Most hedgehogs love running on their wheels! So when her hedgehog stopped, Amanda wrote us and asked, “Why would my hedgehog stop running on their wheel?” She was puzzled about this change in her hedgie's behavior. We've seen it happen many times, but have never experienced it with our own hedgies until recently. Quilly shares his own personal experience.
Here is the transcript for “Why would my hedgehog stop running on their wheel?”:
Hey there hedgie fans!
Amanda recently wrote to me on my website and asked why her hedgehog would stop running on their wheel?
She said that he’s still quite spunky when he’s out. And he also eats his wormies ravenously at night. But she’s also worried because she doesn’t hear him running on his wheel at night anymore.
My human said there could be a few different reasons and one way to know for sure is to get a night camera. That way she can know for sure whether things are abnormal or not. They’re not very expensive, and it gives my human peace of mind.
The first thing to rule out is whether or not there is a health issue that needs to be treated. Us hedgehogs are pretty good at masking our illness. So keeping a journal on our weight, sleeping habits, eating habits, and potty times can help. That’s another good reason to have a night camera.
Aside from health issues, one reason a hedgehog might stop running is if they are overweight. It’s more difficult to run with added weight. And some hedgies will give up their night-time jogging routine.
It’s also possible for a hedgehog to stop running out of boredom. Not all hedgies like doing the same thing night after night. Providing other activities like a dig box or treat puzzles give them extra activities they can do. And they’re fun also!
Did you know that environmental things can affect your hedgehog? A change in behavior could be environmental.
You should go through and think about things that may have changed in the home.
Did you get a new pet or another occupant in the house?
Have you changed your hedgehog’s routine?
Is your hedgie eliminating stress poo? You can find a link about this below.
Have you changed your hedgehog’s diet or maybe even the source of where you get your feeder insects? Not all bug breeders feed the same things to their wormies.
Have you moved from one residence to another? Or changed a scent in the home? Each home has its signature smells and us hedgehogs can perceive new smells as a new environment, which can be quite stressful for us. It could even be as insignificant as a scented candle or air freshener!
Let me share a true story that happened in my home. My human gives me a consistent diet of cat kibble and insects. I’m not at all overweight either. She always make sure I have fresh water and my wheel is cleaned every morning. I get a warm foot bath at night, too. The temperature of my home is maintained between 76.5 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. I’m healthy and there is nothing physically wrong with me.
She began to worry about me about several days ago. I was running less and less – sleeping more and more – and had stress poop. My appetite didn’t change because I LOVE to eat!
My human got very worried when she went to clean my wheel and there was no poop on it. That went on for two nights. Then she realized that the paint fumes from a room being painted in another part of the house was being picked up by the air return for the air conditioner. That carried the fumes throughout the house even though my room is far away from that room and the door stays shut. I now have temporary housing away from the fumes until they dissipate. I hope that’s soon because I like my room. But the good news is that I ran last night!
So if your hedgehog stops running on their wheel, it might even be environmental.
If you have a question about hedgehogs, please ask me below or on my website!
If you learned anything today, please comment, like, and subscribe to my channel so you’ll know when there’s another Ask Quilly video!
Until next time, Bye for now!
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If you'd like to learn more about stress poo, you'll find it in this article: https://heavenlyhedgies.com/hedgehog-poo/
My Hedgie, Sassy, is about six months old. She has a wheel called a flying saucer and she can fly on that thing! Last night, as I watched Sassy run, she kept slipping off her wheel. She gets back on, but continues to slip off again. This happens no matter how fast she goes. It is completely different than how she ran even a week ago. Should I be concerned something could be wrong?
Without seeing a picture or video of Sassy running, my guess is that she has outgrown the size of saucer you have. Quilly has this problem with his wheel because he’s gotten a little too chonky for it. It may be time to upgrade saucers or move her to a wheel. If you’d like us to get a better idea, you can send a picture to heavenlyhedgies at gmail dot com (sorry, but the robots like to gather email addresses to spam – I think you get the idea). I hope that helps.
Hi,
I’ve been really worried about my hedgehog it’s now been 4 days since she stopped running on her wheel and running and doing her marathon laps around her house. You mentioned it might have something to do with
“Change in environment” when you said that I new right away what was wrong I just bought a new house 5 days ago. I bought it to give her more the other thing that’s changed is she’s popping less, but it looks the same. will she slowly get use to her new house, or should I give her the old one back?
It’s anybody’s guess as to whether she’ll adjust to the new house or not. Many hedgehogs are creatures of habit and can be obstinate about change. Maybe you should give the old house back and see if she starts running again.