# I've got a chilly tunneler



## tracie (Jun 16, 2010)

My hedgehogs all have igloos but I have one stubborn hedgehog who refuses to sleep in her's. She sleeps in the vinyl tunnel going between two levels. My problem is, she's getting too cold sometimes. I have a space heater on a timer that I have been using to keep the temp between 73 and 78 degrees but when the heat gets around 73, she seems a bit cold to me. All the rest of my hedgehogs are toasty because they sleep in their fleece in their igloos, but she won't. A couple of times the heat has gotten too low because the timer wasn't working right, so I took her out and put her under my shirt. The first time it got down to 65 degrees and she was FREEZING but the rest were ok. I almost had a heart attack. Anyway, I've put fleece down there to try to help trap her body heat in, I've put fleece scraps in the tunnel that she doesn't use, but she still came out a bit cold today. What should I do?


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## Hollierae (Apr 12, 2010)

Is there anyway maybe you could block her out of the tunnel?? I guess that just depends on if it's needed space or what not. My hedgie has had two Hibernation attempts the past month or two.. and i've learned she's "really" sensitive to temp. drops. Her temp needs to be kept above 76 but below 80.. She's just really sensitive.. She's either cold, or too hot. I have her now in my walk in closet.. with a space heater "just in case". But she always has a heat lamp on her and that keeps the temp in the cage at 77 consistently, and a heating pad on low under her sleep area for that extra warmth..


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

If she is getting cool, she is a hedgehog who requires a warmer temperature. Yes, sleeping on fleece or cuddled in fleece will help keep them a bit warmer but when they are up and active they aren't cuddled in fleece then either. 

If she is getting cool, regardless of where she is sleeping, the temperature is not warm enough for her. Between 73-78 is too wide a variation in temperature. That is a 5 degree drop in temperature. Some hedgehogs would attempt hibernation with a drop that large even if the temperatures were much higher.


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## tracie (Jun 16, 2010)

I have a heating pad but I'm afraid of starting fires, and the heating pad I use turns off after an hour. I thought about putting it in her cage under the tunnel but I'm afraid of baking her.

I can't really block off her tunnel because then I would be blocking off her wheel...


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## tracie (Jun 16, 2010)

Nancy said:


> If she is getting cool, she is a hedgehog who requires a warmer temperature. Yes, sleeping on fleece or cuddled in fleece will help keep them a bit warmer but when they are up and active they aren't cuddled in fleece then either.
> 
> If she is getting cool, regardless of where she is sleeping, the temperature is not warm enough for her. Between 73-78 is too wide a variation in temperature. That is a 5 degree drop in temperature. Some hedgehogs would attempt hibernation with a drop that large even if the temperatures were much higher.


She seems fine running around, but her tunnel is too cold. It's the tunnel that's cold, and I need suggestions on how to heat it. Should I put a heating pad down there? Should I buy a CHE and clamp it to the side of the cage (the bottom level isn't very big though, just 14 in. by 28 in.)? Or is there something else I can/should do?


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Personally I'd go the route of the CHE setup, I would do it for all of them just because if the room is getting down to 65'F degrees, you're risking hibernation attempts with all of them, that's just too cold. They're fine in their igloo cause they're wrapped up in fleece, but they also have to at some point come out, and even running around on their wheels and stuff, it'll be cold for them. Is there anyway to keep the room warmer? You'd have to measure out what is going to cost more, CHE setups or Heating Bill to keep the room warm. You figure its about $90 per CHE setup for the lamp/bulb/thermostat against 4 hedgehogs, but of course it would be a one time purchase over months of heating bills.

You may also attempt to offer her something other than an igloo, from my reading and my own personal experience, some hedgehogs just don't like the igloo setup, I always think because of the central door location, versus their more natural burrows that would have the door at one end. My Loki slept in a tube for a good month before discovering the world under the liner, so I've offered him a shoebox house.










Both my guys where going under the liners and ignoring the igloo until I built them these, I think they like the fact the door is away, as both sleep in the opposite end of the door. They also like to sleep on hard surfaces and use the fleece to make a nest around them.


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## tracie (Jun 16, 2010)

Hmm, maybe I should try making her a shoebox house...


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

If you do try it, let me know if she takes to it, been trying to get feedback from people I suggest these houses to, just to see what the results are. I did mine mainly cause my guys kept going under the liner. They both like sleeping on a hard surface over the soft surface of fleece, which might be what your girl is doing. That's the other problem with igloos since they have no bottom. Both my guys have pulled the fleece I lined the floor with and sleep right on the plastic, with the fleece wrapped around and above them.

In the picture above is a 12 quart steralite storage container, they're a good size when put into the cage, I tried a 6 quart with Loki but he only slept in it for a few days, I guessed maybe too small for his liking.

The hardest part is cutting the door into the side, you can use a razor and basically you cut a line into it, then repeat lightly cutting until you cut through it. If you attempt to cut it through, its really tough to cut and you can easily end up shattering/cracking the plastic. You might be able to think of another way, I personally used a shop tool cut a air powered cut-off saw which is like a tiny grinder.

As for the sides, I used duct tape just because I felt it was the safest thing, I have no skill with sewing so I couldn't make a cloth cover, and anything like paint or even black marker I felt would be too smelly and too toxic. There's a layer of black duct tape used to block out the light, covering the side walls enough that when its sitting on fleece, the clear bottom isn't exposed. Then since I saw Wal Mart had fancy duct tape, I got a couple roles of different designs. That's Hester house in the picture, she got tye dyed, Loki got camouflage.

My favorite thing is the clear bottom, I can check on them without really poking them by lifting the box out of the cage and holding it above my head. Since they sleep on the bare floor, you can see them curled up sleeping, and usually they wake up from the light and start looking around. Also helps when cleaning, as you can just lift the box out and set it somewhere, without really disturbing them. And when you get them out, you just snap the top off.


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## tracie (Jun 16, 2010)

Ok I've got a new timer for the space heater so that the temperature doesn't go down too far, and it now stays between 76 and 78 degrees. After wondering why sometimes we woke up baking and sometimes woke up freezing, we realized that our timer wasn't keeping time very well. So we got a new one that hopefully doesn't break in a week. 

On Sunday, I finally finished my shoebox house. I modified it a bit. I couldn't find any cool duct tape, so instead I used adhesive contact paper to cover the outside, and packing tape to secure it on. I got a much smaller container because I think my hedgehog's problem is that she likes sleeping in tight spaces like her tunnel. So it's four inches wide and maybe 6 inches tall, and I don't know, nine inches long. This way she can be away from her cage mate when she wants and she's not blocking the tunnel. Last night she slept in it for the first time, and if she keeps sleeping in it, I think it will solve a lot of problems.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I hope it works out well! Let us know.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

tracie said:


> Ok I've got a new timer for the space heater so that the temperature doesn't go down too far, and it now stays between 76 and 78 degrees. After wondering why sometimes we woke up baking and sometimes woke up freezing, we realized that our timer wasn't keeping time very well. So we got a new one that hopefully doesn't break in a week.


The word "timer" caught my eye. I know people set up reptile lighting/heating with timers. But for hedgeis, I'd use a thermostat controller instead of a timer for the heating.

Something like: http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000-Thermostat if you went with a CHE.

Or a space heater with a built-in thermostat.


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## RWatkins (Oct 26, 2010)

smhufflepuff said:


> tracie said:
> 
> 
> > I'd use a thermostat controller instead of a timer for the heating.
> > .


Definitely use a thermostat. I got the Zilla 1000w off amazon and it keeps the temperature 77,78, and 77 across the 4 ft cage. Definitely worth the investment.


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## indygo88 (Aug 21, 2010)

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in too. My girl is a tunnel sleeper also. It annoyed me initially. So I did make her a sleeping box w/ fleece strips & she was using it about 50% of the time. Some days she'd sleep in the box, some days she'd sleep in the tunnel. I've had two hibernation scares since the weather has gotten cooler & both times she was sleeping in the tunnel. The second time she was so soundly asleep & I wasn't able to push her out, so I had to cut the tunnel at about the halfway point just to get her out. I figured that after there was a big slit in her tunnel, she wouldn't sleep in it anymore. Wrong. She now sleeps in it ALL the time, right near the slit opening. I would think that would be the coolest part of the tunnel & she would avoid that area, but she continues to go there. (FYI: Her food is on the second level, so I've kept the tunnel. I could move it, but I feel like she needs the extra room in her cage for movement & exercise.) Since the last hibernation attempt, I've bumped up the setting on the space heater & keep the door closed to the room she's in. So far so good. The temp is generally around 73-75 & she seems to do well at that temp, but I do tend to check on her every morning -- I poke her tube & if she huffs at me I know she's okay.  

I know this isn't especially helpful information to you, since your temp is in the range I use (& higher) & your hedgie is still chilly, but I wanted to let you know you weren't alone with your tunnel sleeper. How is it going now? I would agree with the above posts re: a heater w/ a thermostat. I think that's probably much more consistent & reliable than a timer. Otherwise, maybe putting some fleece in the tunnel might be helpful???


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## tracie (Jun 16, 2010)

Update: So now Zuri sleeps ONLY in the igloo and never anywhere else... Zoe sleeps sometimes in the tunnel, sometimes in the igloo, and sometimes in the box-house. My hedgehogs are weird. I had two igloos at one point but they weren't using both of them, so I took it out to give them more space. 

Their cage is now kept around 75-76 degrees, and nobody's cold or hibernating. 

How do you tell if it's too hot for them??


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Splatting out, which is when they lay on their belly with their limbs sticking out, though hedgehogs also do this when they're really content but typically when they're not in the cage, so if you happen to walk by and see one in the middle of the cage doing this, they're probably too hot. They also can become somewhat inactive but not always.

75'F - 76'F should be perfect for them, usually when you get to 80 or above it starts getting too hot, depending on the hedgehog.


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