New soon to be owner question.

[FairyGirl]

Hi everyone!!
I am a soon to be owner of a hedgehog. I have been doing my research for a while now and have to ask this. Why don't people leave the bottom plastic part of the cage bare for their hedgehogs? After reviewing all of the bedding choices I am worried about chemicals, bedding getting ingested, toenails getting caught in fleece, although that should not happen I have seen one hedgehog have to pull hard to get her toenail out of the fleece (maybe she just needed her toenails cut) and then there is the mess of cleaning and washing fleece. Not to mention the hedgies that pull the fleece and burrow under it. I am not opposed to doing whatever it takes to make my hedgie comfy and happy but if the urine and poop will just lay on top of fleece like it does on plastic and they are going to burrow in igloos filled with fleece and in comfy bedding for naps is it that bad to walk on plastic? Just wondering.

 

[smhufflepuff]

A few reasons I use fleece instead of just leaving the floor bare:

Miss Satin was a liner diver. She lived to find a place under her fleece liner. In her youth, it seemed the tighter she could wedge herself in, the more pleased she was. She'd go in her igloo to eat, but would not sleep there. She'd use a hedgiebag as a wee baby, but did not care much for them as an adult. Without a fleece liner, she would have been lost... and chilly. Her fleece helped keep her warm.

I never had a problem with her getting nails caught in fleece. It also made for easier clean-up. Her wheel (and thus, poopy foot prints) was on top of the fleece. And I found it much easier to pull up the piece of fleece and toss it in the wash than to scrub the poo off her plastic cage bottom every single day. Mind you, I did scrub her wheel everyday and had to go after the cage floor because that's where she liked to be... But I only had to really scrub the hardened poo off her cage floor once a week or so; not daily.

Later in life, Miss Satin determined that she liked to be between layers of fleece. So I'd fold her fleece in half and she'd work her way into the fold... she'd sort of made a taco of herself. I was very glad when she did this. Previously, after peeing, she'd lay down on the bare plastic and end up with skin irritation where the urine got trapped between her and the plastic. The fleece provided her with an opportunity to dry off... less skin irritation.

Mr. Tex was a hedgiebag boy. Loved to be in his hedgiebags. He had fleece liners too. As with Satin, he had his little poopy foot prints from his wheel. He was also a very messy eater. Crumb-city!!! In addition to the little fleece wheel-mats I set out for them, Tex also had a dish-mat. I don't know if you've ever tried chasing dozens of tiny broken pieces of kibble around smooth plastic, but it's not so easy to pick them all up... everyday. It was so much easier to just roll up his messy little place setting, shake the kibble remnants into the trash, and toss it into the wash.

A couple other things that can happen with bare plastic - the wheel will move and sound rather loud. Fleece provides a bit of a sound buffer, fills those small uneven spots between the wheel "legs" and cage floor so it not going "thump, thump, thump" all night long. It'll provide a bit more friction to keep the wheel from "walking" across the cage floor as hedgie runs. Also, most hedgies use their wheel as a potty. That means there will likely be some pee rolling off the wheel and onto the cage floor. The last thing you want to have happen is for your hedgie to step off their wheel and onto slippery wet surface. Crash... sprained legs, poo all over, etc...

I view fleece as a better idea than substrate bedding... like Carefresh, yesterday's news, wood shavings, etc... As it's less dusty (ie, better for their lungs and mine), hedgies do not try to eat it, it won't "hide" medical issues (you'll be able to see if there's something funny going on with your hedgie's poop or pee instead of it being hidden), and you don't accidentally track fleece all over your house. Whenever I've used something like Carefresh, I find it in all sorts of unexpected places around the house. A tiny bit latches on to your sleeve or falls to the floor and attaches itself to your sock... multiple all the tiny bits by the number of days you're dealing with it... and the stuff gets around.

I'll close with this one: Hedgies have certain temperature requirements, fleece helps maintain that better than bare plastic flooring... think of stepping from a carpeted surface onto tile. We have two feet; they have four... brrrr!!!

 

[FairyGirl]

Hi there!! I am also in Michigan!! :thumbsup:
Thank you for your explanation. I am going OOOOHHHHH now it all makes sense. Thank you for clearing that all up for me. Yes, fleece sounds soo much better for them. I just was trying to understand the reasoning behind it all. Your babies sound adorable!! I can't wait to be a hedgie owner!!! It seems like next weekend will NEVER get here...lol...that is when we get a hedgehog!!! Thanks again, I appreciate the information!!!

 

[lillybug29]

I had kitty litter pellets (or yesterday's news) ove the entire floor for a few months, until I noticed them consistently going potty in the same spit, then replaced it with liners except for the area they "go" in and used Tupperware lids and put the litter in those. This makes it super easy for me to clean out and that way I don't need to change the liner daily. It's been about 4 days and te liners are spotless still. I got lucky to have 2 potty train-able hedgies!

 

[FairyGirl]

I had kitty litter pellets (or yesterday's news) ove the entire floor for a few months, until I noticed them consistently going potty in the same spit, then replaced it with liners except for the area they "go" in and used Tupperware lids and put the litter in those. This makes it super easy for me to clean out and that way I don't need to change the liner daily. It's been about 4 days and te liners are spotless still. I got lucky to have 2 potty train-able hedgies!

WOW!! You are soo lucky!! That is fantastic!!!!!! :thumbsup: