Heating a hedgie cage

[hedgieLovie]

So after i did lots of reading up on heating a hedgehogs cage i found out everything BUT one thing.

I have decided to go with using a 10" dome heating light with a heating bulb to set on top of the cage. Since the cage is all metal and its a wire cage the heat can escape threw the bars. The only thing i haven't been able to find out is how do i determine the degrees in the cage? Like will it get TOO hot? Or will t not be hot enough? Should i set the lamp in the middle on the cage or to one side?

All the sites just said use a heat lamp to heat the cage and what size lamps are good, they didnt say HOW to use them though, so if someone can help me out, please let me know.

The cage is 2ft x 2ft x 2ft x 2ft all the way around and about 2 1/2 ft tall if that helps.
(All metal wire cage)

Thanks again guys

[Hedgehogs]

My opinion is that hedgehogs would probably prefer a ceramic lamp, though on the expensive side, because it heats up it's entire cage instead of just a part of the ground. But I'm not that knowlegable so you might want to wait for others. I also think that if the entire cage is metal the pad coulld heat the ground way too much and could burn your little hedgie. Even if there is bedding some hedgies like to dig and burrow.

[hedgielover]

I agree metal conducts heat and the whole cage would just become an instrument to cook a hedgehog.

Even on low heat a heating pad can cause low temperature burns if the hedgehog is laying on the part of the floor that is heated for a long time. This is when used with a plastic cage. I can't even imagine how hot a metal cage would get.

[Nancy]

A heating pad under a metal based cage is not safe. Actually, plastic bottomed cages are a far better cage than the metal. Metal bottoms also conduct the cold as well they corrode when wet. I suggest returning the metal bottomed one and get a plastic bottomed wire topped cage. It is better and offers more flexibility.