Seasonal Blues?

[razzle]

Razzle seems to be not as active lately. The apartment is very warm thanks to radiator heat (75-80), his belly is always nice and warm, he's eating/drinking, no obvious signs of anything like a cold or sickness. He just doesn't come out to play like he used to. It's only been a few days, but I'm beginning to wonder what is up with him. I keep a bright light on for him all day while I am at work (especially since it has been dreary and dark lately). He spends his day sleeping in his hedgie house. Usually, at night, when I turn off the lights, I hear him come out and run on his wheel. His wheel has been clean the last couple of days. He does come out to eat his treats though!! :slurp: I took him out early this morning and let him run around on my bed, and he did run and was active. But if I hadn't taken him out, he would have just stayed in his hedgie house. Does it sound like a seasonal thing, maybe he's just tired -- much like his owner -- since the days are shorter? This is my first winter with a hedgie so I don't know what to expect. THANKS!

[Kalandra]

How is his weight? When I have a hedgehog who is off their normal routine, I go back and look at their weight/health chart to see what is going on.

Another thing to check is that his cage isn't in a draft. He may not be getting cold enough to hibernate, but cold enough to not want to come out if there is a draft. When I was a new owner, I had my hedgehogs cages in the corner of a room. I never realized until I started having problems with one of them (didn't want to play) that there was a draft from a furnace register. The draft, of course, only occurred when the furnace was on and really stumped me for a while as I did the candle check usually when it wasn't running (doh)

Other thoughts, have you moved his cage, changed anything inside of it recently? Hedgehogs can stress over such things and act like yours is.

Personally, if you can't find any reason for the behavior change, I'd take him to a vet for a checkup.