Can Hedgehogs Roam The House? (7 Interesting Facts)

There are times when you, as a hedgehog owner, may find yourself considering letting the hedgie to roam the house. But just before actually doing so, you will want to know whether it is okay for hedgehogs to roam the house and if so, what you need to do before allowing a hedgehog to roam the house. You may also want to know what to expect, upon allowing a hedgehog to roam the house. You will find the answers to all those questions in this article.

Can hedgehogs roam the house? The answer is yes, but only if you can take the trouble to hedgehog-proof the house. But because hedgehog-proofing a house is extremely difficult work, most people opt not to let their hedgehogs roam their houses. Most people only allow their hedgehogs into specific rooms, for limited amounts of time, under supervision.

Others opt to keep their hedgehogs in the enclosures all the time, but with wheels and other play things to ensure that they don’t get bored.

If you allow your hedgehog to roam the house, you need to know that there is a risk of it encountering temperatures that are too low. These may cause it to attempt to hibernate, sometimes with unpleasant results. 

You also need to be ready to clean hedgehog poop and pee all over. And you need to beware that there is a risk of the hedgie slipping into some nook and getting lost or injured while there.

Can You Let A Hedgehog Outside?

Another way of posing the question on can hedgehogs roam the house is where you ask: can you let a hedgehog outside? And the answer is ‘yes’ – but only if the outside space you are letting it into is truly safe for it.

This, for instance, means ensuring that the outside space you are letting the hedgie into has ideal temperature conditions. Those are strictly temperatures in the 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit range. Otherwise the hedgie may try to hibernate.

Further, the outside space you are letting the hedgie into should ideally have sparse furnishing. If you let your hedgie into a space with too many furnishings, it may get lost in between.

There should be no pets that can harm the hedgie in the outside space you are letting it into. And the space should be one that is not cleaned with chemicals that can be harmful to a hedgie. 

Further, the space should have no nooks or crevices that the hedgie can slip into and get lost. On another note, it should be an easy to clean space: as the hedgie will almost certainly poop and pee all over. Neither should there be cords, strings or long strands of hair in the space.

Clearly, there are many things to do and keep in mind when letting a hedgehog outside. This is why, for most people, the hedgehog cage remains the best place for it to be most of the time.

After all, a hedgie is not like a ferret that mandatorily requires ‘out time’. With a wheel to run on and other things to occupy its time, the hedgie may be almost just as happy inside the cage as outside.

Can You Let A Hedgehog Run Around?

Rather than asking, can hedgehogs roam the house, one may ask: can you let a hedgehog run around? And the answer is ‘yes’ – but with a big caveat.

The caveat is that the outside space you let the hedgie to run around needs to be hedgie-proof. That is to prevent the hedgie from being hurt, getting lost, ingesting things it shouldn’t and so on.

In practical terms, making an outside space to be truly hedgie-proof is very much work. This is why most people opt to keep their hedgehogs in their cages most of the time. When they do allow the hedgies out, it is usually under supervision, for relatively brief periods of time.

Can Hedgehogs Roam The House?

In theory, the answer is ‘yes’. Hedgies can roam the house. But there are so many things that may go wrong. The hedgie may encounter temperatures so low that it attempts to go into hibernation. The hedgie may slip into some dark nook, and get lost there. 

There is also the risk of the hedgie getting hurt. Further, the hedgie may chew onto things it shouldn’t chew on – including electric cables. Or it may ingest things it shouldn’t ingest: including highly toxic cleaning chemicals on the floor.

Allowing hedgehogs to roam the house (with all its various openings) also brings up another question: will hedgehogs run away and disappear for good? And this is indeed a possibility.

Whatever the case, there is certainty in the fact that the hedgehogs will keep on pooping and peeing all over the house. So there will be a great deal of mess to clean after.

To put it bluntly: will a hedgehog use a house as a toilet if one allows it to roam freely? The answer, unfortunately, is ‘yes’. And this means being ready to clean hedgie poop and pee all over.

In the end, what most people opt to do is identify certain rooms, hedgie-proof those rooms, and allow the hedgehogs to roam in those rooms for limited periods of time under supervision. 

Otherwise allowing a hedgie to roam the whole house in the same manner as a cat or a dog can be too tricky.

Do Hedgehogs Like To Be Out Of Their Cage?

Most of the people who pose the question on can hedgehogs roam the house will also show interest in knowing whether hedgies like being out of their cages. And the answer is that most hedgehogs do really like to be out of their cages. 

But because there are so many things that can go wrong when hedgies are out of their cages, most people exercise a lot of caution before allowing theirs out. They only allow them out for short periods of time, under supervision, and in very specific areas.

How Long Should Hedgehogs Be Out Of Their Cage?

This is yet another aspect that may be of interest to the people who pose the question on can hedgehogs roam the house?

In reality, most hedgehog owners only allow their hedgies out of their cages for between one and two hours. Then they put the hedgies under supervision for this entire time. And they ensure that the hedgies only go to specific places that have proper hedgie-proofing measures.

How Do I Let My Hedgehog Out Of Their Cage?

One approach is where you just open the cage door. Once the hedgie realizes that the cage door is open, it will rush out. 

But there are times when, even after opening the cage door, the hedgie has no clue that the pathway to freedom is open. In those cases, you may need to gently remove the hedgehog from the cage, to the outside space. 

Once it realizes that it is outside the cage, you can be sure that it will show interest in running around and exploring.

Can Hedgehogs Free Roam?

Or to put it differently, can hedgehogs roam the house freely? The answer is ‘yes’ – but only if you are sure that the house is fully hedgie-proof. So there should be absolutely no safety hazards for the hedgie in the house that you are allowing it to free roam into.

In reality, making an entire house to be truly hedgie-proof can be a very great deal of work. This is why, in practical terms, most people agree that it is not viable to have hedgehogs truly free roam.

Just think about it. For most of us, figuring out how to house a hedgehog in a cage safely is a big enough hassle. Obviously then, actually making the entire house to be hedgie-proof becomes too much work.

Some folks can’t even figure out what to do if you find a hedgehog in your house! How about hedgie-proofing the entire house?

Thus, in most cases, where pet hedgehogs have to be allowed to roam freely, it is only in specific rooms. And that for short durations of time, under strict supervision.

Should I Let My Hedgehog To Free Roam?

Sometimes, it can understandably feel as if we are being cruel by confining our hedgies in their cages all the time. This is what leads to questions like can hedgehogs roam the house? Or should I let my hedgie to free roam?

But the truth of the matter is unless you are able to truly hedgie-proof your house, it is better not to let your hedgehog to roam around it. That is because chances of something going terribly wrong are very high if you allow your hedgie to free roam in a house that is not hedgie-proof.

The whole thing is similar to asking: can I keep a hedgehog in my bedroom? And the answer is that if you are keeping the hedgehog in a cage within your bedroom, then it may be a possibility. (Even then, you need to remember it requires 14 hours of lighting daily). 

But if you are allowing the hedgie to live in the bedroom on a free range basis, there are too many things that may go wrong. So it may be best to just avoid it.

Can Hedgehogs Escape Cages?

This is another important aspect in the discussion on can hedgehogs roam the house. Hedgehogs have indeed been known to at times escape cages. At other times, they end up incurring major injuries while (unsuccessfully) trying to escape their cages. 

That mostly happens at night: leading people to ask, are hedgehogs nocturnal (and the answer is ‘yes’). So hedgies can indeed escape – or at least attempt to escape – their cages.

How To Make A House Hedgehog-Proof?

People who pose the question on can hedgehogs roam the house are usually told that this should only happen if the houses are hedgie-proofed. That in turn leads to the question on how to make a house hedgie-proof.

In hedgie-proofing a house, you need to ensure that the temperatures are in the 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit range throughout. Further, you need to ensure that you block all nooks and crevices that the hedgie could slip into.

On another note, you need to ensure that there are no harmful things that the hedgie could chew on. Those include electric cords. On yet another note, you need to ensure that there are no strings or long strands of hair the hedgie may entangle onto.

It is also essential to ensure that the substances you clean the house with are not those that are likely to be toxic to the hedgie. Further still, ensure that there are no pets (like dogs) that may harm the hedgie.

By the way, one may ask, can hedgehogs roam the house if it also has a dog? And the answer is that the dog may try to harm the hedgie. That is why this is not ideal.

For sure, all this may seem like too much work. But remember how precious your hedgie is.

Remember how much trouble you probably had, trying to even figure out where are hedgehogs from or where to buy a hedgehog.

Also remember how much trouble you have had, figuring out how to take care of a hedgehog. And actually taking care of the hedgie this far.

With that perspective, the work it takes to hedgie-proof a house won’t look so much.

What Are The Alternatives To Letting Hedgehogs Roam The House?

One viable alternative is that of ensuring that the hedgie has a wheel to run on in its cage. This way, it won’t have much boredom. 

Another good alternative is that of getting toys and other things to play with for the hedgie (in its cage). This too is to kill boredom. 

One may still ask: can hedgehogs roam the house if they have good wheels to run on in their cages and toys? The desire to roam will still be there. But it won’t be so intense.

Where you have to let the hedgie out, it can be into specific rooms, for short durations of time, and under close supervision. The rooms in question should ideally have sparse furnishing, and be fully hedgie-proof.

Final Verdict – Can Hedgehogs Roam The House?

As we have seen, theoretically speaking, hedgehogs can roam the house. But that is only if the house is fully hedgehog-proofed.

Yet seeing that managing to fully hedgie-proof a house may be too much work, most people concur that it is not ideal to have hedgehogs roam freely. There are so many things that may go wrong, if a hedgehog is roaming in a house that is not fully hedgie-proof.

In most cases, the approach hedgehog owners use is that of allowing the hedgehogs only into specific rooms. That is as opposed to allowing them to roam the whole houses. Those are specific rooms that are hedgie-proofed.

And even then, the hedgehogs only get to roam those rooms for short durations of time. That is typically one to two hours, under close supervision. But allowing a hedgehog to freely roam a house (the way a cat or a dog does) may be a no-no, in most instances.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet hedgehog a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️