play with your hedgie with lights on or dimmed

[nicanor]

Just curious when you guys play with your hedgie, do you keep the lights on as normal or dimm it enough for you to see safely? My 1st hedgie I got last week seems shy when the lights are on. And doesn't seem to move much until I dimm the lights or goes and hides. Do they get used to the light or do they get thrown off since they're nocturnal creatures?

[horsegal]

I turn some lights off to get him to play around. when I am just holding him on my lap I leave the light on.

[Nancy]

It depends on the hedgie. Some of ours don't seem to mind the light at all, others prefer dim lights. It may be because he is new that he prefers dim lighting but do whatever works best for him at least until he has gotten more comfortable with his new home. :)

[hemi_mygirl]

I find that my hedgehog is actually more jumpy in a dim or dark room, for some reason. Instead of being relaxed like she normally is, her quills are always half-raised. I think she's trying to look tough or something.

[PrettyHate]

I have hedgie proofed my bathroom. When the boys are in there to play I turn the lights right off- or have the night light on- otherwise they find a corner and sleep.

[HedgieMate]

when you guys play with your hedgie, do you keep the lights on as normal or dimm it enough for you to see safely?
We have a very shy and timid hedgehog. When we wake him up for playtime in the evening, he is particularly sensitive to bright lights and noises. He hides in his bag and wouldn't come out for a long time unless we dim the lights way down. But once he is fully awake later in the evening, he grows a lot more confident and secure and the lights don't seem to bother him even if we choose to turn them up, although he still prefers the room to be fairly quiet.

We're speculating that he feels extremely vulnerable being half asleep and sluggish in his movements, and that could be lethal in the wild, so he is extra sensitive to bright lights which may expose him to his predators. But of course, we could be totally wrong. He just might be a poor riser... :winkgrin:

[hularious]

monty's cage is under a table, and it's relatively dark..but he usually only goes outside when it's completely dark. he has gone out before with just the tv on, but usually, he's more comfortable leaving his hedgie bag w/ no lights on.

when i play with him, it's light, but not extremely bright since i use flourescent bulbs...

but he's still a baby and sleeps a ton...so i don't hear him much at all.

i do love catching him on his wheel when i return home...it's funny cause he just freezes and tries to act invisible...they're such funny creatures!

[hemi_mygirl]

hahah, yes, I remember when Hemi would do the "freeze and pretend I'm not here" move. It didn't work so well, because she was such an uncoordinated animal. She'd be running her little heart out, I'd flick on the light, she'd stop and the wheel would keep going. So...Hemi would roll off. I used to do it sometimes just because it made me giggle (I know, I'm horrible). Now, she doesn't even care. I can turn on the light, and she'll stop and look at me for a second, and then continue running.

[nicanor]

I think I got my hedgie's personality better now. Have it dimmed until he's full awake as well, but still prefered dimmed lights in general unless I pick him up and "force" him to play on me, but he's still getting use to me. I hear him running when I'm in the room while I'm on my PC, but when I turn around to see him running he jumps off the wheel and hide. Then a minute later he's back on the wheel, repeat :laugh:

I did manage to get this though :) One day I want to catch him on video
http://www.runtrod.com/vw/d/1499-2/3-26-06-running.jpg

[hularious]

haha yea, they're hilarious watching them run...when i first got monty, i think he was too small for the wheel, now he's growing into it...sometimes i hear him fall off in the middle of the night...but he gets right back on and keeps on wheelin...

i caught this pic when I first got him...perhaps a wheel was brand new to him? who knows...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Googlemaps/Monty-doodoo.jpg