Your hedgehog eating bedding is often normal behavior, usually for self-anointing (licking/frothing it onto quills for scent/defense), curiosity (especially with new bedding), or as a form of enrichment/burrowing, but it can signal hunger, stress, or dental issues, so monitor for excessive eating, lethargy, or other signs of illness, and ensure bedding is safe (like fleece strips or recycled paper) while providing varied diet and enrichment.
Self-Anointing—Many hedgehogs will ingest new bedding to create a froth to self-anoint with it, this is normal. Hunger—Hedgehogs with drastically reduced or inadequate diets may eat bedding in an attempt to satisfy their hunger.
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.”
A recycled newspaper bedding (Carefresh or similar product) should be used as a substrate for your hedgehog. Make the bedding several inches thick as hedgehogs like to burrow. The bedding should be replaced at least weekly, and changed more often as needed.
Check if the hedgehog:
If your hedgehog is unusually still in the evening—sleeping in short, restless bursts, waking and dozing repeatedly, or staying sluggish when they would normally explore—it can be a sign of unhappiness or even illness.
Common conditions of pet hedgehogs include internal and external parasites, ringworm, cancer, pneumonia, gastrointestinal disease, and obesity. Signs of illness or disease are often vague and non-specific, such as lack of appetite and lethargy.
You can also put bedding inside the box to give them a head start, such as leaves, straw or hay.
You will know your hedgehog is ready for a bath when it looks dirty, has dry skin, “poopy boots” (dirty feet from, well, you know!), or anointed spots of dried “stuff”. Hedgehogs do not groom or clean themselves like some animals.
It's a good idea to put out food for hedgehogs all year round. In spring, it will be a boost for those emerging from hibernation, while in late summer and autumn it will help them build up those all-important fat reserves to survive the colder months.
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.
Symptoms of stress
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.
Eventually, you might notice your hedgehog is losing quills, is losing weight, has less energy than usual, has seborrhea (dandruff), or is frequently biting, licking, chewing, or scratching itself. Quill loss may also be caused by flea infestation.
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.
What not to feed hedgehogs The following foods should be avoided when feeding hedgehogs:-
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!
Hedgehogs are known to be very communicative when it comes to their needs, and often make a low purring sound when they are happy or content.
Leave out food and water
Leaving food and fresh water out in the garden each night will encourage visiting hedgehogs to return regularly. Try tinned meaty cat or dog food and crushed cat or dog biscuits. Place the food and water in shallow bowls so they can access them easily.
Hedgehogs like to burrow so the more bedding the better for them. Recycled paper bedding and towels or blankets are often used inside the enclosure.
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.
They reduce their body functions to a minimum. With the energy reserves they have piled up by eating, they can survive for up to half a year without food.
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.
Fungal Zoonotic Pathogens
The most common fungal skin infection transmitted by hedgehogs to humans is caused by the hedgehog dermatophyte Trichophyton erinacei. Numerous cases of T. erinacei ringworm infection in humans have been described after contact with pets or wild hedgehogs [43,44,45,46,47].
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.