my guy sleeps all the time

[teela1342]

I am a brand new hedgie mom - never had one before. I have done a ton of research online but still have questions.

About 2 weeks ago got a 1 1/2 year old hedgie named Jake. :love:

I understand that they are nocturnal, but Jake sleeps all the time. The temp is fine in the room and he has the right amount of light/dark time. He will maybe wake up at about 1am and scruffle around for an hour or so, then it is back to bed. Is something wrong with him? :confused:

He is mostly unsocialized :banghead: , so I am trying to handle him as much as possible. I have been waking him up around 7pm (I can't wait around until 1am every night :sleep: ) to play and hold. Is it okay to wake him up, or should I let sleeping hedgies lie?

Please give me a heads up on what kind of schedule you all find most helpful. Thanks! :)

[Ododad]

Hi Teela1342, welcome to the board and to the most awesome world of hedgehogs!
I have two hedgies. Odo, a 13 month old female albino, and Marco, a four month old Salt and Pepper male. Marco is a all nighter, gets up when the sun goes down and runs and plays pretty much all night. Odo, on the other hand, is active early morning and early evening. She sleeps a lot too. Some things to check for in your new hedgie's health are: (1) Warm belly. A cool belly could be a sign of attempted hibernation which you DON"T want. If he has a cool belly, place him in a towel and then on a human heating pad, temp on low in your lap. That will warm him up and when he is warm enough, he will try to move away fromt the heat. (2) Runny or crusty nose. This could be a sign of any different kind of sickness and I would suggest a trip to the vet. (3) Bleeding, rectal or urine or vomiting blood. Immediate trip to the vet! (4) Bald patches or missing quills. Again, to the vet he goes! There are other signs to watch out for, but I think that these are the important ones. Someone else with much more experience will be along shortly to tell you more. I would suggest a first time visit to the vet anyway to check him out. If he is sleeping a lot, as you say, check his belly every so often for warmth. Some hedgies just sleep a lot, and he is going through a lot of changes right now with everything being new to him. New smells, sounds stuff like that. A hedgie dosent' really see that well but has a highly advanced sense of smell and excellent hearing. Sometimes when I think Odo is sleeping, she is actually fully awake and just listening to whats going on around her. You say that he is over 1 year old so it may take him longer to get used to everything than it would a baby. He is used to being in one type enviroment and is now in another with all new smells and sounds.
About waking him up. I do this with both Marco and Odo when I want to play with them. I allow them plenty of sleep time and if they want to sleep after I get them up, then they will both just simply cuddle somewhere and go back to sleep. A lot of times I will get one or the other up and let them go back to sleep on me while I watch a movie or read a book or something. They don't seem to mind and it's great bonding time for us. I also put a tee shirt in with them to let them get used to my smell. Being that Jake is not used to being socialized with, it may take him awhile to come around. Don't give up and keep handling him as much as you want. He needs the love. My wife had Sonic, who was two years old when she got him, and had never been handled. It took him two months to come out of his ball but the wait, and the time spent holding and talking to him every day finally paid off. He turned out to be pretty friendly all things concidered. He would never unball for anyone else but her, but he showered her with a lot of hedgie love. As I said before, someone with a lot more experience than I will be along soon and will have more and better advice than I can give. Hope this helps and please keep us posted on Jake. Also, some photo's would be nice!! We all here love photo's!!!!!!
Billy

[Love4Hedgies]

Well Billy pretty much answered everything! But congrats on Jake! Post pictures when you can!! :)

[teela1342]

You are right about the vet visit. He looks healthy, but I was thinking of taking him anyway. Plus, his back nails need to be trimmed and I am not brave enough to do it myself yet!

My roommate laughed at the idea of checking his belly. He spends so much time in a hissy little ball that she isn't sure he has a belly. or legs. or a face. :laugh:

I will post some pictures when I can get him unrolled for longer. I took a couple cute ones last night.

Thanks for all the help.

[Love4Hedgies]

Glad all is well and can't wait to see the pictures! :)

[Ododad]

Just a suggestion, when you check his belly, try to slide just one finger underneath him. Be prepared to get nipped! An easier way is to check where he is laying. If his belly is warm, the surface that he is laying on will be warm too. Good luck at the vets, and let us know the outcome. We can't wait to see photo's of Jake!! BTW, I really like the name. Sounds manly..

[paris26]

You're going to learn the definition of patience when it comes to unsocialized hedgies! Wally, my first one, took 6 months of daily handling and biting before he decided to see me as friend (and mom!) instead of foe!
They are worth it though :)

[teela1342]

Luckily he doesn't seem to be a biter. I am handling him every day and am not above bribing him with a freeze dried cricket or two.

It is nice to hear from other hedgie people who love their guys even though they are grouchy.

[Ododad]

Sounds like you and Jake are going to get along just fine! That's good that he has not bitten. Odo has bitten me four or five times. Not really a bite though, just a little nip to let me know that she didn't like what I was doing at the time. It didn't hurt at all. Marco has only nipped once but he had just gotten here from the shelter and was frightened. He has never tried since. It is not uncommon for a hedgie to nip if displeased or if there is something tasty on your hand. They very rarely actually bite though. The nip startles but dosent' really hurt. I always wash my hands before handling to remove any goodie smells that may still be on them!

[Schmuzzle's Mom]

Sounds like you have it all under control!! :applause: Good luck and have fun with the new pal! :)