[Bengall77]

So I thought that I was being super smart using a folded up puppy training pad in place of paper towels under Quillbert's bucket wheel. Little did I know that my hedgie was bent on destruction and mayhem! He's been knocking over his water bowl, pooping under the liners, shoving everything around, and basically tearing through his cage at night so that it looks like a hurricane hit it in the morning. Well, he managed to add a new type of destruction to his list the other night.

[attachment=2:7c8gwjfj]quillbertmakingamess1.jpeg[/attachment:7c8gwjfj]
That's his head in the first photo. I thought that he had dislodged the puppy pad to sleep in it instead of his hedgie bag. But no, he'd ripped a hole into it and crawled inside. And of course his quills completely shredded the cotton exterior.

[attachment=1:7c8gwjfj]quillbertmakingamess2.jpeg[/attachment:7c8gwjfj]
I had to rip the liner open to rescue him from his new inventive hidey hole. What you can't see in the photo is that the cotton fibers were completely embedded in his quills. I guess he'd rooted around so much that they got stuck between the quills down by his skin. It took me a full hour to tweeze it all out. Quillbert wasn't too happy about that.

[attachment=0:7c8gwjfj]quillbertmakingamess3.jpeg[/attachment:7c8gwjfj]
The third pic shows the cotton that was stuck between his quills. It doesn't look like much in the photo because it's compacted. But he was covered from head to butt in this stuff.

Lesson learned: No more puppy training pads. Ever.

 

[Nancy]

Thanks for the warning and the pictures. I've heard of this happening before but pictures are always great to have.

 

[Godzilla Girl]

That is so funny! We use them, and Nigel never bothers the pad. He gets in between the line and the puppy pad and burrows to his house. He only ever poos "above ground".

I do have to watch for deposits of fleece fuzz in his reverse mohawk. He doesn't like me picking out the fuzz either!

 

[FiaSpice]

I've alway read that they shouldn't be used because of the chemical in them I'm confused.

 

[Bengall77]

Well, in all of my research I had never read that they shouldn't be used. And since we had them on hand I thought that it would be better than paper towels for catching the urine under his wheel since they have a nice plastic liner under the cotton and they're very absorbent.

I know that they have some sort of chemical treatment to make them smell attractive for puppies. My reasoning was that if it's safe for a puppy to be around then it probably wouldn't hurt him. I think that there's been a lot of panic and hysteria about chemical safety in the last few years which is just simple ridiculous IMO. Because everything in the world including, you and me, is made up of chemicals. And a lot of synthetic chemicals are much safer than their natural counterparts. If anyone has heard of a hedgehog becoming ill or dying from the chemical attractant in the puppy pads please let me know, along with a link to the original article or message.

My warning for others is that hedgehogs who like to dig thorugh their cage can burrow inside of the cotton lining. Not only does this get stuck in their quills but it can also pose a choking hazard and a GI blockage hazard if they manage to eat some (just like carefresh).

Quillbert seems perfectly fine so I'm grateful that he wasn't seriously injured. I'm going to continue to watch him more closely though just in case he managed to eat a few pieces during his midnight escapade.

 

[Bengall77]

I googled "hedgehog + puppy training pad" and this is what I found.

http://www.hedgehogwelfare.org/faq.html
6. How can I litter train my hedgehog?

I'll start by saying that not all hedgies can be litter box trained. The best way is to get a large square ferret sized little box. Put either a pellet type litter (don't use clumping cat litter) or paper litter in it or even paper towels or puppy training pads, and then put their exercise wheel inside the box. Since they pee and poop on their wheel, they usually get the idea that this is where to go. If you find some outside the box, put it inside so they know that's where it should be. (See HWS Newsletter #1, March 2002)
__________________________________________________________________________

http://www.lyndonhedgehogs.co.uk/care_o ... dgehog.htm

You can use small wood chips or dust free shavings, care fresh bedding or another substrate or you can use fleece liners with puppy training pads as we do. As you can see from the picture of Snowbelles cage, she lays on a fleece blanket (not dissimilar to vet bed) with another thinner fleece blanket to hide under. We use a small cat litter tray with wood pellet cat litter under the wheel to catch all their business that they love doing when running! To line the rest of the floor we use a puppy trainer pad as these are also waterproof.

 

[Shelbys Mom]

I've alway read that they shouldn't be used because of the chemical in them I'm confused.

I use the pads that are made for people (can't remember what they are called) they are made just like the puppy pads, come in various sizes and don't have the chemicals in them.
(these are sold in the same section as the adult diapers)

I only use them in one cage because the others tears them up.
But I will keep a close eye on the one I use them with.

 

[smhufflepuff]

I use the pads that are made for people (can't remember what they are called) they are made just like the puppy pads, come in various sizes and don't have the chemicals in them. (these are sold in the same section as the adult diapers)

Chucks - probably because they're intended to be chucked.

But probably still a bad idea for the diggers. I think my rescue would destroy that and make a mess (probably choking hazard too) with the plastic.

Edit: just saw that "Chux" appears to be a brand name.

 

[hedgechef]

I'm in the process of writing a blog article on different kinds of bedding, including the dangers of using puppy pads. I was hoping you might be willing to give me permission to use your photo of your hog in the puppy pad in the article?

Thanks.