# Compulsive behavior?



## annalisen (May 2, 2010)

Hi, I am new here, first post! I adopted my hedgehog Tallulah in mid-February from a friend who couldn't care for her any more. She's probably only about six or seven months old, and we've been getting along fine!

However, in the last few weeks her behavior has changed. She used to have fun in her playpen and would play with all her toys (particularly her tp tube). She would tire out of course, but it would take hours. Now when I put her in her pen, she won't play with any toys except her tp tube and after only about fifteen minutes she'll get really fixated on trying to get out of her pen. She sticks her nose between the bars and shoves and shoves and shoves like she's trying to flip them over or get underneath. I know the playpen is too sturdy and tall for her to get out, but I'm afraid she's going to hurt her nose this way.  If her pen is on top of a blanket she'll push the walls of the pen until she can reach the edge of the blanket, and then she'll burrow under it and sleep for the rest of the night. However, she does this pushing behavior even when there's no blanket. I try to distract her and redirect her but she's really fixated, she'd do it for hours if I'd let her.

When I take her out of her pen and let her run around (supervised of course) she seems okay. And otherwise she seems in good spirits, she eats a little less than she used to but it still seems like enough, she seems to run on her wheel after I go to bed, and she's cuddly. Maybe it's just some weird burrowing instinct? Am I doing something wrong? I'm very concerned. 

For fun I've attached a picture I took when I first got her. <3 She was a little grouchy!


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

She's very beautiful  With the behavior its hard to tell but I wonder if she has favorite spots outside of the playpen so she spends all her time trying to get out to get to them. Does she have spots outside of the pen that she likes to annoint over or go to? I understand your worry with her injuring herself, Im not sure how to keep her from doing that though. Hope you are able to solve the mystery


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

what other toys do you have in the playpen? maybe she is bored of them. 

You could try putting a dig box (kleenex box stuffed with fleece scraps) or other types of burrowing toys. There are lots of posts about toys in housing and accessories. Some people have a bunch of toys and only give their hedgehog a few at a time and then switch things up. That way giving back an old toy is just like getting a new toy!  

Other easy things that my hog likes as much as his tp roll are, cardboard egg cartons (opened and turned upside down like a tent), brown paper bags,and his kleenex box with fleece strips. 

Also it sounds like maybe your hedgehog wants to sleep. She should always have a place to sleep or hide. she might be pushing the bars to go find a place to hide. Especially because she sometimes does it to get under the fleece blanket.


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## krbshappy71 (Jul 17, 2009)

Does she have a wheel in her cage and has she been using it? 

My thought is, sounds like she has some anxiety, maybe some pent up stress energy if isn't using her wheel.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

krbshappy71 said:


> Does she have a wheel in her cage and has she been using it?
> 
> My thought is, sounds like she has some anxiety, maybe some pent up stress energy if isn't using her wheel.


The op mentioned the wheel in the cage and was asking specifically about the playpen. But I agree about the stress energy. Could the wheel go in the playpen?


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## annalisen (May 2, 2010)

Thanks! These are all great ideas. It does seem like anxiety. I put her wheel in her pen a few times when I first got her and hadn't bought many other toys, and she seemed to like that, so maybe I should try it again. And the kleenex box sounds like a great idea! I think she would love that, she definitely loves to dig. Is that a good place for her to hide/sleep, too? Do you just cut a little doorway in the side? And I definitely have paper bags and egg cartons laying around so I'll try those.

@Hedgieonboard, yeah, it could be that she just wants to go somewhere outside of her pen... I think I'll start doing more supervised adventures where she can just run all around the living room, that way she's not stuck in the same area all the time.

Thanks guys!  Everyone has such good advice!


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

She is just beautiful!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Haha, she looks like quite the character! I love her name (Tallulah from Maisy the mouse, anyone? anyone? :lol: ).


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