[Insaniac]

Hello All,

New member here, posting on behalf of my GF but considering ill be taking care of it aswell some of the time i thought id post and ask some quesitons and make sure we are doing things right.

Yesterday we went out and got our cage aswell as the bedding, Cat Litter Tray, wheel, Tube, Ball, Feeding Bowls. Unfortunately i dont have any pictures at present but i will do my best to describe it all. I really wanted to get a CWS Wheel but the shipping is just too expensive. We will however be in the US in September for 3 weeks so i might order one then.

We dont have any pictures at present but will do my best to get some up before i get the new AFP to make sure things seem in order.

The cage itself is quite large its for Guinnea pigs / Rabbits. The dimensions are 3ft 9 Inches in Legnth and 1ft 9 inches in width. Its quite large, or so i think and had alot of height and many access points. It has a plastic base and the typical metal cage.

We decided to go with wood shavings as the bedding i made sure it said it was safe for animals it also said it has been dedusted (correct word?) as i know the AFP can be prone to respitory problems and dust can be a problem. Regarding the bedding does it have to be a certain depth? Do they like to burrow? Is wood shavings a bad choice? I know alot use the fleece blankets but this wasnt really an option.

The Cat Litter Tray is down one end of the cage and it is at level with the bedding. The wheel will be placed here i am just curios as to what is the best to use if we want to train him to use this area for the toilet. Is cat litter ok? is it bad? what about paper towels is this better? We have also placed the common bottle feeder (for rabbits/guinea pigs) full of water near his wheel.

Down the other end is his house now what to use inside this we are still contimplating. Is a fleece blanket best or what about that type of cotton wool that is available as hamster / guinnea pig bedding. It says its safe for them etc? but what is best?

In the middle we have his feeding bowls (1 bowl for food 1 for water) Then throughout we have a tube, a ball, a soft toy, a hard toy. We are considering making a little bridge from the floor to the top of his little house its only about 10-12 " (inches) in height, just as something extra to do?

Anyway sorry for the long post hopefully if we get some pictures up people can make suggestions and clear it before we get him. But from what i have said what are peoples opinions and any suggestions?

Thanks again,
Mark

 

[Nancy]

Why is fleece not an option? They like to cuddle in material and polar fleece is fairly cheap and they love it.

Kiln dried wood shavings are not ideal even if they are dust free. They are also terribly messy as when you pick the hedgehog up, along come a bunch of shavings to drop on the floor and multiply. :lol:

Do not use hamster bedding. It is dangerous not only to hedgehogs but to all small animals. I truly wish they would take the stupid stuff off the market.

What are you using for heating? Heating is about the most important necessity for hedgehogs.

 

[Insaniac]

I was told from the breeder over here that the fleece is actually rather hard to spot clean? He also keeps his on the wood shavings and has little problems, i figured if it was coming from that enviornment it would be better?

What if they do go to the toilet on the fleece? doesnt it smell rather bad? i would imagine those of you who are using it have many different ones and put them in the wash maybe once a week or whatever the case may be? We only know of one place near by that stocks it as a material and its rather pricey.

We will be using a heatpad at one end of the cage (the end with his house). We where told that a spot bulb wasnt really required that a heatpad should provide the proper heat? any opinions on this?

Ok thanks for the advice on the hamster bedding we wont be using that. We will get a fleece for his house.

Do you buy your fleece as material and cut it to size or just buy the blankets that are available out there?

 

[Nancy]

A heating pad alone is not adequate to heat the whole cage. Heating pads provide spot heating only and actually make the rest of the cage that much more of a drop in temperature when the hedgehog leaves the heating pad and ventures out to wheel or eat. For a small cage or bin, sometimes a heating pad will do but in a large cage not at all. The whole cage environment needs to be at a suitable temperature for the individual hedgehog. A ceramic heat emitter with a thermostat will work well. This is an emitter that produces heat with no light. Bulbs are not suitable.

Fleece is not hard to spot clean the poop. For urine, just take it out and wash it and replace with a clean one. Most breeders do use shavings because moms and babies can't use liners. Many breeders keep moms and babies on shavings and the rest on liners.

Considering you will only be buying the fleece once, it works out to cheaper than buying shavings all the time and is healthier for the hedgehog.

My gang mostly get the bedding that I make and sell although I do use just pieces of cut up fleece for some. :lol:

http://www.freewebs.com/thehedgieden/

 

[Herisson]

I was told from the breeder over here that the fleece is actually rather hard to spot clean? He also keeps his on the wood shavings and has little problems, i figured if it was coming from that enviornment it would be better?

What if they do go to the toilet on the fleece? doesnt it smell rather bad? i would imagine those of you who are using it have many different ones and put them in the wash maybe once a week or whatever the case may be? We only know of one place near by that stocks it as a material and its rather pricey.

I think the fleece is easier to keep clean than shavings. I was also tired of shavings all over the floor. My rat got mites from Care-Fresh so I would not use it as an alternative.
I have both fleece baby blankets and fleece cut to size. When I see a dropping, I lightly touch a tissue to it and it sticks leaving nothing behind. Then flush it away down the toilet. I change mine every other day. Because it's just pee on them, I wash them with everything else. It's not any worse than human baby pee or vomit to me. To anyone disgusted- Sorry!

 

[Immortalia]

Also, if it's the clay cat litter, it's bad to use. If you end up getting a boy, the small little pebbles can get stuck in private areas. And they tend to be very dusty.

You can try using a pellet cat litter. Or even a paper towel at the base of the wheel will suffice.