How can I make my pet hedgehog friendlier?
My hedgehog isn't mean, he just doesn't want to play with me. He'd rather nap all day and run in his wheel all night. He has toys, a little playpen, and he gets a bath every few days, but he doesn't seem to enjoy it very much. African Pygmy Hedgehogs aren't very bright, so I wonder if there's much possibility to train or socialize him at all. Can treat-training with mealworms help open him up -- literally and figuratively?
Answers ( 1 )
I'm sorry to say Brian...that's about all you'll get out of a hedgehog. They aren't really meant to be pets and they are nocturnal.
You could get another hedgehog (the same sex, or you'll get baby hedgehogs immediately) but that won't make your small mammall more interesting, just maybe more engaged in his own life. He probably doesn't have much to do in his enclosure, except that wheel. Hegdehogs most hunt for food at night and sleep during the day and you took the "search for food" out of its life. You might be able to hand-train him with food as an incentive, but then again, you might not.