Looking for advice on cage setup & wheel

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RoniM

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Hi everyone!

I am new to hedgehogs and have just finished setting up my little guys cage. He's all litter trained so I wanted to get rid of the wood chips. I saw one of the ladies (Nancy I believe) had a wonderful setup and wanted to do something similar.

The difference with my little guy is that I needed to keep a litter pan for him. Also because of the nasty mess he makes every night running on his wheel, I had to go a bit bigger with the litter pan so that anything off the wheel didn't end up on his blankets. Then, because I couldn't find an actual "litter pan" I had to use a sterilte container and the lip was a little high so I had to add a "bridge" for him to use if he didn't want to climb over the side. The bridge doubles as another hiding spot for him so it's at least double purposed.

Now that I have so much stuff in there he seems a little crowded. Which I guess is the question I'm getting at. Does he need alot of room if he has a wheel to get his excercise on? He runs all night long, so he deffinately gets his excercise.

The second question is about the wheel itself. If I'm going to be away, my hubby will feed and water him but is not going to want to scrub his wheel every morning, so is it better to remove the wheel for a few days to avoid the disgusting mess of an uncleaned wheel?

I've attached a picture of the setup I have now.

Thanks for any advise you can offer!

Roni
 

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I think you are going to need to get a bigger cage. You'll find some varying opinions on space requirements, but mine is at a bare minimum 4 sq ft of floor space. The more space you can give them, the better.

I'm not familiar with that wheel and how easy/hard it is to clean. Others may be better equipped to comment. However, I think that wheel has been reported to be more difficult to clean than others.
 
I have a cage like that. It's Satin's "vacation cottage." At first, I thought it would be sufficient, but one you get all their stuff in there, starts looking pretty small. I bough a bigger one for her, but use the smaller one when we need to travel.

My best advice is: go for a bigger cage and get a bucket wheel. You'll want the extra room so you can put a bunch of different toys in for hedgie to play with (stuffed animals, rubber duckies, 4" PVC tube, etc...) if hedgie must be without wheel. Some can get themselves into A LOT of trouble without their wheel. Yes, Mr. I'll climb from the bars and hang from the ceiling, I am talking about you. Others will just be pissed at you for taking the wheel away and huff and puff at your upon your return. I'm suggesting a bucket wheel as they're easier to clean and more safe for hedgie's toes (can get caught in the slit on the bottom of a Silent Spinner).

Re: going away for a few days, hubby can pull the wheel out in the morning and stick it in the shower, the water will hit it and, if angled correctly, will turn the wheel thus rinsing out the biggest of messes. Won't be perfect, but will be decent. Oh... except for those slits along the bottom... might not work... haven't tried with a Silent Spinner. My bucket & Cakewalk wheels turn on their own with water raining down from the showerhead. An alternate: get another wheel - a Comfort wheel and hubby can take out the messy one and replace it with a clean one without him having to clean it.
 
I have had the wheel and it is an awful pain to deal with. It tips easily and is a pain to clean. You will also want to be care of the slits as little toes and nails can get caught.
 
Thanks for the advice!

Thank you for the advice everyone. I'm going to look into getting a bigger cage for him. My daughters other little guy is in a rabbit cage which is quite a bit longer, but not much wider. Someone locally is selling a double Ferret Nation, which would house both of them. Does anyone use the Ferret Nation for hedgehogs? If so are they difficult to clean? The baby is litter trained but the older one isn't which could be be a problem is they are hard to clean. I'm going to see what I can find out about them.

As for the wheel, it's not overly difficult to clean. I just soak it for a few minutes, wipe it down, rinse it off and it's good to go. I have mine clamped to the cage so tipping over isn't an issue. Kalandra let me know I could give the little guy a foot bath every day to keep his little toes clean. So I've been doing that. He's not over impressed by it, because I'm doing it in the morning when he's trying to sleep, but I don't want to leave him dirty all day.

The little log bridge thing is also going to have to go since he's pooed on it a couple of times (on the end in the litter box) and there really isn't a way to clean it properly. He isn't using it as a bridge anyways, he just climbs over the side of the bin.

Hubby is not a critter guy (wasn't overly impressed that I let the girls get the hedgehogs) Cleaning the wheel is not something he would be willing to deal with no matter how simple I make it. Food and water he will do just because he isn't cruel, and it would bother him to think they might be hungry or thirsty. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it in the spring.
 
Take a look in the hedgehog housing section for the thread titled "Show me those cages" or something similar to that. There is at least 1 or 2 posts in there with ferret nation examples.

I have 2 FN2s for mine. I love them. I don't use a second level (you will find examples of how to make a safe second level in each section in that thread I mentioned above). I also use metal pans that have a 2-3 inch lip to them. I had issues when I used the plastic pans that they came with, with poop being kicked out, I've had no issues since.
 
Thanks for the advise Kalandra! Thought I would let you know that I have ordered a double Ferret Nation cage and should have it in a few days (the second hand one didn't pan out). I'm very excited that my little guys will have loads of room!

Dennis (the baby) will be so excited since he likes to climb and spends hours exploring anything new you put in his cage! The box from his heat lamp was a huge hit and it kept him busy while I cleaned his wheel, and the other guys cage. I can't wait to load him up with toys! :)

I'm beginning to think that our older guy (Pygmy) is actually alot older than we were told. He really doesn't do anything but eat, sleep and poop! He has no interest in toys or his wheel and is quite content to stay in his little house. He will come to us now to get treats out of our hands, but really doesn't want anything else to do with us! We keep trying though and hold him for a little while each day (he spends the entire time trying to get away!).

Comparing the two is like night and day. The baby is very nosey and needs to see who is there and what they are doing, while the old guy starts hisses the moment you approach his cage. I'm not giving up on him yet though and if he never comes around that's ok too! :)
 
Pygmy may not be old. It may just be his personality is the opposite of Dennis. Some like toys, others will have nothing to do with them. Same with cuddling and activity levels.
 
Really? It's amazing how different they are! Pygmy is a complete intravert (but we love him anyways). We are his third family (from what we've been told). Maybe he's just not a people person. He is nipping alot less, so we have made some progress and it's only been about a month, so he may still come around, or at least learn to tollerate us LOL
 
I really like the silent spinner wheel that I have. I had a smaller one for my sugar glider a couple years ago. It is pretty easy to clean. I bought a dish scrubber brush and put a dish soap/vinegar mix in the handle and scrub every morning. I like the shower idea spinning the wheel to get it clean. Might rinse mine that way. Poptart is small but his toes haven't gotten stuck and the ridges don't make him bleed. I have the larger version of your cage too and I like it. He gets plenty of play time every night bc of my job. I come home when he wakes up.
 
I would be afraid that toes would catch in the space where the two colors meet. I am using a comfort wheel right now but most people recommend a bucket wheel or the carolina storm wheel. I agree with Kalandra about four square feet being the minimum. Having all of the large things they need (house, wheel, tunnels, toys) in a space that small will feel too crowded and it is hard for the hedgehog to maneuver. Personally, I recommend using a c and c cage as they seem to offer the most versatility, comfort, and space but a larger pet store cage wouldn't be a bad option either. I am just worried about the hedgie not having the room to move around. ^^
 
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