Light and Albino Hedgies

[andrith]

Hello, I am very new here. I am the new proud owner of Sammy Hedge or Sam for short. I recieved him for my 22nd birthday as a surprise gift from my soon to be wife. Back in highschool, I use to take care of my Science teachers Hedgies (Sonic as his namesake was dubbed on the basis of democratic vote, was never used for scientific purposes, only as a classroom pet!) During that time I built a fasination for these animals, and have always wanted one. So I got one!
He is an Albino Hedgie (Very beatuiful creature, he has a back full of ivory!) I was just wondering, how sensitive to light are they? I know that in the case of Albinos, they can be extremely sensitve to light. You see the problem is that I don't want to damage what eyesight that he has. I am very fond of this little guy!! Any ideals?

Andrith
Owner of:
Jazz-man - my crazy cat
Sammy - Hedgie

[Nekomich]

As far as I can tell, I haven't damaged my hedgie's site. I don't shine light directly into his eyes, but he doesn't act any differently when I have him awake with lots of lights, or low lights [well, he'll be a bit grumpy because I've woken him up]. He's even wandered over a small portion of a theatre set [controlled area of course] while a lighting focus was going on, so he's been in pools of very bright stage light and doesn't seem any worse for it eyesight wise.

And yes, I do have a lovely albino named Nigel ^_^

[CoquiMom]

Some albinos are more light sensitive than others. I have an albino hedgie and she does fine while the albino skunk I had did terrible and preferred to hide his face at all costs in sunlight and bright lights.
Robin

[kaiteedyd]

All hedgehogs like dark places. It would probably be best to play with him in semi-dark conditions. The two albino's I have owned never seemed to be bothered by light anymore than any other hedgehog I've had.

[CoquiMom]

My albino hedgie seems to not mind the light but I would be extra careful because without the pigmentation they have no natural protection from light damage to their eyes.

[lyndaj]

Congratulations on Sam. Enjoy hedgy parenthood.

[Nancy]

I personally have never noticed any difference with my albinos and light. Pigmentation in the eye nothing to do with blocking the light as the lense of the eye is clear regardless of eye colour. If pigmentation blocked the light we would all be seeing the world through blue, brown, green or whatever colour of eyes we have. :)

[Kalandra]

I've seen this topic debated among hedgehog people. I've seen albino hedgehogs that don't care about the light and others that do (I have one that does). In other animals, people note a sensitivity to light in albinos of those species. I found the following information on lots of pages, but this one summed it up in a shorter paragraph... its a fairly good explanation of why there is sensitivity noticed in albino humans. Does it apply to animals.. I don't see why it couldn't. If anyone has information that contradicts, I'd love to see it. I've often wondered about light with albinos based on how my albino has an extreme behavior change depending on how bright the light in the room is. Either its a sensitivity or she had a really bad experience in her past:

http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts/albinism.html

Lack of pigment also makes eyes extremely sensitive to bright light. The pigment that determines whether your eyes are blue, brown, green, or gray normally helps to filter out stray light. Without enough pigment your irises cannot block out excess light, meaning that light enters the eyes not only through their pupils but also through the irises. This inability to screen out excess light, plus a general lack of pigment in the eye's underlying layers, is what makes albinos sensitive to bright light and glare.

[Nancy]

Thanks Julie. I've never seen anything that verified that before, only peoples opinions both agreeing and disagreeing. :)

[Kalandra]

That's all I had seen before too. I started searching the web and came up with the same opinions over and over. After looking for human albino light sensitivity did I come up with anything that might explain why they would be sensitive.

What really bugs me is that I have seen PLENTY of hedgehogs at hedgehog shows that show no signs that the light bothered them at all! Then I took in Bianca and the brighter the light in the room the more bothered she is. I talked to doc about it and was told that albinos can and do show light sensitivity.... talk about confusing.