# Beginner Questions - Please Help!



## Martin (Sep 12, 2019)

Hi Friends!

My name is Martin; this is my first post here. I've been reading a lot on Hedgehog Central and I have to say I'm so pleased to see such a wonderful and loving community working together so beautifully. Please excuse me as I learn how to navigate the website; I'm sure most of my questions have been asked, so I apologize in advance.

I'm 27 years old, single, working in software development, living in San Francisco. I'm active, caring, and love all animals! I've wanted to adopt and raise a baby hedgehog for a while, but I made myself wait a year before pulling the trigger to make sure my interests weren't fleeting. Next month I'll be picking up my baby hedgehog and I'm now getting ready for his/her arrival!

My question to you is this: Assuming money is not object, what is the DREAM set-up you'd have in your home for your hedgie? Here's a list of what I've bought so far:

1) Critter Nation Cage (without stairs to 2nd floor). I fixed the walls with a hand-made internal tray that's 8 inches high so my baby doesn't attempt to scale it. I'm fairly handy; I'll try to post a photo of it soon. *Are there better cages you'd recommend?*

2) Carolina Storm bucket wheel in watermelon red 

3) Two different hideouts -- a cube with tassels for privacy, and a round-shaped one, both handmade on Etsy. I also got fleece strips for the hideouts.

4) Cage liners -- fleece, all handmade on Etsy.

5) Two ceramic bowls for food and water

6) Heat setup - ceramic bulb (no light), reflecting dome, thermometer, thermostat. I also got a baby humidifier to keep my bedroom at 60-65% humidity.

7) Various little toys (all safe, nothing loose)

8) Bonding scarf, handmade on Etsy

9) Food: Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Cat Food (32% protein, 14% fat)

10) Treats: Live mealworm

11) Hedgehogs and Friends shampoo and cage cleaner

Like I said, I'm trying to be prepared. I already have an exotic pet veterinarian picked.

Seeing the items I've chosen, is there anything even better I could buy (especially cage and food?). Again, please don't limit your responses by money; whatever is best is what I want to get.

Thank you so much for your help! Looking forward to reading your responses soon!

Martin


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## Mecki (Nov 4, 2017)

Welcome to the world of hedgehogs!

It's great you are preparing ahead of time. (sounds like me, lol)

Mostly you've got things right on target. Couple concerns I happened to notice (I imagine others will chime in)...

One is the cage size. The CN cage is 2' x 3' which is less than the now recommended 8 sq ft minimum for cage size. I used to see 4 sq ft as the suggested minimum, but those recommendations have changed. 

For the food, this forum has a great informational thread. One thing mentioned there makes sense. They suggest mixing 2 brands of food together. The reason behind this is that recalls seem rather common. If you only feed one brand and that happens to get recalled, then you may end up with a hedgehog that won't eat (they don't like change). But if you have a mix, then you know he will at least eat the other one until you can find an alternative. 

Maybe you can post a photo of the toys you've gathered. That way we can see if there is anything potentially dangerous.


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## Martin (Sep 12, 2019)

Thank you so much, Mecki! I will definitely be adding another 1-2 foods to my mixture. Which brands do you recommend I add to my Blue Buffalo food?

Also, the cage part has been tormenting me the most. I want the absolute best cage possible. I'm more than happy to return this one. Do you have any suggestions for large, safe, and user-friendly cages? Thank you again!

Cheers
Martin


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## Mecki (Nov 4, 2017)

I used the following link as a guide when choosing my hedgehog food. I found that my local stores only carried some (or few) of the ones listed. There are several lines of the Blue Buffalo on there. You'll have to see what's available near you...
http://www.volcanoviewhedgehogs.com/kibble-list.html

You can lean more towards higher protein percentages when your hedgehog is still young.

As for pre-made cage recommendations, others may need to chime in. I actually made my own using the lower part of a tv cabinet.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

If you have space, and the means for heating the room plus 2 to 3 che's and if its available to you then are are c&c cages they go by grid sizes but the 2x4, 2x5 and 2x6 are all great sizes for hedgehogs you need the coroplast to come up 10" but if you feel thats not enough get some more and extend it up. The bigger the space the more you need to fill up the like it cluttered, a large open space will scare them.

You can get 4ft I've seen 5ft vivariums but the 4ft is more common and easier to find, these are best if you live in a colder house or cant heat the whole room plus use 2 or 3 ches, these are great especially if the hedgehog likes it warmer than you!
3ft is a little smaller than recommended however if thats all you have space for then its its bad its about half way between the 4sq feet and 8sq feet closer to the 8sq feet if the get the bigger 3ft ones.

You can make your own vivarium using cabinets
Bin cages but most times one box is never enough so you need several. Plus a few ches.

Food, you need to keep them on whatever the breeder already uses while they settle in for the first month or 2, then you can add or totally change it.
There is a recomended list in the stickies (under nutrition section) if you want to have a look.


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

Seeing as the others already covered pretty much everything, I just wanted to touch on the insects a little bit; they need a variety and unfortunately feeding just mealworms wont cut it. They are classed as omnivores, but a large proportion of their diet is insects so they are an important aspect of their diet and variety is key. It is generally recommended that you include at least 5 different types and they should be viewed as part of their staple (daily) diet vs treats/occasional add ins. Some options worth considering are morioworms, crickets, locusts, dubia roaches, and black soldier fly larvae. There are tons of other options too; snails, woodlice, fruit beetle grubs (which are my girls favourite!), and wax worms. You can keep more fatty options as treats (like wax worms and fruit beetle grubs), but they need a nice daily variety too.

Youre best off ordering insects online. As youre in the states, rainbow mealworms & dubiaroaches.com have a variety to choose from and to my knowledge, ship throughout the US.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Just to add to the insects. This covers the more known insects (if the attachment works this time)
For being staple, frequent and treats. Its a good thing to know and tells you a bit about each one.


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## Brooke2Lancelot (Sep 9, 2019)

Question : what’s your thought on snails? Like, good feeder, bad feeder?


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Snails have to be fed live, they are good if you have a reptile shop that sells them and dont get them from the garden because the ones for reptiles will be bred without all the parasites.

They are low fat their shells are good for fibre apparently, and they are pretty good in other nutrients too. They make a good feeder insects. But like earthworms due the slimy being extra water content they make the stool looser than normal.


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

Coco _loves_ snails. I order her small (live) ones from a reptile supplier and I honestly havent noticed any difference with her stools. I dont know if its because shes used to having a high moisture content in her diet or if it depends on how much you feed in one sitting, but theres been no difference I've observed.

Not to say it cant happen though, because im sure it can!


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

I believe it does depend on how much you feed at once and if they are used to high moisture content or not.


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## Brooke2Lancelot (Sep 9, 2019)

Ah ok so it has to be live, so canned is out of the question? I’m looking into some canned insects I can buy online to liven up Igor’s insect intake.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Well I've never used the canned one, I think you just can't really freeze them as they stick together and its a nightmare so I guess you could use the canned ones and see what they are like!


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## Brooke2Lancelot (Sep 9, 2019)

Awesome! Alright, then I’ll get the snails too!


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

your list looks good. You may want to get a light with a timer to provide 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours off dark. A light on a timer just makes it so much easier , its mostly important that at least the 12 hours of daylight is constant year round.


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## Aj.t (Jan 29, 2019)

belties said:


> your list looks good. You may want to get a light with a timer to provide 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours off dark. A light on a timer just makes it so much easier , its mostly important that at least the 12 hours of daylight is constant year round.


I feel like this topic is a bit stretched. Nothing will naturally experience more than two 12/12 light dark days a year, so strictly adhering to that seems too artificial to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's suggested due to the potential of false hibernation, right? Temperature would drastically play a bigger part in that. I've always had Christina's house close to a window so she gets a natural cycle year round, and it's never had any type of negative effect on her. Just my unsolicited two sense &#128578;


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## SquirtleSquirt (May 9, 2016)

I'm not trying to come off as rude or anything but isn't owning hedgehogs illegal in California?


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

It depends how out it is. Its roughly 12 hours light and 12 hours dark, a couple like up to 3 hours isnt an issue - but if your having like 12 hours light and 12 hours dark one week then your only getting like 8 hours light the next day suddenly its an extra 4 hours dark. And then the next day you get 7 hours light with an extra 5 hours dark. And then you get 10 hours light with an extra 2 hours light. That's generally what causes the hibernation attempts due to light the inconsistent cycle, where you get some long days and some really short days.

The point of 12 hours day, 12 hours dark is more to try keep it from having huge gaps and hour or 2 out isnt a big deal but having long days and then some short days thats whats sets off the hibernation. 
Because the light cyle of days getting less light fits with the whether getting colder, which sets off the hibernation.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

SquirtleSquirt said:


> I'm not trying to come off as rude or anything but isn't owning hedgehogs illegal in California?


Depends on the state I believe, some are fine and others its illegal from what I've seen anyway!


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## SquirtleSquirt (May 9, 2016)

I looked it up out of curiosity after I asked the question. It is indeed illegal. You shouldn't be getting a hedgehog where it is illegal in the state.


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## Mecki (Nov 4, 2017)

Aj.t said:


> I feel like this topic is a bit stretched. Nothing will naturally experience more than two 12/12 light dark days a year, so strictly adhering to that seems too artificial to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's suggested due to the potential of false hibernation, right? Temperature would drastically play a bigger part in that. I've always had Christina's house close to a window so she gets a natural cycle year round, and it's never had any type of negative effect on her. Just my unsolicited two sense &#128578;


I would agree that one doesn't have to be overly strict on this, but it depends on one's location and circumstances. All summer, I need to close our blackout curtains as soon as the sun hits the window (around noon-ish); otherwise that AZ sun heats up that room like crazy.

I feel better having a timed light for my hedgehog (he's in that room). That way I know he's getting a minimum of hours of light per day. Just one less thing to think about.:-D


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

We have our timer set for 12 hours on so yes during the summer months she does get more daylight than that but in winter can never get less than 12 hours of light. I do not believe that the extra hours causes any change but the real short and cloudy days of winter causes many changes with most animals, egg laying ,breeding,and hibernation.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

I live in the uk, the type of cage I have doesnt get much room even with the main light on, my curtains have to stay closed most the time so theres no natural light. I have in the enclosure on a timer so it comes on the same day stays on roughly 12 hours, so that it stays fairly consistant and not some really long days and some really short days and as mecki says its one less thing to worry about.

You do need to make sure they don't get super long days and then super short days, a couple hours isnt a big deal 5hours difference can set them into hibernation.

It doesn't need to be strict but some of you ARE making it look a bit like its not important at all when it is - maybe its just the way I've read it but just making sure that anyone else reading does know its important just bot strictly needed to be 12 hours but close to.


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