# Stuck in litter pan behind wheel!?



## AidansMom25 (Oct 24, 2012)

Hi everyone it's me again. I have new concerns about Zoey. I have had her wheel in since black Friday when I received it in the mail it's a Carolina storm bucket wheel. I put her litter pan under the wheel on the second to the highest setting so that the pan would fit and now for the past three or four nights when I get up to check on her she will be behind the wheel in the litter pan stuck I have to take the pan out with her in it to get her out! Could anyone tell me if they've had a similar issue with there hedgehog and how did you correct the problem? She's really good at using her litter pan so I really need the litter pan under the wheel should I get a more shallow litter pan such as a alluminum baking pan I've seen others use or lower the wheel to it's lowest setting? She uses the wheel I hear her on it but when she gets off she goes behind her wheel and stays there stuck! I got up this morning to check on her and she hadn't wheeled at all or ate because she was stuck behind her wheel! I freaked out and took her out from behind it and she went immediately to her food bowl and ate..I don't know what to do I dont want to take her litter pan out because shes really good at using it but if she's keeps getting stuck I really have no other choice, so those of you that have the CSBW what do you all put under the wheel to catch the run off if you didn't order the litter pan with the wheel? Any advice on what to do would be much appreciated and as always Thank you!


----------



## pinkpanther1031 (Nov 17, 2012)

Hi!
My hedgie, Daisy Mae had the exact same problem. I used to have CareFresh litter in her litter pan and she would crawl in the back of her litter pan and would sleep there. Asuming you use fleece liners and have a little igloo or something for her to sleep in, I would say first:

1. Move the wheel to the highest setting
2. Put just a small amount of litter in the bottom (just enough to cover the bottom of the litter pan)
3. Every time you get Zoey out to play and are returning her to her cage put her in her house and every time you notice she is in her litter pan, take her out and put her in her house
4. If she does use her litter pan to poopey in than hopefully she won"t want to sleep in her fecal matter

After using all of these steps and #3 very often she will hopefully start to sleep in her house. I realized after I got Daisy Mae home that at the breeder I purchased her from they used aspen shavings and that she liked to burrow. Now Daisy sleeps in her house. I cut up a bunch of little 2x2" and 3x3" squares and put them under her house on top of a larger piece of fleece folded in half but big enough to cover the area of the bottom of her igloo. Daisy Mae is my first hedgehog and I have owned her for almost a month. She is a joy and although I am not an expert hedgie person I have learned a lot from her. 
~Perri
P.s. I just recently changed her litter to a few pieces of tolietpaper in the bottom. Now she seems to be doing just fine.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Is she actually stuck, as in, can't get out on her own? A lot of hedgehogs just like that area because it feels enclosed. If you're using an igloo, do you have a bag or fleece strips inside it? Personally I don't even bother with igloos - too much space inside, my hedgehogs always prefer sleeping bags, so that's what they get. Try giving her one or two cozy, enclosed options for sleeping - a bag, pile of fleece strips, a blanket, etc.


----------



## AidansMom25 (Oct 24, 2012)

Hi pinkpanther thanks for all the advice. I'm using just a piece of paper towel in her pan I also use fleece liners and she has both a igloo and a sleep sack with the fleece pieces cut up under her igloo but she would prefer to sleep in her sleep sack. My only question is when I put her wheel on the lowest setting I can't fit her pan under the wheel. Should I cut down the front of the pan with a pair of scissors or buy something more shallow for her litter pan? Zoey is surprisingly a very neat hedgie. She never poops in her sleeping area and I have noticed she will go to the bathroom in her pan but at night she will get in and just stay there all night but she will wheel except for last night however. Maybe I should just take her pan out and just keep the wheel on the lowest setting? Maybe she doesn't understand how to use it when it's higher? Zoey is my first hedgie too so that's why I'm so inexperienced lol.


----------



## cardiologineer (Sep 29, 2012)

moxieberry said:


> Is she actually stuck, as in, can't get out on her own? A lot of hedgehogs just like that area because it feels enclosed.


I would wonder the same thing. Zannah likes to crawl under her paper towels and wheel and I was concerned at first but had heard that other hedgies like doing that too so I just left her there and kept checking the first time I saw it. She would just peak out at me from under the paper towel, sometimes laying down. She stays under there for a while but comes out on her own when she feels like. I think to her it is just a nice place to simulate burrowing that's not her sleeping place.


----------



## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

cardiologineer said:


> moxieberry said:
> 
> 
> > Is she actually stuck, as in, can't get out on her own? A lot of hedgehogs just like that area because it feels enclosed.
> ...


That's what I wondered too, most hedgehogs like tight spaces it makes them feel secure.


----------



## AidansMom25 (Oct 24, 2012)

I corrected the problem I went and bought a shallow 12 by 8 inch aluminum baking pan to replace larrys litter pan and it's working out great and accomodates her cage better i put the wheel on the second to the lowest setting and the pan fit perfectly. I was very pleased.


----------



## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

AidansMom25 said:


> I corrected the problem... I was very pleased.


Meanwhile, hedgie thinks:
What the ever-loving-mealie did you just do?! I had it just perfect. Ugh... gotta go find another place to wedge myself into now...

I'm glad you've created a space that you know she can get into and out of. I would have done the same.

Turning to the other comments, hedgies do like to wedge themselves into places and feel all snuggled. One thing she might do to find this space is to use her hedgiebag. Another thing she might do is to burrow under her liner (at least I think I see a liner under the litter bin in the pic). Will be interesting to see what she does. Keep us posted!


----------

