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When people see an animal sleeping with its eyes open, it can be equally disturbing, fascinating and puzzling. Hedgehogs are one such animal. When new owners notice their hedgehog sleeping this way for the first time, it can be confusing.

Hedgehogs can sleep with their eyes open because they can close their pupils by contracting the muscles in their irises to block out light. This can often give the appearance of being awake, which deters predators. A hedgehog that sleeps with its eyes open isn’t a sign of any health issues and is quite common, so there’s nothing to worry about.

You need to be careful not to disturb your hedgehog when it sleeps, as they may learn to dislike you! After all, wouldn’t you get annoyed if somebody kept disturbing your sleep?

Do Hedgehogs Sleep With Their Eyes Open?

Hedgehogs frequently sleep with their eyes open. This isn’t a sign of any medical condition, or anything else wrong with your hedgehog. Rather, it’s a natural adaptation that hedgehogs have developed to help in the wild.

But to accept a simple answer to the question is to misunderstand what’s actually happening. That’s because while your hedgehog is sleeping with its eyes open, it doesn’t mean that they’re looking around. Your hedgehog won’t be able to see when they’re asleep, and there’re two reasons for this.

The first reason is due to the sensory signals being blocked off by the brain during sleep. Only something thoroughly disturbing is enough to wake a hedgehog during deep sleep, which is why people can sleep through loud noises, and perhaps why you may need to shake somebody hard to wake them. The brain is ignoring the sensory signals that the body is sending it, and that applies to hedgehogs, too.

On top of that, hedgehogs have the ability to close their pupils fully. It can be difficult to see a hedgehog’s pupil, as its eyes are such a deep, dark shade. However, hedgehogs have slit pupils, which can be completely closed.

Is It Common For A Hedgehog To Sleep With Their Eyes Open?

While it can be confusing or disturbing to see a hedgehog sleep without having its eyes closed, this isn’t unique to just your pet. All hedgehogs can do it, so it’s very common.

If you have two hedgehogs, one of your hedgehogs may display this behavior frequently while the other never does. The other may sleep on their side or in a hammock, instead. 

It’s also normal to notice this for the first time after you’ve had your hedgehog for a while. The onset of this behavior could have taken a long time, or perhaps you just didn’t notice before. Again, this is nothing to worry about.

Why Do Hedgehogs Sleep With Their Eyes Open?

There are several reasons why hedgehogs sleep with their eyes open. It’s related to the fitness of the hedgehog to survive in their natural habitat. In other words, sleeping with their eyes open gives the hedgehog an advantage in their fight against predators and the environment.

1) It Doesn’t Bother Them

It’s difficult to understand how an animal sleeping with its eyes open is possible. It’s easy to assume that an animal that sleeps with its eyes open is the opposite of sleeping: for example, if you were nodding off, you would do anything to keep your eyes from shutting, because that’s how you stay awake.

But for the reasons described above, this isn’t a problem for hedgehogs. They can close off their pupils to block out light, even the bright light of daytime (as hedgehogs can be active during the day). And when in deep sleep, the brain blocks off the signals it receives from the eyes, anyway.

2) To Ward Off Predators

By keeping their eyes open, a hedgehog can appear to be awake. A predator that sees a hedgehog sleeping like this might think, “I’m wasting my time, because the hedgehog can see me coming!”, and goes off to hunt other prey. Although this may only work sometimes, sometimes the predator would attack, anyway; but that’s still a significant advantage in terms of evolution.

3) To React Quickly

Opening the eyes doesn’t take as much time. But when it wakes up, a hedgehog may have to rub its eyes to get rid of gunk and may be slow to react to the things around them. By keeping their eyes open, the hedgehog can react quickly to anything it sees immediately upon waking.

Again, this gives the hedgehog an evolutionary advantage. More hedgehogs can escape from predators that attack them while they sleep. They then pass on their genes and the same behavior to the next generation.

4) No Reason

While we do know a lot about hedgehogs, we don’t know everything. There may be other reasons than those covered here which make a hedgehog sleep with its eyes open.

There may also be no clear reason for your hedgehog’s behavior. Any owner will tell you that sometimes their hedgehog does something completely puzzling that can’t be explained, no matter how much you try to study or think about it. This could be the case for why your hedgehog sleeps with their eyes open.

Is My Hedgehog Sleeping With Its Eyes Open?

You may observe your hedgehog for a while and think, “Is my hedgehog staring at me? Does it want something—are they feeling ok?” only to find out that they’re actually sleeping. Some owners tell stories of their hedgehog sleeping on their sides with their eyes open, looking as if they’ve passed out, only to leap into the air when disturbed.

Hedgehogs Sleeping With Eyes Open vs Relaxing

Alternatively, your hedgehog may not be sleeping at all. They could be awake but just relaxing.

There’s a consistent way to tell whether your hedgehog is sleeping with its eyes open. That’s to touch your hedgehog or make a sound that’s loud enough to disturb it. If you do, your hedgehog will be shocked, but will definitely also be awake!

Although, if you know that your hedgehog frequently sleeps with their eyes open, don’t disturb them every time you see it doing so. Waking your hedgehog this way could cause significant stress, and they may associate you with that bad feeling. If you’re worried about your hedgehog, look for the signs of them breathing, or wait a few minutes to see if they wake up. Hedgehogs take naps throughout the day, so you shouldn’t be waiting long.

Conclusion

The majority of hedgehogs share the instinct of sleeping with their eyes open. However, a pet hedgehog may only sleep with their eyes closed once they are entirely comfortable around you.

Sometimes, you could find your little hedgehog sleeping with their eyes closed after playtime or when they are tired.

However, over time, you may find that your hedgehog feels more secure and relaxed whenever you’re around them and may start to close their eyes while sleeping. This is a sign that your hedgehog has started to trust you.

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