# Schedule for my hedgie



## Paigala123 (Oct 11, 2010)

I will be getting a hedgehog in about a month or two and I know that they need to be on schedule.

How strict should his/her schedule be?
I'm asking this because I have to wake up around 6:30 to get ready for school. All I would have time to is to fill up his bowl, i've been reading other posts and I noticed a lot of people clean their hedgies wheels in the morning,will my hedgie be okay if I cleaned it when I get home? Which is around 2:50ish

Now to get to my main question, Will it stress my hedgie out if his weekend schedule is different than his mon-fri. schedule? Because on the weekend I usually wake up around 10 or 11. Basicly what Im trying to ask is that will he be effected if his schedule starts a little later than ususal.

Thanks! Sorry about the lengthy question!


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Hi. Its not a problem to leave the wheel till afternoon to clean, but it could make the room he's in a bit smellier often the wheels smell worse than the cage itself. I can't see a problem with his weekend schedule being different than his weekday schedule. I work a 4 days on 4 days off shift, and when I'm away at work my husband takes care of the hedgies for me and his schedule with them is different than mine and it hasn't caused any problems.


----------



## Paigala123 (Oct 11, 2010)

nikki said:


> Hi. Its not a problem to leave the wheel till afternoon to clean, but it could make the room he's in a bit smellier often the wheels smell worse than the cage itself. I can't see a problem with his weekend schedule being different than his weekday schedule. I work a 4 days on 4 days off shift, and when I'm away at work my husband takes care of the hedgies for me and his schedule with them is different than mine and it hasn't caused any problems.


Ok thanks 
I'm the first person to get home, so I wont have to worry about my mom complaining that my room is smelly haha


----------



## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

The important thing is to make sure your hedgie has a regular minimum light routine, IMO. Set up a lamp for the hedgie cage attached to a timer. This way, if you get up later on the weekend, your hedgie still gets a regular light schedule.


----------



## Paigala123 (Oct 11, 2010)

silvercat said:


> The important thing is to make sure your hedgie has a regular minimum light routine, IMO. Set up a lamp for the hedgie cage attached to a timer. This way, if you get up later on the weekend, your hedgie still gets a regular light schedule.


Do they have timers built into lamps, and where can I get one?


----------



## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Walmart has cheap ones for about 5 dollars, they look like a 4 inch box with a dial on the front, the dial has hours printed on it, and there's two switches (green & red) that you set to whatever hour you want the lights to come on and off. The box plugs into the outlet, lamp into the box.

Not sure about a lamp with a timer built in, any old light will work with the timer box.


----------



## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

I just bought one today from Home Hardware - It was 7.99 and I am still figuring out how it works, but it doesn't look too hard...


----------



## Paigala123 (Oct 11, 2010)

I'm planning on placing his cage under a window in my room. Could I just crack open the blinds enough so he could get natural lighting instead of using the lamp?


----------



## PJM (May 7, 2010)

It's best to have a lamp. The reason is that during the winter, there's fewer sunlight hours during the day. That will trigger hibernation attempts in some hedgies. If you have a lamp on a timer, then you won't even have to worry about it. They need about 12-14 hours of light a day, I believe.


----------



## Paigala123 (Oct 11, 2010)

o ok, 
But don't hedgehogs sleep during the day?


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

They do, but they can still sense the light change outside of their sleeping spot. Lily's even had a short hibernation attempt this past August that was due to a lighting mix-up with her lamp, where it didn't turn on all day and she was in the dark. So it's still best to use something that can be regulated to reduce chances of that happening.


----------



## Paigala123 (Oct 11, 2010)

Lilysmommy said:


> They do, but they can still sense the light change outside of their sleeping spot. Lily's even had a short hibernation attempt this past August that was due to a lighting mix-up with her lamp, where it didn't turn on all day and she was in the dark. So it's still best to use something that can be regulated to reduce chances of that happening.


Thats good to know

I have one last question, when does your hedgie usually wake up and go to bed?
I know some people like to wait for their hedgies to wake up on their own before they handle them, how long should I wait?


----------



## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

The light in my hedgie room shuts off at 8PM. I have one hedgehog who wakes up about 30 minutes after that and the other one usually wakes up more than an hour after the light is out. I used to have to wake them up in the evening to spend time with them but now I rarely have to, they have adjusted to a regular schedule. 

I'm not sure what time they go to bed for good but when I wake up at 6 AM they're both already in their igloo.


----------



## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

Every hedgie has his/her own wake/sleep time, and it changes with age. Sylvie used to wake up at 3pm & come out for a snack. She would then sleep until about 6 or 8 pm. When she was healthy she would stay up all night running until about 6 or so.

Annabell wakes up around noon and then again around 3 for a snack, but only if I put the food actually into her sleeping hut. She won't come out during the day yet. She's 4 months now and can easily keep sleeping until 9 or 10 if I don't wake her. This morning she was back in bed getting comfy to go to sleep around 5am.


----------



## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I don't know what time Cholla & Zoey would wake up naturally. I turn the light off about 6pm & get the first one @ 7pm. Usually end up waking them up. They are both put away for the night at about 9pm. Cholla will cuddle & sleep the entire time. Zoey, however, only wants to cuddle until about 8pm. Then she wants to explore.


----------

