# Still a little concerned...



## ap0226 (May 11, 2010)

Hi all  I posted earlier this week about my hedgie suddenly being mean to me & I'm PRETTY SURE now it's because of quilling, he's 11 weeks old today. But I have a few more worries. The day he started this behavior, 5 days ago, I thought maybe he's a little stressed so I moved his cage to my small walk in closet just because it's alot quieter [warm & humid as well] in there. Since he's been in there, he's been ALOT more active, which I'm happy about, but it seems like he suddenly hates me! Not only does he not want me to lay a finger on him, he stopped sleeping in my shirt too!  I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't have moved his cage because maybe since it's so quiet in there, when I bring him out, all noises freak him out..? Or is it normal for him to resent me while he's quilling? He RUNS away from me! & when he smells my hand, he hisses & tries to headbutt it! I know they can sense nervousness & fear but it's so hard not to be nervous & a little scared when he's acting this way! He goes completely ballistic when I take him out of his cage.. Any advice will be highly appreciated.


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## allears.fan (Mar 20, 2010)

In my opinion you should have left his cage where he was. 
He will get used to your voice and other sounds.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Is there a light in the closet? If there is less light where he is then he seems more active because he thinks it's always night time. Lack of light can also cause a hibernation attempt and/or throw off his schedule which is probably why he's still super grumpy with you. 

Ambient noise will actually decrease their stress level once they get used to it because then any other random noises don't bother them as much.


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## ap0226 (May 11, 2010)

Thanks for the quick replies Oh, & he actually just turned 12 wks, not 11, time flies! But yes, I leave the light on all day for him in the closet. He sleeps all day, he'll get up for about 5 minutes to eat though. But once I turn off that light at 9:00pm, he's up and ready to run! It's just that when his cage was in my room, he'd run till about 2:00am & in there he runs til about 5:30am sometimes 7:00! But I leave the TV on all night, so that could have been the issue. So about the placement of the cage, should I bring it out? It's been in there for a week already so I don't know..? Today he wasn't AS huffy with me when I brought him out earlier..I know he's acting this way because of quilling..I just get upset because he hasn't seemed to of had a 'good day' all week. He has bad days & worse days. lol. *sigh* I'm just trying to put the least amount of stress possible on him but I don't wanna leave him alone completely..I don't know if I'm just imagining this but it seems like when he first started quilling, it was only happening on top & now it seems as though all his side quills are coming in. Is this how it usually happens? & I notice that he's really huffy about us touching his sides & that's where he seems to be itchy as well. He'll tolerate it when I pet his back but if I go near his side quills, he freaks.


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