Hedgehog digging under liners

[Dylan227]

Hey fellow hedgie lovers

I recently put a fabric liner in my hedgehogs cage, to replace the Carefresh bedding she had. The cage is just a simple wire cage; and I was wondering how to stop her from messing up the liners, and digging underneath. I've seen a-bunch of peoples cages with liners, and I think it's a great idea!

Thanks

Clover + Dylan

[moxieberry]

You can try using velcro (on the liners and on the plastic bottom of the cage) or putting heavy things in the corners, like rocks or her food bowls. These are really just ways to discourage it at best, and a lot of hedgehogs will still manage to liner-dive anyway. You can also put a dig box with strips of fleece in it inside the cage so she has something to dig around in, since she's used to having the carefresh to dig in.

[Hedgehog lover01]

I had this problm to you should try putting HEAVY rocks on the coners also cut little pices fleece and put them in a hut so they can dig hope this helps

[Dylan227]

Originally Posted by moxieberry

You can try using velcro (on the liners and on the plastic bottom of the cage) or putting heavy things in the corners, like rocks or her food bowls. These are really just ways to discourage it at best, and a lot of hedgehogs will still manage to liner-dive anyway. You can also put a dig box with strips of fleece in it inside the cage so she has something to dig around in, since she's used to having the carefresh to dig in.

How do I make the dig box?

[Christemo]

Take a box, fill it with treats and fleece strips.
I filled Amelia's igloo with fleece strips and then made a pile of strips in the cage for her to dig around and drag all over the cage.

[moxieberry]

Something like a tissue box will work. The one I have for Ares is a plastic stackable shelf thing I found at goodwill, with three raised sides and one lower 'lip' that's easy for him to climb over. You can put treats or little pieces of food hidden in the fleece strips to encourage the digging, but it also works without, just as a place to get out that digging urge. Ares sleeps in his more often than he sleeps in his bag/house.

[NoBeardPete]

When we got Otto, he used to dig all around his cage underneath the liner, flipping things over and generally trashing the place in the process. It seemed like he just wanted a secure-seeming place to sleep. His original cage setup included a Ware twig tunnel for him to hang out in, but he never really took a liking to it. He went in there a few times, but he was always warily watching the entrance, like he still felt exposed. We experimented with a few different hideouts for him, and eventually settled on a small shoebox with a hole cut in one side. It's stuffed full of strips of fleece. He definitely seems to feel like it's a safe, secure space. If something happens to scare him while he's in his cage, he usually makes a beeline straight for his box.

Since he's had a secure hideout that he can retreat too, he hasn't dug under the fleece liner even once.

Your hedgehog may have different motivations, but in our case, Otto seemed to be trying to get out of the open so that he could sleep safely.