Hedgehogs will most probably not be awake until the sun has set and the daylight is out, most of the time during the evenings. It is quite common for most hedgehogs to be sleeping between 18 to 20 hours a day.
That rest is often through the first and last part of the night but can also be in the day time. Routinely we expect to see hedgehogs come out in the evening around 9.30pm and go back to bed by 5am.
Hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal animals and sleep for 18 hours each day. Although hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal and sleep up to 18 hours each day, some do show crepuscular activity.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal, meaning they sleep during the day and are active at night. They also make sure to hide themselves away in their nest when they're resting, to avoid disturbance and predation. For these reasons, sleeping and resting aren't behaviours we're likely to see a lot in the garden!
Hedgehogs are active during the night, so the best time to put out food is just after dusk, when they are starting to search for food. The Autumn and Winter months are the most important for them to find food to put on enough weight before hibernation, so always make sure you put out food at this time of year.
It's just fine to play with your hedgie later in the day and we encourage waking up your hedgehog in the afternoon or evening. Playing first thing in the morning is not recommended since your hedgehog has probably been up all night and has just gotten back to sleep.
Night manoeuvres
Hedgehogs, too, have been the subjects of studies on the effects of ALAN. Like bats, hedgehogs avoid artificial lighting, keeping to less well-lit areas, and this could affect other behaviours.
By moving a hibernating hedgehog, you are at risk of waking it, and therefore using up a large quantity of their fat store which they need to make it through the winter. Please leave a hibernating hedgehog alone unless absolutely necessary.
Hedgehogs are definitely more active at night than they are during the day. During the day, they like to do most of their sleeping. And at night they like to do most of their playing, AND rearranging of their cage.
The hedgehog won't be roused by touch or by noise. Hibernation is a state of torpor, where the core body temperature has dropped, the heart rate and breathing have slowed right down and normal activity has stopped. A hibernating hedgehog will be completely rolled up into a tight ball with no face visible.
Some things your pet may enjoy include balls, small cars and trucks, and stuffed animals. You can also offer him DIY toys. For instance, the cardboard tubes from toilet-paper rolls make great chew toys. (It's probably worth noting that hedgehogs seem to prefer bright colors.)
Ten or more different individuals may visit a garden over several nights, which could mean that 'your hedgehog' is in fact probably a number of different individuals visiting at different times.
Keller says, “With appropriate care and keeping, your hedgehog will live about five years, and some even live longer than eight years.” If you have any questions about hedgehogs, contact your local veterinarian.
Do you know if the hedgehog is actually going out at night? It seems unlikely that it is trying to hibernate in there – they normally build a fairly substantial hibernating nest. But hogs do sometimes decide to sleep in feeding boxes.
Fill it with lots of hedgehog-safe food and water at sunset, ideally using a hedgehog food bowl and a hedgehog water bowl. Only put out small amounts of food as this is to supplement their diet. Clear away any uneaten food in the morning and refill the dishes each evening so the food and water is always fresh.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal, and therefore do not like bright light.
They hunt primarily using they hearing and smell because their eyesight is not very good, although they can see quite well in the dark.
It depends on the personality of the individual hedgehog and how much handling the hedgehog has had in the past. Some hedgehogs do seem to like to snuggle up to their human companions, while others might be shyer or simply prefer exploring and moving about over sitting still and cuddling.
A relaxed hedgehog will lay down their spines. Once the spines are laying flat (not poking up in various directions like they are when your hedgehog is rolled into a ball) you can try petting them in the direction the spines lay. Avoid trying to pet your hedgehog's face initially as they don't typically like it.
Hedgehogs Carry Human Disease Risks
Like all other animals, hedgehogs may carry a handful of diseases that are contagious to people, including Salmonella bacteria in their stool. They can also carry fungal spores on their quills and skin that cause ringworm in people.
For such little animals, hedgehogs can make one heck of a racket! And like the very worst noisy neighbours, they generally get started in the garden at night. When you are tucked up in bed, trying to get some sleep. Grunting and snuffling, like a pig = hedgehog out and about, looking for food.
The answer is YES… as long as it's being eaten. It's difficult to tell exactly when hedgehogs will begin hibernation, so when you start to see that food is not being taken, you can stop putting so much out and perhaps just offer a few dry cat biscuits that don't go off so quickly.
It reports that hedgehogs are among the loudest nocturnal animals, competing with cicadas, frogs and the caridean snapping shrimp.