# Chester is an Escape Artist!



## NoisyCottage (Aug 14, 2009)

Chester lives in a 90qt sterilite container (for now,-- a custom cage is in the works). We had cut the lid to the sterilite container so that there are 2 little slits in middle (ventilation), one big one to allow for the wheel and a decent sized circle one to allow for the heat lamp. 

Yesterday, I went to check on him. He had pulled 3 freshly laundered blankets into his cage that we had folded and put on top to put away later. He had pulled them through the hole where the heat lamp normally is (it is way too warm in the house for the heat lamp right now) and they were all messy but piled so he could escape by climbing up his igloo, up the blankets and out to freedom. 

So, I started pulling those out to check on him yesterday afternoon, knowing that he isn't fond of being bugged in the morning so I had left him to sleep until the afternoon. I began to panic when I discovered that he was gone :shock: I called my hubby in to the living room and we began our search. It didn't take long to before we found him asleep on one of my felting pads under the couch.

We put him back, removed the extra blankets and called it good- surely he wasn't tall enough to get out without a ton of blankets piled on his igloo. 
This morning, sans the extra blankets, it was easy to see into his cage and I discovered that he was gone- again!  
Sure enough, we lifted the couch and he was balled up and snoozing away on my felting pad under the couch.
His wheel, which we had removed a couple days back due to some small foot injuries that are healing up, was across the room on the floor in the corner-- it had been RUN ON!  So, he is climbing on his igloo, pulling himself up and out of the heat lamp hole, dropping to the floor and crossing the living room to run on his wheel all night before retiring to my felting pad under the couch.
Now, THAT is dedication. :lol: 

Any other escape artists out there? How do you deal with it?


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## Pipkin (Aug 26, 2009)

That is so cute, what a little adventurer hehe. He clearlt prefers the comfy couch to his cage


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Awwwwwwww What a wonderful story. Such a devlish little hedgie!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

Some hedgies will climb if the wheel is removed from the cage due to boredom and frustration, and since he's not done it before it definitely sounds like the cause now. Most likely the escapes will stop when the wheel is back in the cage. If his feet seem to be healed up now, I would go ahead and put it back in the cage.

Which hole is the igloo closest to? That's probably where he's getting out. If you're still keeping the wheel out, I would go ahead and put a temporary cover over that hole (most likely the wheel's hole, correct?) and put something on top of it to keep it down. 

If you don't want to do that, hedgie proof the room and make sure there's nothing he can hurt himself on if he gets out again.

It's amazing some of the lengths a hedgie will go to in order to get their running. Sounds like you have a crafty little fellow on your hands.


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## Bengall77 (Aug 1, 2009)

Too funny! It sounds like he is escaping from the heat lamp hole? If so, why not put the heat lamp back and just leave it unplugged?


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## NoisyCottage (Aug 14, 2009)

I will check his feet when I give him his bath tonight and see how they are and possibly put the wheel back.
My hubby and I were laughing so hard when we found him all tuckered out and the dirty wheel.
He is definitely an adventurist type hedgie and this escapade made me love him that much more.
Silly little boy! :lol:


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## Ahava (Mar 25, 2009)

hahhaha I laughed a ton when I heard this! Yeah if I have my wheel out of the cage for more than one night (even then), my hedgie goes a little nuts. He runs up and down his cage and somehow manages to climb the walls. 
Hedgies are just escape artists sometimes. But yeah, I think that it's because his wheel isn't in the cage anymore which is why he is getting so restless.


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