# Sensor Placement?



## SilverCloud (Dec 5, 2012)

Hello everyone! 

I've been a longtime lurker on the forums and have to say that this is the best place to find information on hedgie's! I'm getting my first hedgehog on the 15th and have already set up her cage so that I can regulate the temperature ahead of time so that it's all settled once she comes home. My question is....where's the best place to put the sensors for the temp controller and thermometer? Right now I have a superpet XL cage that's around 38 inches long. So far I have one CHE above her igloo and am planning on getting another one for the other side of the cage to make the heat more distributed. They are both 100 watt bulbs. The tray in the cage is 7 inches deep so do you think it's best to put the sensors where the tray meets the wired top on either side of the cage? I'll gently tie it to the cage so that she can't get to it. I want to make sure that my readings are accurate. 

Any advice would be appreciated!



Thanks!!


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## Hogzilla (Nov 15, 2012)

I had that cage and I put the thermostat sensor about three bars up in the middle of the back of the cage, and I had two thermometers, one on each side of the cage with the sensors at the same level as the thermostat sensor but instead of being in the middle they were on each of the back corners. Worked well and was pretty accurate. Just FYI, if you have a colder house (mine is kept at 68F in the winter), you will need to wrap the back and sides of that cage with fleece or a blanket to keep the temp where it needs to be. I also had 150 watt CHEs on each side of the cage in 8" clamp lamps. HTH!!


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

I put the sensor lower... at hedgie level. I heat with a CHE (2 actually) and want to make sure the heat gets down to where it's supposed to be... not just ensure it's nice and toasty a few inches above hedgie lives. The bottom of the probe is about an inch off the floor of the cage, hanging from the bars along the front center. If you weave the probe cord through the bars, it stays in place quite well. 

I used to put it along the back, right next to the thermometer (I have one of those small thermometers that you stick to the cage itself). But I found that when we went on trips, it was too much of a pain to get it from around the backside of the cage, so I swapped it toward the front. 

The only problem I've run into is if hedgie decides to snuggle against the probe. You can fix that by putting a food/water dish or other item near it (I've used a PVC tube that one hedgie liked to run through) so that hedgie's warmth doesn't throw off the readings.


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