# Twinkle



## KatiePearce (Feb 23, 2010)

Hi my name is Katie Pearce, I am from the UK.

I have been reading these forums for about a month and have been doing ALOT of research and finally got my first APH yesterday. She is BEAUTIFUL! shes albino and I called her Twinkle.

So far I am using a 4ft indoor rabbit cage called a Nero 1

I have carefresh as substrate atm because she is only 9 weeks old and I'm going to attempt to litter train her then switch to fleece liners.

Litter tray in one corner

tp tubes and different sized balls to play with and a little carrot toy and a BIG Chube

She has a hide which came with the cage which is huge, in which I have put squares of fleece that I cut up and an old pyjama t-shirt I have work for a couple of nights to try and get her used to my scent.

I have a large silent spinner but Im not going to put it in for her just yet as I want to try and get her litter trained to try and discourage her from pooping on her wheel.

Food and water bowls. Feeding her a mixture of two dried kitten foods (one from the breeder and one that I will be feeding her) and some dried mealworms. Food seems to be going down well as she woke me up 3 times in the night munching away! and I saw her take some water last night.

So far she has pooped twice in her bed so I put the poo in the litter tray in an attempt to show her where is should be!

I have noticed a couple of the claws on her back feet are horrible! they are long-ish and yellow so in a couple of days time when she has settled in I am going to try and get her in a shallow bath and trim them (which I am not looking forward to!) lol

I have already disturbed her once this morning to have a little cuddle so I will try and get some photos later 

Thanks for all the advice (that I have been reading!) and any more would be appreciated. I know I am going to LOVE having her in my life and I hope she feels the same!

X Kate


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Hey! and a big HHC welcome to you  
Congrats on your new little girl! post some pics when she has settled in  
The silent spinner wheel is not that good for hedgies,it has slits in the running surface that can catch a nail and cause serious injury also they have been known to turn over/fall on hedgies.
Does your rabbit cage have a soild plastic bottom or is it a wire grid type?


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## KatiePearce (Feb 23, 2010)

yeah it has a solid plastic bottom and its quite a deep base aswell.

I did read that Silent Spinners were a risk and that is another reason I don't want to put it in er cage straight away. Firstly I want to trim her claws and secondly I was going to try and fill in the little gaps so her claws can't get caught. I'm just trying to think of a way to do it! haha

I have mice and harvest mice in my bedroom and they both use silent spinners and don't keep me awake so because I have Miss.Twinkle in my room aswell and hedgehogs notoriously love to run I invested in another Silent Spinner.

I suppose its give and take lol she will love to run and I love to sleep haha I will try and adapt her wheel asap. Suggestions welcome!

x


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

I would buy a cake saver style wheel or a bucket wheel.
They are not sold in stores but lots of people offer them for sell on thier websites.
I make a cake saver style wheel myself;
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4844&start=0
Another member also makes them;
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4544


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

even with the slits filled in the silent spinner isn't good, when the slits are filled urine and feces get trapped in it because of the cupped shape, also there is a history of them falling over and can injure or kill a hedgie when that happens. I believe there used to be a post about a hedgie being killed by one.


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## ILOVElily (Dec 5, 2009)

my science class has a hamster and the nut or screw or whatever the yellow knob in the middle is, screws off all the time and it falls but since the wheel is so tiny and close to the ground it just gets stuck in the paper bedding.
so yah it can fall


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## KatiePearce (Feb 23, 2010)

yeah i have researched the silentspinners and i think far more people have had positive experiences with them then bad. I think if i fill the holes in and keep it clean it will be ok. I will monitor her when i put it in and take it out when i am not there just to make sure she it ok and it wont fall etc. 

Like I said I still havn't put it in yet as i wanted to try and litter train her first (LOL)

Last night i put my lamp on and noticed that she had pooped in her litter tray and I was SOOOO happy!

woke up this morning and saw that she had pooped in a few places in her cage....it must have just been a coincidence lol 

Oh well...I pickd up all the little poos and put them in her litter tray, hopefully she will get the hint soon! hehe

I took some pix on my phone but theyr not very good, i will try and get them up 

x


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## KatiePearce (Feb 23, 2010)

Just arrived home on Saturday  aawwww


















This is where I live:









I like to hide in slippers

























I like to chew holes in slippers then annoint because i like the smell of the carpet!









Right...I'm off!


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Have you figured what stuff you're going to put in the holes? 
Why don't you want a cake wheel, though? :?:
PS: She's really cute!


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

even a comfort wheel from a pet store would be a safer alternative.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

She's soo adorable  The great thing about liners is they are still the best option even if your hedgie isn't litter trained. Some hedgies will go in a litter others wont but in either case its real easy to pick the poop off the liner and spot clean and then wash the liner when it needs it. Liners are by far the best option in my opinion for other reasons as well 

With the wheel it is important the hedgie has a wheel even if they aren't litter trained. It is vital for their health and should be left in to use when they want. Poopy wheels and poopy feet just go with the territory and you just make sure that both are kept clean  Also the Silent Spinner is very dangerous and shouldn't be used at all imo, no amount of modifications can make it into an acceptable wheel. To say that there is more good experiences than bad doesn't make sense when the bad experiences include hurt feet and death...thats a serious risk to take.

The decision is yours but at least everyone here can know they tried everything they could to give the most up to date and correct information to hopefully have beneficial changes made for the hedgies welfare.


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## KatiePearce (Feb 23, 2010)

well obviously her safety is my number one concern and im sure I could sell the spinner on to someone with rats or something.

Does anyone know where in the UK i can buy one of these cake wheels from?

Also do they make much noise?

Thanks
Katie

P.S I will be cleaning her out for the first time this weekend so i think i will switch to fleece then, just putting the care fresh in her litter tray


.....Its fair to say I am in love haha


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

LarryT is selling his cake walk wheels, and I believe he can ship them to the UK too. Here is the thread that you can look through: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4844
Well made cake walk wheels are very quiet and basically almost all, if not all, the members on here who have cake walk wheels say they are silent.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

tie-dye hedgie said:


> LarryT is selling his cake walk wheels, and I believe he can ship them to the UK too.


I do ship to the UK via the USPS 



KatiePearce said:


> Does anyone know where in the UK i can buy one of these cake wheels from? Also do they make much noise?


I don't think anyone from Europe is making this type wheel.
The Caroilna Storm Wheel is very quiet all you will hear is the pitter patter of your little ones feet :lol:


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## KatiePearce (Feb 23, 2010)

fabulous! thank you, roll on pay day!x


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