[Lilysmommy]

Hey guys, sorry in advance if this turns out kind of long...
Lily has had two hibernation attempts in as many days, yesterday and today. This is the first time she's even done this, and it has me rather concerned and trying to figure out the cause. Yesterday's attempt, the temperature in my room was at 73 (which she has been fine with in the past), and today's attempt, the temperature was 76. Both days she was sleeping in her new favored position, curled up on the bare coroplast underneath her liner. She hasn't slept in her igloo for several weeks now, but again, this is the first problem we've had with hibernation attempts.
Her cage is rather large, a 2.5ft X 3ft C&C cage, here's a picture of it:

I was thinking the two most likely causes of the attempts were that she's getting too cool where she's sleeping, even if the room/cage is warm, or she's not getting enough light (though I believe she's getting at least 12 hours worth). I'm planning to leave a lamp on for 14 hours a day and see if that helps. I also want to buy a ceramic heat emitter set up for her cage, but my mom is fighting me on this, not wanting something that will be left on 24/7. She also thinks that the cage is too big/open for this to be effective, but I thought I'd seen other C&C cages that have had heat emitters used with them on here.
So...main questions are: Any opinions on most likely cause of attempts? Would ceramic heat emitter work alright with my cage?

 

[Nancy]

For a cage that size you will probably need two emitters to keep it warm enough. C&C's can be difficult to keep warm because they are large and open.

I have an older gal that has been cool more often than not and that is in a 76-77F or higher room with a snuggle safe heated morning and night under he bed.

You may find she needs a heating pad as well as a warmer cage but if your mom has issues with things being left on, she won't like the heating pad idea.

I suggest using a heat emitter with thermostat and shrinking the cage in size. Heat emitters are safe to use as long as they can't be knocked off and nothing can fall against them.

 

[shetland]

Just know that I hope little Lily is well and all problems are solved. She is such an angel.

 

[Alastrina]

I don't have much perspective on the cage situation (being a brand-new hedige owner and all) but I think I can offer some advice for helping explain to your mom why leaving something on all day and night isn't going to cause any danger, and ways you can assure her that you can disconnect the device quickly for safety purposes.

I know there are outlet plugs/devices you can plug the heat emitter into, and then into your electrical outlet that will allow you to turn it off using a switch at the outlet, or to turn it off via a remote. This would mean you wouldn't necessarily have to unplug it to turn it off. This may ease your mother's mind if she thinks like I do and is worried about some kind of electrical issue from something being left on all of the time. I don't think these kinds of solutions for your outlet are very expensive either, and may provide some peace of mind.

From another angle, she may be worried about the costs of having a heat emitter on all the time, so maybe you can find out what kind of power it requires and then work something out to where you can have it on all day/night or turn it off for a certain amount of time (as long as it's safe for the hedgie) in order to conserve energy and not add any extra to your bills.

~Katie

 

[Nancy]

Having something to turn the emitter off is not going to solve anything as the emitter needs to be on 24/7 and regulated by a thermostat.

Emitters are cheap cheap cheap to operate. A 100 watt emitter uses the same amount of electricity as a 100 watt light bulb.