To mentally stimulate a hedgehog, provide opportunities for foraging (hide treats in puzzle feeders, tubes, or bedding), encourage exploration with tunnels and safe play areas, offer varied sensory input (textures, smells, jingly toys), and ensure they have a good running wheel for exercise. Variety and new challenges are key to keeping your hedgehog engaged and preventing boredom.
How to Keep a Hedgehog Happy
Hedgehogs require activity to maintain their happiness and health. An exercise wheel, a litter box, a sleeping box, and an eating area constitute crucial components of a hedgehog enclosure. To keep your pet hedgehog engaged, provide them with a variety of tunnels and toys, such as stuffed animals or small balls.
Offer A Wheel
Hedgehogs are naturally quite active, and they can get quite sad and depressed if they don't get enough exercise. A running wheel is rather like the hedgehog version of a treadmill. Just be sure to choose a solid one: the wire ones are actually dangerous.
Observe your hedgehog's body language; a relaxed hedgehog will have its quills relatively flat, while a stressed hedgehog will ball up tightly. Signs of a Happy Hedgehog: Active exploration: A happy hedgehog will readily explore its environment, sniffing and investigating new objects.
The average hedgehog is content to do its own thing and may not show any outward sign that it cares about its owner's existence unless you have a treat in your hand. Despite their somewhat solitary nature, they can become very affectionate with their owners and will even enjoy snuggling on your lap.
Signs of stress
Many hedgehogs are busy and want to try to explore but a stressed hedgehog will be much more persistent and not easily distracted. The stressed hedgehog may also twitch or shake its head nervously. It is almost as if the hedgehog is saying “Sensory overload. I can't take it anymore.”
Unseasoned scrambled eggs are OK in tiny amounts as an occasional treat, but they shouldn't be a regular part of your hedgehog's diet. Dr. Giese says she only offers eggs for hedgies who won't eat or need the extra fat for health reasons.
Hedgehogs have prickly quills along their back to protect them from predators. They are shy animals and will roll up into a tight ball and hide their face if they are frightened. Always approach a hedgehog slowly and handle them with a small towel so you don't prick yourself on one of their quills.
Wobbly hedgehog syndrome (WHS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Spongy degeneration of the brain and spinal cord is the diagnostic feature of WHS. WHS affected brain and spinal cord show extensive demyelination and remyelination. Axonal degeneration is accompanied by loss of neurons in WHS.
Just like any other pet, hedgehogs love treats. Waxworms are a favorite with these guys. You can also offer Hedgie some cooked chicken, turkey, or egg. Low fat/high protein wet cat or dog food is also fine, as is the occasional pinky mouse.
The more the attachment develops between you and your hedgehog, the more you will grow to love and enjoy your pet. Some hedgehogs will bond to their owners for life (HHC). Bonding does require effort, persistence, and an understanding of hedgehogs.
This decline is partly due to a loss of natural habitat, which provides both shelter and food for hedgehogs. Fencing, pesticides, garden hazards (like ponds, strimmers and netting) and development and construction also have an impact. And of course, cars are a major threat to hedgehogs, killing thousands each year.
Only solid bottom cages are suitable for hedgehogs, any wire bottom cages could trap their legs or rip off toenails. Provide a soft bedding free of dust, such as recycled paper pellets or if you use wood shavings use only kiln dried pine or aspen. Do not use cedar shavings as they could irritate your hedgehog's lungs.
Best Toys for Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs mainly eat creepy crawlies
The majority of their diet is made up of invertebrates (or creepy crawlies). We know what they eat from scientific studies that have analysed hedgehog poo or looked in the stomachs of hedgehogs killed on roads.
Hedgehogs often comfort their owners with cuddles, licks, and offer their paws or cuddly bellies for rubs. Their defences completely drop if they are able to form a close connection with their hedgie parents.
Many people get confused about how often they should bathe their hedgehogs. Your vet should be the ultimate authority here. That said, in general, about once a month is good. Don't bathe your pet too often: this could dry out his skin!
As pets, hedgehogs can recognize and remember their owners' scent and voice, making them a loyal and affectionate companion. They can also quickly learn routines and habits, such as when it's time to eat or play.
Live insects can be fed three to four times per week. Each serving should consist of one cricket or large mealworm or two to three medium sized mealworms. If you elect not to feed live, dry insect food can make up 15 to 25% of your hedgehog's daily meal.
Hedgehogs will not usually eat and sleep in the same place so it's best not to offer food inside the home (except perhaps to tempt them in initially). Once there is a resident, move food away from the box so as not to attract predators or rival hedgehogs to the site.
Hedgehogs can't digest cereal.
So it doesn't matter what the listed protein percentage is, if the source can't be digested it means nothing. The hog can fill himself up every night and gain weight, but still suffer from malnutrition.
This is what we call 'splooting'. Spreading themselves out to increase their surface area to cool down. This was on one of the recent very hot days. We use self cooling pads they can lie on. They claim to automatically cool down when an animal lies on it.
During extreme muscle exertion, the 'purse-string' muscle can fold up over the pelvis and get stuck: the pop-off syndrome (Bexton, 2019). The muscle goes into a spasm, which leaves the hedgehog unable to roll up and causes the pelvis and hind legs to remain visible. This is very dangerous for the animal.
A hedgehog has the strange habit of 'self anointing'; when it comes across a strong smell or taste it twists its head round and, using the tongue, covers its spines and fur in a frothy saliva - looking as thought it is covered in soap bubbles! This behaviour is quite normal but no-one knows its purpose.