# My hedgehog is easily scared



## OttoTheHedgehog (Apr 2, 2017)

I have a white african pygmy hedgehog named Otto, and he gets scared very easily, to the point where a simple shadow scares him. Is there anything I can do to make him much more confident and less easily scared?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

How long have you had him? Hedgehogs are prey animals and generally work under the assumption that everything wants to eat them and is capable of doing so. So they tend to be quite shy, jumpy animals. All you can do is consistently handle them every evening/night and see if they start to calm down. Sometimes they do, sometimes they remain very defensive for their whole life, it just depends on the hedgehog.


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