herself to hide? The ones I've seen are plastic and I would imagine they're not terribly heavy, but maybe keep an eye on her and see if she can crawl out of under it on her own?


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## julieisforlovers

I've found she's no longer completely ignoring her igloo (we got her a larger one to fit in), but she still doesn't seem to be sleeping overnight in it. She's also bitten more more than usual lately.


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## julieisforlovers

Aether said:


> Also, the "getting bigger overnight" is a little strange. Do you weigh your hedgehog often? Is there any chance she is pregnant?


She hasn't had any boy hedgehog interaction, so unless she's going out on the town at night, I think this can't be a possibility.


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## JimmayAnne

Rowdy used to sleep in his igloo all the time, except recently he started sleeping under his fleece liner. His igloo has fleece in it and he occasionally "takes a nap" (goes back to sleep after we get him out to play) it before running on his wheel at night. I've tried everything I could think of to discourage digging under the liner, but of he's happy and healthy then I won't complain . Truthfully I think he likes the feeling of the bottom of his cage lol


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