[sweetergrrrl]

Hello everyone!!

This is my first post because I just found out I am going to be recieving a little boy the week of the 15th. (Hooray!!!)

I am working on setting up a cage for him and already have a steralite container that will become his new home.

I was wondering what everyone's views were when it came to bedding. I have seen lots of pictures of cages using fleece or wood chips. I just wanted to know what would be best for the little guy.

I am living in an apartment so there is no back yard to hose anything out with. But I had cats and have gotten used to emptying litter boxes and the like into trash bags without making a mess.

Thanks a ton!!!

 

[Lilysmommy]

Many people prefer using fleece, denim, or corduroy liners for their cages. These have certain advantages over using wood or paper bedding. For one, they're less messy, and there's no chance of the fleece giving your hedgehog mites (as wood bedding can do). Also, with light colored liners, you can see if there's any odd colored waste, or any blood in the waste. Liners are also cheaper because you can just wash and reuse after the initial purchase of material. Make sure if you wash them that you use dye-free and scent-free detergent.
However, some people still use paper or wood bedding if they have a hedgehog that likes to poop everywhere in its cage. So if you have a very messy hog, that kind of bedding would be alright too.
You can also use a combination. Liners for most of the cage, but a small litter box filled with either paper or wood bedding (or paper towels) that you could place under the wheel to catch run off.

 

[sweetergrrrl]

Thanks!

I have been playing with the idea of a litter box, but I was going to wait and see if he would prefer one spot, his wheel or just going wherever it feels good.

So far though, I think it would work best to have mostly a liner and a small(ish) area for him to do his buisness.

 

[hedgielover]

Congrats on your new little boy! You must me super excited.

My favourite bedding is the fleece liners. I've used wood chips and recycled paper beddings before but for hedgehogs the fleece is the easiest.

I find the cage too big to dump out any kind of shavings into a garbage bag and it's very awkward to scoop out. Also liners are much cheaper. Most fabric stores sell polar fleece relatively cheep, then you just cut to the size of the cage and wash them when they get dirty.

Super easy.

 

[nikki]

Just a suggestion...if you do decide to use loose bedding then the easiest way to clean the cage that i've found is to use an old dust pan to scoop it out, it makes it easy to get into the corners that way.

 

[Yer_Daddy]

I have just started using flannel blankets.....

My question is how do you clean the blankets once they have been "blessed" by the hedgies?

Also, is it ok to SCOTCHGUARD the blankets? This way I can wipe up any blessings with less effort and no wet spots (or lesser ones) on the blanket?

 

[Lilysmommy]

I've never had any problems with poop being hard to get off of the liners. Maybe it leaves a small spot, but nothing to stress out about. I don't know if I'd use scotchguard on liners, with hedgies being on them all the time, and having their noses so close to the ground. But I've also never used scotchguard, so I don't know how it works or if there's a scent or anything.

For washing the liners, I wait until I have several to make a small to medium load. I use Tide, the dye-free, scent-free version of it. I use a very tiny bit of softener so they aren't very static-y. I don't use any bleach usually, but a few weeks ago I had a rescue hedgehog come through that we thought might have mites, so I used bleach on any bedding that she was on. I just did a double rinse on that load. Make sure that if you dry the bedding in a dryer, don't use dryer sheets.

 

[Yer_Daddy]

Thanks Lilysmommy!

 

[sweetergrrrl]

Thanks everyone!!

I went out to J-Ann Fabrics today and bought some fleece for liners (It was on sale for $4.99 a yard.)

I plan on trying out a litter box once I know where he is going to "go".

 

[Yer_Daddy]

how do you keep the fleece dry after the hedgies pee?

 

[Lilysmommy]

Lily only ever pees on her wheel, she's a relatively neat hedgie. The wheel I have now (a Cake Walk Supreme) has a large base on it where the pee falls, so very little gets on her liner. I used to have a Comfort Wheel for her, and for that I folded a paper towel in half and tucked it under the wire base. That soaked up most of the pee so her liner didn't get wet. A lot of people also use a litter box, and just put it under the wheel.

 

[hedgielover]

Once you figure out where your hedgehog pees, if it's not on the wheel, you can put an extra scrap of liner there, I also double up on the high traffic areas like the path from his sleeping blanket to his wheel. That way I can remove the smaller scraps the next day and the liner underneath is mostly clean. The liner is good for one more day and then I change the whole liner and start over. This way I'm only doing a full clean every other day and I go through less liners.

Specifically about cleaning poo though, I usually have to pull any large pellets off the liner with a klenex or towell before washing it or I end up with poop in my washing machine. I've found that Quigley has really sticky poo so this may not be the same for everyone. Others have said they just shake the loose bits off.

 

[sweetergrrrl]

Thanks everyone!!

 

[Yer_Daddy]

ok...so i built a c&c cage and have switched to fleece for bedding. I have a couple of questions for you guys......

1) do you use multiple layers of fleece? or just one?
2) how often do you change the fleece?
3) MAN! when my hedgies use the Cake Walk Supreme, poo just flies everywhere. How can I prevent this?
4) The Cake Walk Supreme is great for cleaning, but poo is everywhere, and I have to give my hedgies foot baths like eveyday because all the poo is caked (no pun intended) all on her feet! Any solutions?

I do have paper towels folded in half in from of the CWS...

 

[sweetergrrrl]

From what I have read, people put two layers of fleece in high traffic areas like from the bed to the wheel.

I am not sure about what to do about flying poo though. >_< lol

 

[Yer_Daddy]

ok...so i built a c&c cage and have switched to fleece for bedding. I have a couple of questions for you guys......

1) do you use multiple layers of fleece? or just one?
2) how often do you change the fleece?
3) MAN! when my hedgies use the Cake Walk Supreme, poo just flies everywhere. How can I prevent this?
4) The Cake Walk Supreme is great for cleaning, but poo is everywhere, and I have to give my hedgies foot baths like eveyday because all the poo is caked (no pun intended) all on her feet! Any solutions?

I do have paper towels folded in half in from of the CWS...

Doesn't anybody have any ideas?

 

[hedgielover]

I'll answer your question about fleece since that's what this thread is about. First as was already mentioned most people use multiple layers of fleece especially in high traffic areas. Fleece should be changed as often as needed. If you use a light colour you will be able to see the dirt very easily and when it gets bad change it. I find it doesn't last more than two nights. So I change it every other day.

To get answers to your questions about the cakewalk supreme you should visit the toys forum and do a search. If you don't find your answer then you should make another post there.

 

[Nancy]

3) MAN! when my hedgies use the Cake Walk Supreme, poo just flies everywhere. How can I prevent this?
4) The Cake Walk Supreme is great for cleaning, but poo is everywhere, and I have to give my hedgies foot baths like eveyday because all the poo is caked (no pun intended) all on her feet! Any solutions?

I do have paper towels folded in half in from of the CWS...

I don't know why poo would be flying everywhere. I have 3 Cake Walk Supreme and the poo doesn't fly anywhere. They are really no different than any bucket type wheel and I've not had flying poo off any bucket wheel. weird

It is quite common though to need to give a baby a foot bath daily. Babies are poop machines. :lol:

 

[Yer_Daddy]

Well, it seems that since the poop doesn't stick to the wheel anymore, it gets distributed in a nice haze around the CWS by my hedgie constantly trampling over it all night. Whatever doesn't stick to their feet gets flung out onto the fleece bedding.

 

[Lilysmommy]

You could try laying a paper towel down under/in front of the base of the wheel. I also cut some fleece up into strips that will cover the base and tuck under it (paper towels weren't long enough to tuck under) so that I don't have to wipe the base off every night. With the fleece strips, I can just shake poo off into the trash and once the strip gets pretty soiled, I can switch it out with a clean one. I already do a load of laundry every other week with liners and fleece strips (for her bedding), so it's not a hardship to add these strips to the load.