she okay?

[francine]

my hedgehog is never awake only at night but if i come check on her shes stops moving completely? my room tends to be decently heated but i live in cleveland where it can get kinda cold fortunately its gunna be warming up but her stomach was pretty warm.

 

[LovinHedgies]

Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so being awake only at night is normal. As for freezing when you check on her - how long have you had her? How much "cuddle" time does she get? How old is she? - it could be that she is just not used to you yet. Both my hedgies usually stop running on their wheels if I interrupt them - especially if I turn a light on.

As for the heat - hedgehogs MUST have a constant temperature above 74 degrees. Its best to not let the temperature change more than a few degrees. By not have a heat source, such as a room heater or a CHE set up, you are putting your hog at risk for a hibernation attempt and there are serious consequences related to hibernation including death. Heat is one thing that should not be "messed" with when it comes to hedgehogs.

 

[francine]

Yea i use a space heater and i play and have her sleep on my lap stomach or shoulder for a good 2 hours a day ige had her just a couple weeks but she warmed up to me really quickly and rarely props her spikes up

 

[LexieHeg]

Hedgehogs are nocturnal and prey animals....so if you suddenly enter the room, her instinct to freeze until she knows its safe. Instinct is something that isn't going to go away very quickly. Lexie does that every time we interrupt her and after a minute or so she starts playing again she just needs time to recognize its just us. For the first month or so we had her she froze every time we entered and wouldn't move until we left...I think its completely normal, just give her time.

 

[Raindog]

My hedgie still does that and I have had him almost four years. Freeze and then run into his tube.