Moving stuff around

[steffw89]

this may seem like an obvious question but is it a good or a bad thing to move things around in the cage when you are doing a big clean?

I clean his cage basics every day like food and water dishes, flying saucer and things like litter tray and substrate is spot checks whenever its needed, but every week - two weeks i try do a big clean changing his substrate and bedding etc and move his stuff around.

i keep his cave and litter tray in the same place but the rest i like to jingle around and see how he reacts. he has always seemed to like it exploring and foraging but when i did his big clean today he is just wandering in circles, eating a bit pooing a bit and hiding in his little tunnel but doesnt seem to want to go in his cave as normal.

Do you find it good or bad to move stuff around?

 

[smhufflepuff]

I generally kept the same set-up since there was just a way that seemed to work best - wheel (ie, restroom) on one side with food and bedding on the other, food separated from water so no one's standing in one dish while eating or drinking from the other, etc... So I kept it like that. And they'd get into routines since they knew where their stuff was.

Upon being put back in her house, Miss Satin would run 3/4 of a circle and end up precisely where her food dish was. A few times, I set her in "wrong" or the dish wasn't back in yet (like if she was being all squirmy and wanted down NOW)... she'd run the same circle completely oblivious and end up in a place other than what she expected. She hit the wall a few times doing that.

I'd recommend finding a good set-up and keeping it consistent... especially with the big/important items.

You can think about it a bit like this: Imagine someone changing the furniture in your bedroom every few days... You get up at 3am to use the bathroom and BAM you've walked right into the corner of your desk. OUCH!

 

[Kalandra]

I tend to leave things in the same spot. I swap out toys so that there is a variety of different items, but the major items (sleeping areas, food, water, wheel) stay static. Hedgehogs are creatures of habit, if you start moving things around, it can be upsetting to them. I've had some that get rather upset if you change their layout and would throw tantrums (think cage being destroyed over night).

I once had a "wonderful" idea and moved their wheels so that they were no longer parallel with the back wall of their cage, but were now perpendicular to it. Each of my hedgehogs (3 at the time) reacted. Two destroyed their cages by burrowing under their liners and flipping their water dishes. The third? Well that one destroyed their cage and finally managed to move the wheel back to the way it was supposed to be.

I've had a few who if I moved anything, they would move it back. They knew where it was supposed to be and to change their routine was not happening.

 

[Shooper]

I seem to not have a choice, my little girl moves her stuff all around every night!

 

[smhufflepuff]

Your new girl -- Ellie Mae? I'm thinking that if you're talking about her, she'll probably keep arranging/re-arranging until everything is just right. And her "just right" may be rather different from what any human would think is "just right"

 

[Shooper]

I think you're right!!