# Escapee Owner Frustrated



## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

Hey all. My friend and I got our girls together. They are sisters. As some of you know my little girl Kamo is very bubbly and fun and loves to play everywhere inside and outside her cage. My friend's little one, Ella, is much different. She is very anti-social and has become quite the little escape artist. Whenever she's in her cage she spends the majority of her time trying to escape. She has been climbing right up the walls of the C&C cage and out through the top. She has tried adding height to her coroplast, new toys, etc. She is very flustered and doesn't know what to do anymore. She only has like a 7" wheel and I'm not sure it's :comfortable to run on. Could this be a cause? They have her out from about 6:30-11:30 or midnight. She has a heat lamp, and 2x2 C&C cage with fleece liner, a house, wheel, and toys. Any tips or advice I could pass on to her? She said next time she escapes she is giving her to me because she is just so frustrated. I will gladly take her but I think it will break said friend's heart to see her go. Thanks in advance =]


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## toblerone (Mar 28, 2011)

Aww I'd hate to see her loose her hedgie!!!! [well not lose, but ya know] no pun intended either...anyway, I've been pondering and came up with a few possible solutions.
1. Put a top on said C&C cage, so that even if the hedgie climbs it can't get out...
2. maybe put some mesh around the cage? like zip tie the mesh to the outside of the cubes. I found this plastic mesh stuff that has wide holes [maybe big enough to fit a pinky finger through] at home depot that's used for keeping leaves out of your rain gutters. I was gonna use mine to cover a few holes in the top of a cage I have yet to build. But If a hedgie could fit through a pinky sized hole I'd really like to see a video! :shock: 
3. I've heard weaving plastic placemats through the bars prevents climbing because it creates a slippery surface. Maybe try that?
4. At any rate, it sounds like this hedgie needs a top to the cage. It's pretty easy to put a top on that can still be removed. I've seen people use those binder clips to secure part of the top instead of zip ties cause they're much easier to remove and replace than zip ties.

Hope this helps or atleast gets the creative juices flowing! I'd really hate to see her have to give up her hedgie, I bet that'd be hard on them both! I'll keep thinking about possible solutions!

ps. one more, possibly wrap each of the walls in fleece, i dunno how hard it is for a hedgie to climb a fleece wall, or if it would make it easier for them, but It might create a barrier...or maybe they need a moat around the cage...or a mote like thing...i dunno what...but something resembling the concept of a mote...sorry just thinking outloud...


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

The mesh is a good idea. She does have a top on but it has the 2 inch holes, but apparently she's not climbing out the top, she's squeezing out the one inch holes on the side. She did try putting towels around the outsides and top and Ella still managed to escape. My friend seems to think Ella hates her cage, or her, or both. Every time she escapes she ends up in friend's room. I'm not sure what is with all the attempting though. Once in awhile is definitely understandable and expected, but this escape attempting happens on a daily basis and she has succeeded 3 times in the past 7-10 days. I will suggest the mesh though, but I think she is more concerned with the motivation behind the frantic escape attempts than the actual escaping lol


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

The wheel could be a big part of it. A 7 inch wheel is too small even for most baby hedgies, the cake wheels are 12 inches I think. If the hedgie isn't able to run she may be climbing and escaping to burn energy or out of boredom. Hedgies need to have an outlet for their energy so I would try letting her know the benefits of having a bigger wheel and how much it could help the escape situation. If the holes are too big on the C & C and she is escaping then fly mesh is the only thing I can think of that would help. Depending on how she is adding height to the coroplast it may be giving little areas for the hedgie to dig in and climb higher. I'm not sure how she has it but if this sounds like it could be the cause she could always take the coroplast down and replace it with 10 inch coroplast walls or find a way to seal the gaps with duct tape or similar. 

Hopefully she is able to find a way to keep little Houdini in the cage


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

I too think the wheel could be a big part of the problem. To add height tot he coroplast she added...more coroplast lol. She taped it on the outside so there really aren't any gaps. It as at least ten inches high now if not higher. I will suggest the wheel thing and see if that maybe helps. Thanks!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

She needs a proper sized wheel. 

For a true escape artist a C&C is just about impossible to make escape proof especially for a smaller sized hedgehog. A determined hedgehog can figure out a way to scale 12 or 13" high walls and if coroplast walls are that high it kind of defeats the purpose of a C&C. 

Personally, I'd get it a proper sized wheel and a plastic bottomed wire topped rabbit cage that she won't be able to escape from.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

I couldn't contain Spikey in a C&C cage. By the time I was done adding to the cage to try to keep him in, I couldn't even see him in the cage and it was impossible to get it apart to clean, but he still escaped and roamed the house every night. There's nothing more frustrating than spending hours every morning playing hunt-the-hedgie.

I have him in a jumbo super pet cage now and he can't get out anymore. I gave the c&c cage to a very nice girl for her guinea pigs.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

Oh, and I meant to add that Spikey is a big fat hog and he was still able to squeeze through the 1"x1" grids. It took some effort and the part that hadn't squeezed through yet would turn bright red, but every single night he was willing to make that effort.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

I always look at basics first: what is the temperature in her cage? Light schedule? Food & water type/feeding method? What does she do when she's out for 4 hours? 

And definitely replace that wheel!!


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

MissC said:


> I always look at basics first: what is the temperature in her cage? Light schedule? Food & water type/feeding method? What does she do when she's out for 4 hours?


I don't think they escape because the conditions in the cage aren't comfortable. They escape because they can. I had everything perfect in Spikey's cage...plants to hide under, areas with fleece and areas with shavings to dig into, two levels to explore with food and water dishes on both levels...at first I didn't have a wheel because of how badly Lulu had hurt herself on a wheel, I didn't trust wheels, but I added a wheel and Spikey still got out every single night, to run along my baseboards. It's the same way that my birds will escape their aviary if at all possible, even though they've got everything they could need or want in there. Just because we like to keep little critters caged doesn't mean they think they should live in a cage.


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

Ella too is a big girl and she still manages to squeeze through those on einch holes...how...I have no clue. I will definitely pass all of your suggestions on. And I am confident that food, water, temperature, etc are not an issue. But I do agree on the wheel. Thank you all for your suggestions =] I am sure they will help her!


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## toblerone (Mar 28, 2011)

Hmmm, It sounds like that is one BRILLIANT hedgie. Maybe it's just that hedgie's "thing." I'd say definitely try the wheel thing! I think that will help a bit at the very least! If climbing is the hedgie's thing I'd say try the new cage. OR maybe you can make climbing and escaping a game. It sounds like this hedgie takes on any challenge to escape that it can get it's "hands" on. and maybe this game can be fun for the owner too! As disgusting as this may sound it might be a fun game. I've seen people hang toys from the roof of the cage on a string and this has kinda spurred this idea. Maybe you can hang treats from the ceiling at various heights. Some at lower heights that are easy and some at higher heights that are gonna take some thought. It might keep a bored hedgie busy if boredom is the problem...You could hang like dead mealies and crickets and other goodies like veggies or meat of fruits possibly. I know that's kinda disgusting, but a hedgie could potential love it...[Has anyone ever played that doughnut game where you are blindfolded and have to eat the doughnut off the string? people play it at birthdays sometimes, but it's kinda like that ...for a hedgie] And you could think of some things that it would be safe for a hedgie to climb on so it can reach those higher goodies and possibly put things that it could scootch around the cage so it can move them over to the goodies and climb all over them to reach said goodies. Might be fun thinking of what to put in the cage as stepping stools and what to hang and see what goodies the hedgie goes for. or you can put them all at the same height and put all kinds of different foods tied to the ends of the strings and see which ones the hedgie eats...just a possibility, i guess this is more of just a game suggestion.


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

friend is going to PetSmart as we speak to get a bigger wheel and a couple toys. hopefully this will do the trick! I will suggest the treat game to her as well. thank you all SO much for your help =]


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## toblerone (Mar 28, 2011)

Yea! Let us know what works! I'm very curious as to what will solve the problem!


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

oh i will. i'm curious too! i feel so bad for her cuz she was so excited and now shes just frustrated...plus ive had almost no problems with kamo....we will see!


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## leopardhedgehog (Nov 18, 2010)

I hope it works out well! I think getting a new, bigger wheel might solve the problem...now Ella can expend her energy in a less...irritating way :lol:


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## Galvon (Sep 20, 2010)

It's so funny, Sandy is the exact opposite. One one of my many calls to westjet to complain that Sandy can't come in the cabin the woman was like "well what if he escapes?" I was like "K a) he's going to be zippered into a carrier and b) I could leave his carrier wide open and he would have no interest in escaping."

I can leave Sandy's cage open (I don't though, obviously haha) and he has no desire to leave. As long as he's got his noms and his wheel he's down to stay there :lol: I know he can get out of his cage too. Once I took everything out of his cage and just gave him a hedgie bag and he was very indignant about that. I was trying to wash everything but he didn't appreciate me taking his things out so he just gets out of the bag, and scales the wall within like 5 seconds. Just up and over. I caught him on the other side because I didn't want him to fall, but I was stunned to see that he could get out, and it makes me wonder why he doesn't bother :lol:


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## PintoPrincess2 (Apr 5, 2011)

. I was trying to wash everything but he didn't appreciate me taking his things out so he just gets out of the bag, and scales the wall within like 5 seconds. Just up and over. I caught him on the other side because I didn't want him to fall, but I was stunned to see that he could get out, and it makes me wonder why he doesn't bother :lol:[/quote]

That is funny! Almost as if he did it out of spite. He probably stays in there because he is content. Think about it if you have everything you need, a comfy warm place to sleep, yummy food, a wheel, and lots of toys what else could you want? I have one hedgie that loves her cage if you move one thing on her she throws a fit! We tried rearranging and moving her litter box... she wasnt having it and started pooping all over the place... we got the hint and put it back. I wouldbe flattered that he doesnt try to escape that means he as no desire to leave his home.


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