Large Hamster Cage - Not Heating w/ 100W Ceramic?

[MattandSkye]

We just bought our hedgehog today. We live in New England where weather could be unpredictable in the February/March months. We understand that hedgehog habitats should not be under 75 degrees, however we are having a lot of trouble heating it up.

We have a large cage (like this https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY1WDEwMjQ=/z/Gh4AAOSwU-pXscvz/$_86.JPG) and a 100W Ceramic Heating Bulb on a Clamp Lamp. We've tried numerous mounting methods and still, the cage only gets about 5 degrees warmer than the room itself does. I'm worried that it will dip too cold some days and the hedgehog will go into hibernation. You can barely feel any heat being emitted when you're about 6" away from the bulb, it's almost like all of the heat is escaping because it is a cage.

However I've seen tons of other people use cages and one lamp and be fine. What could my problem be?

[nikki]

How big is the cage? What size of dome are you using. It's pretty normal for one 100 watt CHE to only increase the temp by a few degrees.

[MattandSkye]

It's probably about 40" long, 24" wide and 20" tall. I had the heat lamp mounted outside of the cage resting on the top and the temperature reading was only about 72 degrees . I mounted it to the inside of it like a chandelier and the temperature reading right underneath it was 93 degrees after about a half an hour. It didn't feel like it though, and the rest of the cage was reading about 80 degrees. What is safest for the baby? She was right underneath the lamp burrowed and sleeping at its hottest.

[nikki]

That is way to warm for a hedgehog and can make them ill. The temperature should be 75-77 *F all over the cage. With a cage that size you'll need two CHE's to keep the whole cage at an even temperature. You also NEED to get a thermostat ASAP to control the temp and stop it from getting that hot. That is a dangerous temperature and you need to move the CHE up higher right now.