sleeping

[debyc08]

my hedgie DeCaf sleeps all day and most of the night. and there are some nights that theres no poop on the wheel, so i know he doesnt run in it every night. but when i wake him up hes non stop until he see a hat or pouch to run into and back to sleep. i know he is a baby still 3 months old but just wanted to know around what age will he start to be up more at night? i want him to get enough exercise.

 

[Nancy]

He should be up and active at night now. What temperature is his cage? Is it possible the nights he isn't active there is a dip in temperature?

 

[Kiah-Muz]

I found it sometimes helps to wake them up when it is night time and the lights are out. It's kind of a "OK.... time to get up!"- our little guy is actually a lot more active when we wake him up before bed.

And as Nancy said- check the room temp.

 

[Sasha]

Is he eating and drinking enough too?

 

[LucksAngel28]

I found it sometimes helps to wake them up when it is night time and the lights are out. It's kind of a "OK.... time to get up!"- our little guy is actually a lot more active when we wake him up before bed.

And as Nancy said- check the room temp.

Same for Maserati - I wake her up for snuggles and kisses before I turn the lights out, and then she's up and playing. If I don't wake her just before lights out, she isn't as active. But, her playtime with me is more like find-mommy-and-snuggle-time, so night is when she really gets going.

Maybe just experiment with the factors mentioned and see if that makes a difference. :cute:

 

[debyc08]

he is eating & drinking great. i weighted him on 3/12 and he was 244 grams and i weighted him yesterday 3/26 and he is up to 268 grams. he is going to be 3 months in a week. and the temp. is pretty much the same everyday between 78-73. the days i wake up and it feels a little cooler in here i check and its never below that.

not too sure what it can be?

i was thinking maybe its the noise from the sugar gliders. since all my pets are in my room and they all are nocturnal. i'm not sure because then why would he been ok some nights and not others.

heres a link to a video of him up and alert when i wake him but then its right back to sleep. i mean maybe he is up and i sleep through it since i sleep like a rock, but then why no poop in the wheel some nights its like 3 nights a week there is poop but never a lot. not messy and i dont even have to clean it every night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5WF7z72tCc

 

[hedgepig]

but then why no poop in the wheel some nights its like 3 nights a week there is poop but never a lot. not messy and i dont even have to clean it every night.

It could possibly be that he doesn't go to the bathroom on the wheel as much. Bilbo (6 months.) trained himself to only pee on the wheel and the poop under it, but sometimes he'll poop on it too. So he still could be running, maybe attching a bell to the wheel so you could hear it better for a few hours would work.

 

[Zalea]

Do you have any lights on in the room? Either from CHEs (even red) or a small light in a corner? Sometimes they won't run if there's any light whatsoever. I had a small nightlight that I didn't think even illuminated the part of the room my hedgie's in and he only ran occasionally, but one day the bulb burned out and I didn't have one to change it and from then on he runs all the time every night. If there's some sort of light it could be that it bothers him and if he has the choice of staying under the hat/hidey place more than running.

If not it could just be that he's finding other things to do, perhaps if you have a tube in there for tubing or a stuffed toy to drag around. I've noticed that mine likes to dig some nights in his dig box more than he wants to run.

 

[Courtney]

Look through his cage carefully. Last week, I was very worried that Kismet hadn't pooped in her litterbox. There was pee, but no poop. There was none in her bag, or in her tube, so i figured she just had an off night and let it go. The next night, there was still no poop. I took her out and stuck her in a warm bath to get things moving (because I was sure she was constipated) and sure enough, she pooped. I figured all was well and put her back in her cage when she was dry. She didn't poop overnight, which was understandable... and then didn't the next night either. The following day was cage cleaning day (I clean the cage completely every week because they're all litter trained and never mess the liners) and wouldn't you know it - she'd decided she liked to go in the corner of her cage beneath her liner. There was no smell, so I didn't notice. I check every day for "gifts" now and there's a fresh one every morning.

So look around. He might be hiding his little presents if you never see any on his wheel. He might be one of the rare ones that doesn't poop on his wheel and opts for a different spot.

 

[LucksAngel28]

he is going to be 3 months in a week. and the temp. is pretty much the same everyday between 78-73. the days i wake up and it feels a little cooler in here i check and it's never below that.

Maybe you could try keeping it even a little more consistent than that. 5 degrees difference can be quite a bit for some hedgies who are more sensitive to temperature. It may or may not be related to that since those temps are generally accepted for hedgies, but it is a suggestion.

 

[Nancy]

Lucks is right, a 5 degree variance in temperature is too much for some hedgehogs and 73 is too cool for some hedgehogs. I used to have a girl that would attempt hibernation at 80 if the temp had dropped from 85.

I'd try for more consistent temperatures and see if that helps.

 

[debyc08]

so, i have been keeping it warmer in here between 78-80 degrees, i think its just the lights, so i have been turning off the tv at night, and if the light is on i have fleece over the lamp so its dim... it has helped a little, but i have an appt tomorrow at the vet. for a general wellness check up.

 

[hedgepig]

I've had the same problem too a while ago. A good strategy is too turn off ALL lights, make sure the heats turned up, and them take the igloo cover off of him. Then (after putting the igloo back, but not over him) I go straight to bed, or the other room if you don't keep him in your bedroom. I don't know if you've tried this certain technique, but I hope it helps

 

[NiGHTS-Chan]

Mine refuses to be openly active, unless she thinks or knows that you aren't around.
=x

 

[hedgepig]

Mine refuses to be openly active, unless she thinks or knows that you aren't around.
=x

Same with me...still havn't found a way to overcome that problem :hmm: