Quilted_Lamb
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Re:eyesight - 2006/02/21 17:40
First off, congratulations on your little girl!!! Aren't they just the most incredible animals!  What did you name her?
If she had a cold I'm not surprised she might not have noticed her mealworms, or anything else for that matter. A hedgehog's first sense is smell, followed by hearing, and then eyesight. If she had a stuffy nose and couldn't smell, it would be similar to a human suddenly going blind. And since she was new to you and her environment, she couldn't rely on habit to know where everything is or what the normal routine would be.
I know they aren't supposed to see in the red spectrum and someone explained to me that it was because hedgehogs are mainly nocturnal, so their eyes see less of the color spectrum in order to have better night visions. He mentioned it had something to do with the rods in the eyes being different. Hm, well, we can see I paid close attention.  I also think they react to movement and if something isn't moving, they may not notice it if it doesn't smell or make noise. That's just something I've noticed and not anything scientific, so maybe others can chime in with their experiences here & see if it is normal or if my girl is just a nut.
If you want to watch your hedgehog in the dark, use a red light. You're little girl will act normal and you'll get to see her do all sorts of things she wouldn't do during daylight hours. I spend at least 1-2 hours a day doing that with my girl and I think it's helped us bond. Plus I get to indulge in my obsession, which is hedgehogs.  Hedgie hugs...Tiffany
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