# Major behavior change



## CopperHog (Jan 22, 2014)

I have a 1 year old male hegehog. He's normally a pretty shy but chill guy. When I usually take him out at night he likes to be held or just curls up on his blanket on my lap. He will sometime walk around a bit.

The past two nights when I took him out, he was extremely active and did not want to be held. I would pick him up and he would run in a circle to try and get out of my hands or back up to try and escape. He eventually calmed down and curled up in his blanket, but he was still very hyper and active when I went to put him back in his cage. Generally when I put him back in his cage he will walk around for a bit, eat some food, and go back into his house to sleep. The past two nights, he's franticly ran to his house and was huffing and hissing for a few minutes while inside. 

His eating, drinking, and activity levels have not changed. His poop looks normal. His location and temperature (74 - 76* F) have not changed although the temperature outside has recently decreased.

I did notice when I had him out he was doing a shake (like a dog when they are wet) and scratching near his face which I have never seen him do before. 

I gave him a bath on Wednesday and I think he may have gotten water in his ear -- I checked his ears for an ear infection but they looked normal. 

Any advice is much appreciated!


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## Pitch's Mom (Oct 19, 2014)

My hedgehog is experiencing the same set of symptoms. Super relaxed and easy going for the 10 months that we've had him, up until a couple of nights ago. Now he won't let us hold him, runs around very erratically. He has never been an explorer, just a cuddler. Now he won't hold still when we hold him, and he poops on us constantly like when he was a baby. He has also been shaking his head a bit, but he has not had a bath recently. Once we put him in his cage he crawls back under the blankets. He doesn't seem to be running in his wheel as much, and he's very loud and chirpy when we have him out of the cage. Is he sick or just changing personality-wise? Hope someone on here knows what could be causing this!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Probably a long shot, but do either of you have any of those ultrasonic rodent deterrents anywhere in the house? They can affect other small animals, and might be bothering your hedgehog if there's any in the area. Check for anything else in the area that might be giving off some kind of sound that might be annoying.

Check their ears carefully. Look for any crud, swelling, redness, etc. Look for any tiny insects around their face or ears (like mites). Check around the rest of them as well, for something like a quill poking them.

If neither of you can find a reason for your hedgehog's behavior & it continues, personally I'd suggest vet visits to make sure there's nothing wrong health-wise. Especially with the ears, since it can be difficult to see problems with how small they are.


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## CoffeeKat (Jan 15, 2014)

One thing that caused a problem here recently was air freshener. I changed fragrances of my wax melts and LuLu did not approve. She was squirelly and obnoxious for two nights before I solved the "what is different in her world?" mystery. Hedgehogs are very sensitive to sounds and scents, especially how our hands smell, but also in their general environment as well.


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## CopperHog (Jan 22, 2014)

Thanks for the tips! I ended up increasing the temperature in my hedgies cage to 76-77* F and he seems much happier now -- still a bit on edge and anxious, but not nearly as bad. My guess is he still noticed the outside temp change even though his cage temp has been consistent. 

We do have an air freshener that we recently changed in the bathroom across the hall from the room with hedgie's cage -- I'll remove that and see if it helps anymore!


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