When they are frightened they will roll into a helmet, hiding their soft furry underside and spreading their spines about to deter an attacker. If you pick up the hedgehog they will roll into a complete ball hiding their face and paws. They may huff or hiss at this time, it is constant and quite loud, this means they are irritated or grumpy (Like Mr Toffee) If they are seriously frightened or feel threatened they may “popcorn” where they pop and jump whist in their ball in an attempted to spike attackers.
This is quite a big section so bear with me if you want to get all the information, I’ll try to be as thorough as possible without putting you to sleep!
Hedgehogs have many behavioural actions, but I’ll stick with some of the more common ones. Mr Toffee sometimes sneeze’s when he gets water or dust in his nose; it is cute and perfectly normal. Hedgehogs do scratch themselves usually because they get sawdust or fluff in between their spines, this also is perfectly normal. Hedgehogs also like to burrow so do not be surprised if your hog tries this.
Hedgehogs have many behavioural actions, but I’ll stick with some of the more common ones. Mr Toffee sometimes sneeze’s when he gets water or dust in his nose; it is cute and perfectly normal. Hedgehogs do scratch themselves usually because they get sawdust or fluff in between their spines, this also is perfectly normal. Hedgehogs also like to burrow so do not be surprised if your hog tries this.
Self-anointing is very common; it occurs when the hedgehog smells something new, strong smelling or exciting. The hedgehog starts by licking and maybe biting or tugging on the item with the new smell, then he will lather up some frothy spit, bend round backwards (looking almost inside out at this time) and spread the spit over his spines. It is unknown why they do this, whether to mark territory or maybe to mask their own scent, either way it is rather strange to watch.
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