# Sticky  Carriers/Portable Cages Examples?



## Ahava

Hi all!
I was just wondering if some people would mind posting pictures of their carriers/cages that they use when travelling with hedgie. 
I would just find it useful to see what everyone else is using and what different variations there are.
I know that everyone just says hard-sided carriers, but seeing what you put inside the carrier for travelling too would be cool. 
I liked the Housing/Cage Examples thread and I thought that this could be sort of the same.

Thanks!


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## Immortalia

I actually took a bunch of pics and posted them up on another threadhttp://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2579&start=20 awhile back. So here they are ^_^



Immortalia said:


> Ok, I got the pics and uploaded them ^_^
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> First pic is just of the carrier, you can see my thermometer on the top.
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> Here he is inside the carrier, the fleece that he's inside is his current "bed" for the week, so it has all of his safe "home" scents, which makes traveling easier. You can see that I have the back blocked off with black fabric. I have a towel underneath him just as a precaution, if he has an "accident" :lol: towels absorb better than fleece.
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> Here, he's finally strapped into the car. The black bag is there to keep the sun from shining directly onto the carrier, and to keep the a/c air from causing a draft inside, since there's another mesh opening at the front, where possible drafts can get in.
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> And just a close up of the seat belt going through the top handle, keeping the carrier in place. The seat belt is also "lockable". The kind where you pull it out all the way, and when it retracts, it won't let you pull on it anymore.
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> Well, I hope that helps. ^_^
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> **Edit** Forgot to add, you might want to think about taking some water from your tap to take on the road and to your parent's. So you can offer him water while at your parents place. Some hedgies take preference to different water(different locations' water smells differently). Unless you go the filtered water route. For ease, I give him filtered water only, so I don't have to carry water around. I've got filters for both my apartment and at parent's.


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## silvercat

Sylvie has two depending on where we're going.



















The first two images are her overnight carrier. The purple top actually folds open so I can put her wheel in & the sides are high enough that she cannot climb them. (That said, this is always used in a closed room that I sleep in, just in case).










This third image is her second carrier. I use it for short day trips (to the office, vet, etc). It's compact & a lot easier to handle. This isn't the actual carrier but very similar & same idea. The one she has has mesh doors on both ends & a long mesh window running each side. It also has little flaps for the windows that I could close them. Inside is a removable board/floor thing that is covered in sheep fur (?).

Oh! Should note: When using the hard carrier I actually use both. Sylvie goes in the soft sided one, which goes inside the hard sided one. I'm concerned that that hard sided one is so large. If there was a car accident she would go flying inside it. So she's in both to restrict the 'air time' & add buffering if the situation arose. The small one is left open for this so she could get out & stretch her legs (inside the big one) is she so felt interested, which she's only done once.


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## dorasdaddy

Why wont people search for themselves??????? Did it get removed from the HHC CoC?


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## Ahava

dorasdaddy, I did search. Please, if you're not adding anything, I'm sorry to frustrate you with posts you've seen before, but do not reply. It makes others feel stupid especially if they have spent lots of time looking for a specific post and then haven't found it, but turns out that others know exactly where it was. 
I however would love to see what you have going for your hedgie's travel. 

And Immortalia, thank you for the pictures. They are great and your hedgie is adorable!!! I have a carrier like that (it's a little bigger) but it reassures me that I'm not completely off base with it, haha.


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## Nancy

dorasdaddy, you're beginning to sound like a broken record. Not every post warrants chastising the person for not searching. Yes many questions asked have been asked a zillion times already but this particular question is not one of them.

I have different carriers that I use depending on the circumstance.

For out of town travel, I use the same as silvercat. 







This is a large carrier that provides plenty of room to move around in. It easily buckles into the vehicle and leaves the front door that it can be opened without having to unbuckle. This carrier will also fit a standard bucket wheel if the front frame bar is removed and the wheel lowered a slight bit. Doing this allows the top of the carrier to be closed. This carrier will work as a temporary cage. On occasion, I have taken one to the vet in that carrier but it is rather heavy.

For most vet trips and short around town trips I use this one. http://www.petsmart.com/product/zoom/in ... Id=3073395 It is perfect for vet trips as it can be opened from the top at either side or it can be removed completely. If the hedgehog has needed surgery, she can be put right into that carrier and then put into the kennel at the vets and the vet and techs can easily check on her through the open top.

I also have many soft sided carries that I use for walking around with the hedgie. Again it depends on the circumstances which one I use. Of course for me having on average 25-40 hedgies, I need many carriers so I can be overly indulgent. :lol: I like to have a supply of carriers in case we ever had to get them all out of the house for any reason.

I'm going to make this thread a sticky.


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## Tasha

Nancy, why have you not mentioned your own carriers that you sell?!  

I've heard al ot of people on here extremely happy with your hedgie designed carriers, bags etc & this seems to the perfect thread for mentioning them!


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## magenh

I just use a smaller pet taxi with a towel in the bottom, a cuddle bag, and plenty of fleece for Tak to snuggle into. She seems to like to crawl under the towel if given a choice!


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## dorasdaddy

magenh said:


> I just use a smaller pet taxi with a towel in the bottom, a cuddle bag, and plenty of fleece for Tak to snuggle into. She seems to like to crawl under the towel if given a choice!


Be sure to check the legs when using a towel, loose threads can get wrapped around the leg and cause serious injury in no time.


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## magenh

That's true. I guess I should clarify, I used the towel because I found a hedgehog much faster than I thought I would when I started looking and didn't have time to gather anything else. Another option is a large Kritter Keeper like this one http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752730. If I were going to use this I would probably try to put it inside another pet carrier that could be seat belted in easier. It's small enough to protect a hedgie in the car, but it probably isn't the best solution.


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## Immortalia

magenh said:


> Another option is a large Kritter Keeper like this one http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752730. If I were going to use this I would probably try to put it inside another pet carrier that could be seat belted in easier. It's small enough to protect a hedgie in the car, but it probably isn't the best solution.


The problem with putting something like that into another carrier is the ventilation. You'd end up blocking all the ventilation vents if you're not careful.


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## Nancy

Tasha said:


> Nancy, why have you not mentioned your own carriers that you sell?!
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> I've heard al ot of people on here extremely happy with your hedgie designed carriers, bags etc & this seems to the perfect thread for mentioning them!


Yeah, I know but to be honest, I feel that a hard sided cat carrier is the safest for a hedgehog to be in when in a vehicle. Once at the destination my carriers are great. If someone can only have one carrier, I have to say a hard sided cat carrier is the one to go for.

Now if they can have two, then a hard sided carrier for in the vehicle and then one of mine for walking around.


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## Ahava

Nancy said:


> Tasha said:
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> Nancy, why have you not mentioned your own carriers that you sell?!
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> I've heard al ot of people on here extremely happy with your hedgie designed carriers, bags etc & this seems to the perfect thread for mentioning them!
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> Yeah, I know but to be honest, I feel that a hard sided cat carrier is the safest for a hedgehog to be in when in a vehicle. Once at the destination my carriers are great. If someone can only have one carrier, I have to say a hard sided cat carrier is the one to go for.
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> Now if they can have two, then a hard sided carrier for in the vehicle and then one of mine for walking around.
Click to expand...

Well Nancy we would definitely love to see pics of your walking around carriers then  haha. The more carrier examples the better!


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## Lilysmommy

I don't have a picture of it at the moment, but I use a small cat carrier as well. I have a Super Pet cage that I use for Lily's travel cage, I set it up once we get to the destination, usually our cottage. In the car, she usually goes into the soft carrier I have from Nancy, then that goes into the cat carrier. She really likes her soft carrier, and I like having her in it (as long as I have it adjusted so she can get air in it) because if we stop suddenly, she won't go flying around in the cat carrier. Also, when we get to the destination, I can just pull the soft carrier out and not have to bother to switch her into different carriers. 

Edit: When I get a chance, I can post a picture of the soft carrier, if you guys would like to see it. Lily and I are both in love with it!


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## talibali

THis is the one that a couple of poeple on this site and my mom and would would like more.....

1. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... ody_rv_txt

OR we are getting a little bigger one...... What do you think???Bout i have till 10oam so let me know whwat one.....And i am getting a hard-sided carrier to but out of these two what do you like??? And it will be a girl i am getting.

2.http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... id=prod_cs


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## hedgielover

Either looks fine but I like the second one best.


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## silvercat

Only thing I would watch is where the carrier sits on your body. If it's at your hips you may bump it a lot & give your hedgie some motion sickness


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## talibali

I stilll have to go to petco. Today i went to petsmart and there was one two carreirers that i liked. one like rat/rabbit.ferrt cage prefect size or a little dog one that is pink or blue......I am going to wait.......plus the food i couldnt find any wellness so i will have to look other places for that.


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## TheSmilingToast

Hello all!
I'm brand new to the site (and owning a hedgehog...I haven't gotten him yet), but I'm going to go pick him up in a few days, and I haven't really wanted to shell out for a carrier (I -never- travel)...so I got out one of my old lunch boxes, cut a hole in the front and put some mesh in it for ventilation. (Do you know how hard it is to get a lunch box in a sewing machine?? lol) It doesn't offer a whole lot of walking space, but again, I travel -maybe- once a year, and the vet is about 2 minutes down the road, so there really isn't anywhere I would be taking him that would be far enough away for him to feel cooped up.










This is looking at it in its prior lunch box uprightness. I plan on laying it down on its back so he can walk around a bit. I'm going to line it with fleece before I get him 

Laying down, its about 12.5 inches long, 8 inches wide, and about 7.5 at the non-pointy end. I read somewhere that people use fanny packs, sterilite containers and so forth, and just depending on how he ends up doing, I might change. Or if you guys think this is a bad idea...seriously, I'm open to anything!


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## Garrick

Thats pretty cool, but the problem is if you did get in a crash and people had o get you out they would not think there was a animal in the lunch box they are suppose to look for hard carriers not lunch boxing cool idea but a hard cat carrie would be the best.


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## TheSmilingToast

This is true...I could put a really big sign on it that said 'Hedgie Aboard!' ?
tehe no...that is a good point. I probably will end up investing in a hard sided one.


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## Nancy

A good hard sided pet carrier is one of the best investments you can make even if only used on occasion. Not only is the carrier the best and safest traveling option, it also make a great temporary cage in the event that you ever had to evacuate your house, or there was a power outage, the carrier would be easier to heat than a large cage. 

To be honest, lunch pails look like lunch pails regardless of what type of labeling is put on them. Also, there is only ventilation on one side and if it rolls over that ventilation could be covered up. 

If finances is an issue, watch for a hard sided cat carrier at thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales and if you are a member of your local freecycle, ask for one on there.


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## tracie

Why a hard carrier? What's wrong with a soft one?


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## Nancy

Hard carriers offer more protection in a vehicle than soft ones. A hard carrier protects the animal inside from any items that fly around in an accident. It is crush proof, and a hard carrier is far more recognizable as a carrier than a soft carrier that could be mistaken as a purse. Soft carriers are great for walking around with but not as safe in a vehicle.


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## xbwoman

I'd ordered this one from Walmart.com, it's delivering to the store so hopefully can be picked up in 10 days. As described on the site it's 18.3" x 9.4" x 12.7" H, but cannot be judged if it really fit until I got it on hand.


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## krbshappy71

xbwoman said:


> I'd ordered this one from Walmart.com, it's delivering to the store so hopefully can be picked up in 10 days. As described on the site it's 18.3" x 9.4" x 12.7" H, but cannot be judged if it really fit until I got it on hand.


Super cute but I don't know how well that would withstand a crash. The sides look thin to me, as if they are flexible-thin.


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## MeAmandaTee

that carrier is so cute too bad i have a boy lol


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## Tomato

TheSmilingToast said:


> This is true...I could put a really big sign on it that said 'Hedgie Aboard!' ?


Cute!

It reminds me of people who have those "Baby on Board" signs on car windows... I never understood the point of those. It's not like you or anybody drives any any safer with a baby on board. Everybody should always drive safely!


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## CoxMD

I got Basil a carrier today, it is a Small Pet Taxi for $20.00 at Wal Mart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pet-Taxi-Fash ... gMethod=rr

It is sturdy and comes with a food tray that clips on to the inside of the door. It's a good carrier for a great price.


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## Nancy

Those are a great carrier. I have numerous. :lol: They are also airline approved if you put zip ties through the little slit in the side latches.


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## Kenzi

This is my carrier. It worked great for bringing Mila home. It has a nice little feature on top that enables you to really secure the carrier using the shoulder strap of the seatbelt.


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## NoDivision

Thoughts on cage vs carrier for car trips? I am getting ready to move and it's a 2 hour car ride. 

I have a relatively large metal bottom wire sided cage that I had for my hamsters. It's probably about... 12x24". I fit it with half-walls with my hamsters to stop them from chewing the bars, so it's not climbable. It's got a nice big front side door, and I often use it to put Sherlock in when I'm cleaning his cage. It has fleece that goes under where the top fits into the base so it's held down, and then I can put a liner in, bags, and it is even big enough for his igloo if I wanted. Plenty of space for food and water and easy to attach the thermometer to. 

When I picked him up to bring him home I used a hard sided carrier, but it was one that actually belongs to my brother for his cats. 

What do we think about this cage as a travel option? It's very durable, fully enclosed, well vented, would be clear to any rescue workers as an animal cage... on the downside it's not as easy to carry as a hard "pet taxi" style carrier and... I don't know what else. I feel like I've thought through most of the needs for safe travel, but I might be missing something. What other downsides can you see? Thoughts?


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## Immortalia

NoDivision said:


> Thoughts on cage vs carrier for car trips? I am getting ready to move and it's a 2 hour car ride.
> 
> I have a relatively large metal bottom wire sided cage that I had for my hamsters. It's probably about... 12x24". I fit it with half-walls with my hamsters to stop them from chewing the bars, so it's not climbable. It's got a nice big front side door, and I often use it to put Sherlock in when I'm cleaning his cage. It has fleece that goes under where the top fits into the base so it's held down, and then I can put a liner in, bags, and it is even big enough for his igloo if I wanted. Plenty of space for food and water and easy to attach the thermometer to.
> 
> When I picked him up to bring him home I used a hard sided carrier, but it was one that actually belongs to my brother for his cats.
> 
> What do we think about this cage as a travel option? It's very durable, fully enclosed, well vented, would be clear to any rescue workers as an animal cage... on the downside it's not as easy to carry as a hard "pet taxi" style carrier and... I don't know what else. I feel like I've thought through most of the needs for safe travel, but I might be missing something. What other downsides can you see? Thoughts?


Can you strap it in with a seat belt? Otherwise, it'll just be another projectile that can fly out of the car.

If not, what you can do is weave some sort of rope or even luggage strap through the bars, leaving a large area up front to stick the seat belt through, that way, it can be strapped down properly and no risk of it sliding around.


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## NoDivision

It can be strapped very securely in the passenger seat, yes. My hamsters took car journey's in it.


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## CritterHeaven

These are all in size small is that right?


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## CoxMD

Yes, at least mine is.


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## Daleo

This is my carrier I made. I plan to add a pillow to the bottom to make a sturdy bottom and add some handles. Also, I want feedback. What would you want me to add to it? I plan to possibly sell these later on with other accessories. It measures 10x8x14"


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## emilyinwaiting4

Kenzi said:


> This is my carrier. It worked great for bringing Mila home. It has a nice little feature on top that enables you to really secure the carrier using the shoulder strap of the seatbelt.


the carrier looks great! Where did you get the thermometer? Thanks!


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## ShutUpAndSmile

emilyinwaiting4 said:


> the carrier looks great! Where did you get the thermometer? Thanks!


They sell it at petco its about $12 I believe. I have 4 of them for my snakes. They work great. :3


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## Pancho

My camera isnt working but this is the carrier I have for my hedgie <3
http://www.walmart.com/ip/IRIS-Small-Pe ... s/13025248
it works perfectly for short trips!
for longer ones I use a zipped up cat carrier


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## LaurenR

For Vlad, we use a hard sided cat carrier. Before we got him, I had modified a Sterilite bin into a carrier and it was...a learning experience. These animals are a lot more athletic than I realized, and he was able to stretch up to the ventilation holes and escape in the moving car on his first trip to our house. AFTER that, I found this forum, which recommends the cat carriers. I pulled ours out of storage. Learning experience #2. The last time I had used it was to take my elderly cat to be euthanized 4 years earlier, and though it was cleaned after that, and again before we used it for Vlad; he FREAKED out about being in it. Not balling up, but full on "flee" mode. We bought him a new, basic carrier, and no more problems. It's a hedgie ghost story, I suppose.

But once we get where we're going- we bought this awesome thing (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Pet-Fold...KBQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327953557&sr=8-1) from a dog breeder. It's a folding "playpen" with a zip-away top, waterproof bottom, and two zippered doors. You can zip the wheel into one of the doors very easily, and it folds up neatly into a laptop sized case. It's not a good permanent home, but we LOVE this for weekend trips or spending time outdoors but keeping him separate from any actual nature with all it's worms and mites and germs and whatnot.


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## coribelle

I have seen this pop-up-playpen somewhere else on this forum in a different post I think, and all it received was praise! I'm excited that you posted this, because if I recall correctly, it was a little more expensive previously. I think I am going to order one for my hedge-to-be soon!


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## Kyra Darkblood

What do you do to heat the carrier? My breeder is about 6 hours away


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## coribelle

Most people use hand warmers or the Snuggle Safe disks made specifically for pets. Make sure to warm your car up before you put you hedgie in. It might be helpful to have a thermometer in your carrier so that you can check the temperature whenever you need to to make sure it is around 75-78ish. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of information about this in a thread somewhere... I searched but couldn't find it, maybe someone else can find it and pull it up for you?
I'm not too terribly experienced as I live in Florida, so I hope this helps somewhat


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## atichy

SkillzandQuillz - I just saw that same carrier tuesday nite and it was cute as a button. We are starting to have open pet adoption days where I work and I am going to start taking my babies to work and thought that would be great! 
For traveling I do have a hard sided carrier that I got from Larry T when I picked up my little girl and keep that for longer trips. I just can't stop shopping for my girls LOL


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## tking

I would have like to see the pictures in Immortalia's post. It said they were either deleted or moved. I just recently purchased this carrier http://www.amazon.com/Small-Animal-...WA/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1331220544&sr=8-33 and love it.


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## fairywinged

I dont know if this thread is still active but I was wondering if the carrier i am wanting to buy is okay it is a two piece set neither are good on their own but I have read good reviews if used together.

http://www.petco.com/product/11339/Supe ... iers-11339

http://www.ferret.com/item/super-pet-ta ... er/650802/

I have looked at them in store and again on their own they are flimsy but together they are sturdy i tried squeezing them to see if the inner cage would give in and collapse adn it did not In my opinion I think they would be okay and they seem easier to clean than others I have seen the wire cage comes completely apart.


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## SquiggyTheHedgie

The first one is fine for quick trips, but for long distances you'll want a hard sided cat carrier. The bars on the second cage are a little too open and the hedgie might try climbing it, also it doesnt provide any natural darkness. Try putting the soft carrier inside the hard plastic cat carrier like mentioned in the previous posts


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## fairywinged

Yes the hard one goes inside the soft one it is just sold separately I am sorry I didn't clarify but I did know that


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

to the people that use this carrier: http://www.walmart.com/ip/IRIS-Small-Pe ... s/13025248

how well does it work? i've been looking at it as one i might get but the shape is kinda.. i'm just not sure :roll:


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## SouthernSweet

I dunno about that one, but if you're looking at Walmart.com look at the Suncast carriers; I love the one I got for Quinnlee!


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## Sonics1AndOnlyGirl

This is my carrier. I already had three carriers but they were for my cats. I used one of them to take my hedgie to the vet the first couple of times but thought he needed his own. This is a Suncast Personalized Pet Carrier. It came with stickers to put your pet's name on the front. It even comes with a food and water tray. I got the smallest size which is 13"L x 19.5"W x 10.25"H.


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## Tom

Sonics1AndOnlyGirl said:


> This is my carrier. I already had three carriers but they were for my cats. I used one of them to take my hedgie to the vet the first couple of times but thought he needed his own. This is a Suncast Personalized Pet Carrier. It came with stickers to put your pet's name on the front. It even comes with a food and water tray. I got the smallest size which is 13"L x 19.5"W x 10.25"H.


Love that carrier. I had it for my two kittens.


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