Our Hedgehog Room
Our hedgies have their own temperature-controlled room of the house, where they live in stacked C&C cages with 10 inch high coroplast sides. The solid wood floors are easy to sweep and sanitize and the double window with sheer curtains allows in lots of sunlight to help maintain the hedgehogs' natural sleep cycle.
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Several of our females (when not breeding or nursing) will cohabitate in pairs or groups in our larger sized enclosures pictured below. Our female hedgies have all spent time together from a very young age so almost all of them get along very well together.
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Most of our enclosures, however, are these smaller sized ones that we use for solo hedgies (I.e all males as they are territorial and should never be housed with others, or the rare female who doesn't play well with others), as well as for pregnant and nursing moms. Litters should always be kept in compact enclosures so babies don't get lost and mom isn't far away from them for too long.
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Our hedgies all have tons of enrichment. We kept hedgies as beloved pets for years before we chose to breed and rescue, so we continue to see our hogs as pets and to spoil them all. Some of our go-to enrichment and cage-clutter for hedgies include tubes/tunnels, snuffle mats, ping pong/ballpit balls, mylar balls, pompoms, small plushies (fully sewn, no beaded eyes that could be a choking hazard. We usually use the ones sold for stocking miniature claw machines), and anything cylindrical that they can roll and shake in (plastic Folgers coffee tubs and deli soup containers are a favorite).
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We fill enclosures with lots of hides for them to sleep in and burrow under as they are prey animals who feel vulnerable and fearful in any empty, wide open space. They are most comfortable when they have lots of covered places to curl up in, so we provide them with a variety of igloos, sleeping bags, fabric houses, teepees, beds, and “fleece forest” corner hides.
We also love using fleece igloo covers to provide mamas with dark, cozy, safe spaces to raise their babies in. We buy ours from Homespun Loft and SewMagick Boutique. (SewMagick also makes our mint sticks - our hogs' favorite toys!)
We also love using fleece igloo covers to provide mamas with dark, cozy, safe spaces to raise their babies in. We buy ours from Homespun Loft and SewMagick Boutique. (SewMagick also makes our mint sticks - our hogs' favorite toys!)
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Our wheels are DIY bucket wheels that we construct ourselves with 3.5 or 5 gallon buckets that we cut in half and then affix a roller blade wheel to the back of. They are the wheel of choice for most hedgie owners due to the majority of pet store wheels being too narrow for hedgehogs, making a lot of noise when used, or having ridges which make wheel cleanings very tedious. You can find pre-made ones on Etsy or the Carolina Storm site (or you can make one yourself - it's quite easy).
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We have a supply closet stocked with clean hedgie accessories so we'll always have replacements on hand when something breaks or requires cleaning. Routine upkeep occurs on a set schedule, with each day alternating between "wheel scrubbing day" and "cage cleaning day". With both main sources of waste being removed and cleaned every other day, the room stays neat and doesn't smell. Every Monday, we sanitize hard supplies like igloos, dishes, tunnels, and water bottles. And every Thursday is laundry day, - when we run all sleeping bags, igloo covers, fabric houses, and soft toys through the washing machine. Bedding and food are kept in sealed containers to keep everything sterile. Shelves are stocked with enough carriers to transport each and every hedgehog in case of an emergency. We conduct drills fairly regularly to ensure we're fully prepared and can evacuate everyone very quickly if there ever were a situation requiring it. |
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Safety is one of our top priorities, so we use smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that would send instant alerts to our phones in an emergency, as well as a smart thermometer that keeps us aware of the temperature at all times and notifies us if the room dips below our pre-set safety range. We also have camera system that we can watch remotely. There is a camera for every row of cages - on both upper and lower levels. They record overnight in night vision so we can see what they're up to when we're sleeping. With notifications for motion and cries, it's great at catching escape attempts, quickly helping hedgies who are stuck or hurt, and getting a better idea of how everyone's getting along when we aren't watching.
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We have a desk and work area where we keep meticulous records of all of our hedgie's pedigrees and medical history, as well as recording every mating and birth. Every hedgies's weight is taken and recorded on the first of every month. The water pitcher is filled with filtered water as we believe it is safer than tap. And the air filter keeps dust and smells at bay. (The kitty supplies you see are for our sweet rescue cat Gypsy, who loves napping in the hog room since it's the warmest and quietest place in the house.) |
Our Ambassador Hog's Enclosure
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To avoid the risks that come with taking hedgies in and out of our sterile breeding room for people to touch, we always have one “ambassador” hedgehog who lives downstairs in our hedgie adoption appointment room and serves as an example of an adult hedgehog so people adopting babies can get an idea of what they’ll look and feel like when they grow up.
Our current ambassador hog Marvin is fully litter trained which provides us with great examples of fleece-lined enclosures. We trained him to go potty in a litter pan under his wheel. We like to use kids’ art trays as litter pans since they are very shallow and fit well underneath a bucket wheel. Most hedgehogs have newspaper pellets in their litter pans, but Marvin makes a mess with those so he just gets a paper towel. He also gets a dig box, which all hedgies on fleece liners should have. Hedgehogs enjoy digging, burrowing, and rooting so when you take away their bedding, they need something to substitute that with. Our dig box is actually a snake house turned upside down. We fill it with fleece strips, pompoms, plushies, and other soft things. Sometimes we’ll sprinkle in some treats in there for him to have fun sniffing out. We change the colors and themes for different seasons/holidays, but the core components stay the same.
Our current ambassador hog Marvin is fully litter trained which provides us with great examples of fleece-lined enclosures. We trained him to go potty in a litter pan under his wheel. We like to use kids’ art trays as litter pans since they are very shallow and fit well underneath a bucket wheel. Most hedgehogs have newspaper pellets in their litter pans, but Marvin makes a mess with those so he just gets a paper towel. He also gets a dig box, which all hedgies on fleece liners should have. Hedgehogs enjoy digging, burrowing, and rooting so when you take away their bedding, they need something to substitute that with. Our dig box is actually a snake house turned upside down. We fill it with fleece strips, pompoms, plushies, and other soft things. Sometimes we’ll sprinkle in some treats in there for him to have fun sniffing out. We change the colors and themes for different seasons/holidays, but the core components stay the same.