Thoughts/Answers for Housing Alterations

I currently have two hedgehogs. One of them has her own C&C cage, but since I don't have a lot of room, I haven't been able to build my other's cage and currently have him in a large storage bin. He's been cranky ever since leaving his mom and I think he really doesn't like his current set up.

SO I was thinking about building a separate, unattached C&C cage directly on top of Sookie's. This way he'll have more space, feel more comfortable and we'll have room for the both of them! I'll put a solid 8" high coroplast floor and wall like Sookie's and I really do not think there will be any way for them to come in contact with each other. Thoughts?


Sookie's current Cage


Grumpy's temporary cage (wahh wahhhh)

One concern I have though is the heat emitter. I am using this since Sookie recently tried to go into hibernation despite our house already being at 76 degrees. If I build another level, how and I supposed to position the lamp so that I can efficiently warm both cages without melting the coroplast? I don't even know if just the heat emitter will melt it, but I have thought about it. I can't really afford to buy another lamp and emitter.

Any advice helps!

Couple of quick thoughts...

If you build another layer of cube walls on top of Sookie's environment before building Grumpy's layer, I think your little CHE should fit without melting Sookie's ceiling/Grumpy's floor.
Also, since your house is already at 76 and heat rises, if the existing CHE is helping keep Sookie's layer warm, it should be able to pull double-duty and heat Grumpy's home from below.
You might find that the thermostat triggers the CHE to turn on less frequently and for shorter periods of time since the top layer will help hold in some of the heat that's currently just rising out of Sookie's house.
And, word of caution, I haven't tried this myself. My little ones are in plastic bottom, wire top cages warmed with CHE's in separate rooms of my house. But it stands to reason that it should work. I've had my CHE's which, based on the pics, are higher wattage than yours, fairly close to plastic without it being an issue. Right on top will most certainly melt/burn... but a few inches away seems to make a world of difference.

The top layer hedgie home might even be a couple degrees warmer than the bottom one without the CHE - I'd test it out of course... Then you can put whomever needs the higher temp in the warmer layer.

That sounds like it should work, and a pretty good idea. I'm thinking in order to make that work I may have to cut Sookie's coroplast down an inch in order to have room for the CHE to sit above her without burning the plastic. I have a feeling this process might be more trial and error.

I've also roughly drawn a few ideas to make it work such as building the new cage above but slightly offset in order to give free space on top of Sookie's cage, leaving the heat emitter there while getting another on top of Grumpy's. Or, cutting Grumpy's coroplast so that the heat emitter can sit directly on top of the cage pointing down towards Sookie's while dispersing heat into Grumpy's. He'll have slightly less space, but still enough that he can live more comfortably than his storage container, and that way I wouldn't have to buy another.

I like your idea and these, I'll probably have to try at least two out to see what does best.

SpineyPigFaceLover said:

That sounds like it should work, and a pretty good idea. I'm thinking in order to make that work I may have to cut Sookie's coroplast down an inch in order to have room for the CHE to sit above her without burning the plastic. I have a feeling this process might be more trial and error.

Click to expand...

You won't have to cut the coroplast down. You will need to add another row of cubes and then build the new cage on top of that. That will give you room to access your lower cage and also install the ceramic heat emitter. Link to example on Guinea Pig Cages site The site has lots of other examples of C&C cages.

Great example! I am definitely going to try it out and see how it goes. I'll post new pics when I set it up : ]

I am FINALLY setting up the next layer of my cage, but I've realized that if I want to keep the heat lamp under the second layer (for the "heat rises" theory) I either have to lower the height of the coroplast in order to fit the second layer directly on top or build it basically with an extra cube in between layers in order to fit the heat lamp in it. I know it was suggested that I build a cube in between layers, but it's going to be a very giant cage if I do and I'm afraid I won't have the space for it when I move. I'm thinking cutting the coroplast would be more efficient for me, but I want to do what's best for my babies. I need a second opinion!

The coroplast (seen in the photo above) is currently 8.5 inches high. I need to cut it down at least 3 inches to make the heat lamp fit, making the full height reduced to about 5.5 in. Do you think this is a good idea? Sookie has been curious about climbing it, but is too lazy to jump up to attempt grabbing the edge! :hilarious: She basically puts her paws on the side, looks up, then goes back to her blanket. There's no way to jump from the wheel since it's a sideways one and she's too fat to climb the PVC pipe. :laughitup:

Should I attempt it? I really don't want to make this cage too enormous since I'm moving to a smaller apartment soon.

UPDATE: Compromised and secured half of an extra cube inbetween layers so it isn't incredibly big and still offers room for the lamp to sit above Sookie. So far, my little boy seems much happier (although still grumpy in general)!

I'll post pics soon!