Hedgehog Toys

It is important to play with your hedgehog. In the wild, a hedgehog will run approximately three miles each night. They will forage for treats and hunt down insects. This behaviour should be continued by giving your hedgehog the ability to run, forage, and hunt.

Tubing

Many hedgehogs enjoy a sport commonly referred to as tubing. Offer your hedgehog a toilet paper tube (without the paper on it, of course). Your hedgehog may decide to stick his or her head into one end of the tube and start walking around. Often, it appears that the hedgehog will struggle to remove the tube. If so, remove it and place it near the hedgehog again. If the hedgehog immediately puts the tube back on, it is most likely just playing.

As an alternative to a paper tube, you can make soft tubes using spongy material from a craft store and some glue. The softer material is will cause less wear on the hedgehog's quills and ears as it goes tubing.

Maze-o-Tubes

Hedgehogs love to burrow. You can give your hedgehog a semi-burrowing adventure with a series of tubes. Pick up a variety of PVC pipes from your local home supply store. Ensure that the tubes are wide enough for your hedgehog to turn around inside the tube. Place the tubes around the floor and hide treats inside some of them. Once your hedgehog recognizes that the tubes are safe to enter, he or she will enjoy running from one to the other. To make them more pleasing for you, get some stickers or paint and make the outside of the tubes more colorful.

Bucket Wheel

Wire wheels are not safe for hedgehogs. Instead, use a bucket wheel. You will need a large bucket, a rollerblade wheel with axle, and a stand or mounting brace. For instructions, click here.

Why aren't wire wheels safe? Your hedgehog runs very fast. Those little feet will easily slip right between the bars. The result is similar to someone swinging a bat at your legs while you are running at full speed. Often, the hedgehog is injured (broken legs being very common). A bucket wheel has no openings in it. The hedgehog can run at full speed without the same risk of injury.

Toys to Avoid

• Anything with strings: Any toy that has long strings (including unravelling cloth blankets) pose a serious risk to hedgehogs. The hedgehog's feet may get tangled in the string, resulting in blood loss to the foot and, eventually, required amputation.
• Cedar chips: Hedgehogs love to burrow and wood chips seem to be a good burrowing material. However, many hedgehogs are allergic to wood oil, especially cedar oil. Some allergic reactions have been fatal.
• Legos (and similar toys): Hedgehogs enjoy moving things around, but the sharp corners on the Legos have been known to scratch hedgehogs enough to draw blood.