The comfort wheel - if he's anything like my hedgie, he's smushing himself between the bottom of the wheel and the floor and popping the wheel off the base that way. Get a zip-tie (twist tie or shoelace might also work) and attach the back of the wheel (that knobby thing that sticks out the back side through the holes) to the base (the horizontal piece that's close to where you insert the wheel onto the base). Snug it up tight and then it'll be awfully hard to separate the two pieces.
Ceramic heat emitter - sounds like you have the probe in a good place - I'd consider one of four things:
1. Make sure the lamp has a nice big diameter - I've seen ones that are about 6" and ones that are about 10" - the greater the diameter, the greater the distribution across the cage.
2. Assuming that you have a wire-top cage and hedgie cannot climb to the top, set the lamp directly on the wire top... there should be a fraction of an inch clearance between the emitter/bulb and the wire top - the closer the emitter & lamp is to the cage, the more easily heat can get to where you want it to.
3. Devise a way to help keep the heat in the cage. Nancy has mentioned installing something like a plastic place mat along the back side of the cage to help keep heat in. What I did was get a giant piece of fleece, put it over the cage, then cut out big windows for the cage doors, the side of the cage (ventilation) and the majority of the top so the heat emitters have a place to go wthout melting the fleece. This will also help cut down on drafts that may be robbing the cage of its warmth.
4. Depending on the size of your cage, add a second emitter & lamp. I have a Marchioro 120 (big plastic bottom, wire-top cage) and use two heat emitters... one's a 150; the other's a 115-ish. I have a 215 and it was overkill... if you want it though, I can ship it to you... pm me.
Ceramic heat emitter - sounds like you have the probe in a good place - I'd consider one of four things:
1. Make sure the lamp has a nice big diameter - I've seen ones that are about 6" and ones that are about 10" - the greater the diameter, the greater the distribution across the cage.
2. Assuming that you have a wire-top cage and hedgie cannot climb to the top, set the lamp directly on the wire top... there should be a fraction of an inch clearance between the emitter/bulb and the wire top - the closer the emitter & lamp is to the cage, the more easily heat can get to where you want it to.
3. Devise a way to help keep the heat in the cage. Nancy has mentioned installing something like a plastic place mat along the back side of the cage to help keep heat in. What I did was get a giant piece of fleece, put it over the cage, then cut out big windows for the cage doors, the side of the cage (ventilation) and the majority of the top so the heat emitters have a place to go wthout melting the fleece. This will also help cut down on drafts that may be robbing the cage of its warmth.
4. Depending on the size of your cage, add a second emitter & lamp. I have a Marchioro 120 (big plastic bottom, wire-top cage) and use two heat emitters... one's a 150; the other's a 115-ish. I have a 215 and it was overkill... if you want it though, I can ship it to you... pm me.
