Ramp incline & depth of bedding

[NoMonitor]

Good morning,

My wife and I just picked up our new little friend from a coworker of hers yesterday and have him settled in a decent size rabbit cage from PetSmart but I have a few questions if you all could help me out.

Here is the cage: https://www.petsmart.com/small-pet/c...ard-21578.html

It has a fairly deep pan on it and I was wondering how much bedding my new friend needs. I think he currently needs deeper bedding than he has but I don't want to scare him by adding more since he has only been here for one night and has been hiding in his log-house since we put him in the cage.

Before I put him in the cage we put his carrier down inside the play pen area and he came out and explored after leaving a few massive well-formed good colored dookies under the log-home.

Since he is familiar with the log-home we put that inside his cage with his existing food and water dish (plus water bottle.)

He burrowed down into the bedding which I don't think is deep enough and I don't think he came out last night while my wife and I were sleeping.

As you can see the cage has a play pen attached and the front door folds down to become a cloth covered ramp for critters, but I am concerned that the ramp might be too steep for him. Can anybody tell me how steep cloth covered ramps can be?

Oh, one more question... Do you think my buddy would be more comfortable if we closed the front of the cage at night or left it open so he can get into the play pen?

[akitka]

That ramp doesn't seem too steep to me, they are surprisingly good climbers. I think he'll probably figure it out once he's taken to exploring. Your cage looks nice and big, but a few thoughts about it - I would advise against the water bottle (My vet and breeder both advised a water dish instead- apparently their tongues can get stuck in the bottles). Does he have a wheel? They love to run, I can't see one in the pic but you should try to get him one and you'll be surprised how much mileage hedgehogs can cover. Best of luck adjusting to eachother, they can be shy while they're getting used to things!

[nikki]

Without access to the playpen that cage is way way to small. If you're going to use the playpen unsupervised then you're going to have to find a way to put a secure, escape proof, top on it. How are you planning to heat it? Do you have a lighting schedule?

[NoMonitor]

Originally Posted by akitka

That ramp doesn't seem too steep to me, they are surprisingly good climbers. I think he'll probably figure it out once he's taken to exploring. Your cage looks nice and big, but a few thoughts about it - I would advise against the water bottle (My vet and breeder both advised a water dish instead- apparently their tongues can get stuck in the bottles). Does he have a wheel? They love to run, I can't see one in the pic but you should try to get him one and you'll be surprised how much mileage hedgehogs can cover. Best of luck adjusting to eachother, they can be shy while they're getting used to things!

Actually I already got a wheel in the mail from Amazon today! I read elsewhere that the first few days in a new environment that I shouldn't put one in anyway so I ordered one in anticipation of that. Just put it in when it came in the mail. I don't think the previous owner had gotten him one.

Originally Posted by nikki

Without access to the playpen that cage is way way to small. If you're going to use the playpen unsupervised then you're going to have to find a way to put a secure, escape proof, top on it. How are you planning to heat it? Do you have a lighting schedule?

If you look at the pen it's all vertical bars. I don't think he will be able to get out of it but I have thought on it. Suffering ourselves keeping the whole house a minimum of 75, that's ok right?

Trying to get my wife to observe the light schedule but in our apartment it will not always work... Doing the best I can!

[NoMonitor]

Originally Posted by akitka

That ramp doesn't seem too steep to me, they are surprisingly good climbers. I think he'll probably figure it out once he's taken to exploring. Your cage looks nice and big, but a few thoughts about it - I would advise against the water bottle (My vet and breeder both advised a water dish instead- apparently their tongues can get stuck in the bottles). Does he have a wheel? They love to run, I can't see one in the pic but you should try to get him one and you'll be surprised how much mileage hedgehogs can cover. Best of luck adjusting to eachother, they can be shy while they're getting used to things!

Thanks for the advice on the bottle! I will remove it... He had his dishes from the previous owner but also the bottle, but my buddy has been drinking from the dish in the night since he came here.

This guy has been biting my hands (hard enough that he moves with my hand) but I don't mind... It still surprises me.

I took him in my lap earlier tonight and he started walking around my lap sniffing after a few so I think he will be alright.

[nikki]

I had a 6 week old baby climb into a 13 inch tall waste basket that had smooth sides so they can climb even with vertical bars. The cross bars are definitely high enough for a hedgehog to use them to climb out.

[NoMonitor]

Originally Posted by nikki

I had a 6 week old baby climb into a 13 inch tall waste basket that had smooth sides so they can climb even with vertical bars. The cross bars are definitely high enough for a hedgehog to use them to climb out.

That's crazy! Thanks for the advice.

I think I might have traumatized him the other night putting him in my lap and also gave him a new wheel. He hasn't been sleeping inside the cage since I put the wheel in so I took it out and put it just outside the playpen.