I have a hedgehog. She tries to mimic my mouth movements in an attempt to mimic the words I say. Nothing crazy, but kinda like a parrot. She understands and tries to mimic a few words and phrases as follows...
I love you.
Food.
Water.
Thirsty.
Tube.
Mommy.
Daddy.
Hugs and cuddles.
Scoot scoot (i.e., get in your cuddle pouch.)
Fortress of solitude (i.e., her hut.)
Warm (i.e., her heater.)
Bath
Ducky
Bunny
Ball
Trim (i.e., her nails.)
etc.
...and she has started shaking her head "no" or nodding "yes" when she doesn't want or does want one of the above things. In fact, she seems to mimic my body language when it's very simple and easy to undersrand, but will nod, etc. without being prompted.
Is this normal hedgehog behaviour? She seems to not only try to mimic words and communicate, but also demonstrates a basic understanding of these things. She will point out requested objects like her ducky or bunny or her ball or anything else she's familiar with upon request. Then she gets happy after she gets it right and is praised for it.
Everyone says hedgehogs are stupid animals, but I've had 2 so far that have gone out of their way like this to attempt to communicate and learn basic concepts and even obey my commands (more like gentle persuasions...but they listen to me and do whatever I ask of them, if they are familiar with the request).
They have also both used their toys in their playpen to create mazes for themselves to run through.
They are very specific about how they arrange these mazes and will rearrange them after they get bored with the current configuration (usually after running through the configuration about 20-30 times).
So...are hedgehogs actually dumb...or are the majority of their owners just underestimating them?
I estimate mine has the intelligence of a smart dog or a human toddler.
I love you.
Food.
Water.
Thirsty.
Tube.
Mommy.
Daddy.
Hugs and cuddles.
Scoot scoot (i.e., get in your cuddle pouch.)
Fortress of solitude (i.e., her hut.)
Warm (i.e., her heater.)
Bath
Ducky
Bunny
Ball
Trim (i.e., her nails.)
etc.
...and she has started shaking her head "no" or nodding "yes" when she doesn't want or does want one of the above things. In fact, she seems to mimic my body language when it's very simple and easy to undersrand, but will nod, etc. without being prompted.
Is this normal hedgehog behaviour? She seems to not only try to mimic words and communicate, but also demonstrates a basic understanding of these things. She will point out requested objects like her ducky or bunny or her ball or anything else she's familiar with upon request. Then she gets happy after she gets it right and is praised for it.
Everyone says hedgehogs are stupid animals, but I've had 2 so far that have gone out of their way like this to attempt to communicate and learn basic concepts and even obey my commands (more like gentle persuasions...but they listen to me and do whatever I ask of them, if they are familiar with the request).
They have also both used their toys in their playpen to create mazes for themselves to run through.
They are very specific about how they arrange these mazes and will rearrange them after they get bored with the current configuration (usually after running through the configuration about 20-30 times).
So...are hedgehogs actually dumb...or are the majority of their owners just underestimating them?
I estimate mine has the intelligence of a smart dog or a human toddler.