# Is a heat lamp necessary?



## ImaRagamuffinChild (Apr 23, 2011)

I have had my hedgie for almost 1 1/2 Years. I have been telling my mother that i need to get him a heat lamp but she says it will burn the house down. -_- Are there any other options for me? That are 'less dangerous'


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Not that will heat consistently. Get a ceramic heat emitter. They don't get that hot (I can handle the lamp when it's on) and just using common sense of not having anything around it will keep your house from burning down.


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## ImaRagamuffinChild (Apr 23, 2011)

Told her that...then she added "no electrical appliances' 

What am I supposed to do??


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

Well, you can just keep the heat at or above 70 F all the time, at least in that room...The only other choice I can think of (which is also an electrical appliance) would be to put a heating pad under 1/2 of her cage. They are pretty safe these days and I think they have emergency shutoff built in so that it won't burn the house down. I guess the best bet would be to keep the thermostat turned up more...hopefully she will agree to that. How cold does your house get? Where are you located?


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

You never want to use a heating pad like that for an extended period of time. It's a major fire hazard, and most of them shut off after some time.
Either you keep the room temperature at or around 75F or get the CHE. There's really no other ways of properly heating the cage.


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

A CHE with a thermostat that will regulate the temperature really is the best option, hopefully your mom will come to understand that. If there is still absolutely no way of getting one, keep the whole room at a constant 75F with whatever heat you use to heat the house. If it is drafty, use extra fleece for your hedgie to burrow into and cover part (not all) of the cage with some fleece to keep drafts out. There are also microwaveable heating pads that you can use on particularly cold nights, just make sure you don't get them too hot and follow the directions carefully, one brand is called SnuggleSafe: http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Supply-Import ... roduct_top


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

To be honest, a CHE is really the safest method - heating pads won't heat the entire cage like what's needed and can short out or may have auto shut-off. Space heaters, especially the cheaper ones, can be dangerous. The more expensive ones are safer, but still, more expensive and it's heating the entire room. They're also more expensive to run. CHEs use about the same amount of power as a regular lamp being on, they're not a fire hazard as long as you have the proper equipment (a thermostat that can handle the wattage, a lamp that's rated safe for CHEs, which you can find at both Petsmart and Petco, and plug the thermostat into the wall, not a power strip), and keep anything away from falling on them. You can even zip tie or clamp the lamp to the top of the cage if you want, which will keep it from falling or being knocked off. I can understand her concerns and my mom also had them when I first got heating supplies for Lily (as well as being concerned about the cost), but it IS necessary. Your hedgie may have been fine until now, but I think they do tend to get more temperature-sensitive as they get older and it's best to be proactive than go through one or more hibernation attempts before getting things set up.


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

tell your mother to keep the house at 75 degrees or you will have to do it. if she refuses both, don't listen to her, the hedgehog needs to keep the temperature to survive


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## TitustheHog (Aug 15, 2012)

Also If the CHE is on a thermostat then it shouldn't be able to burn anything down.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Unless you plan on doing jumping jacks all night to generate heat in your hedgehog's room, there aren't any non-electrical appliances aside from an actual fire pit (hahaha, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't go over well, along with all the reasons that would be horrible for a hedgie's health  ) that you can heat the room with. Maybe just try to convince her that the heaters made nowadays are not as unreliable as ones in the past? Space heaters have stuff like overheat protection and some turn off when they're tipped over, CHEs are just like a hot lightbulb that produces no light... is she paranoid of light bulbs? TBH, you might be able to get away with a CHE if she isn't observant... just tell her you got a lamp to put on the cage but don't have anything in it yet.  The CHE doesn't produce any light so unless she looks close she wouldn't even be able to tell!


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

LizardGirl said:


> Unless you plan on doing jumping jacks all night to generate heat in your hedgehog's room


D: Wait... Are you saying all those jumping jacks I do every night don't help?!?!?! lol sorry, couldn't resist


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Immortalia said:


> LizardGirl said:
> 
> 
> > Unless you plan on doing jumping jacks all night to generate heat in your hedgehog's room
> ...


At least you are exercising regularly.


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## laurentj23 (Aug 22, 2012)

Space heater. Cost less
Than 20 bucks at wallmart.


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## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

I wouldn't suggest going over your mom, setting up a CHE without her consent or pretending it's off... It's just asking to come home one day to a hibernating hedgehog because she noticed the CHE and unplugged it.

I'd keep the room temperature at 75 in the meantime, but you'll need to convince your mom that the CHE is the most economical and safe solution. Have her read up a bit on them to see what they're like, maybe she's imagining something different.

I've been doing fine with heating up the whole room. In the summer it ends up well over the needed temperature without needing any heat. In the winter I just keep that room's thermostat higher than the rest. But Quinn is set up in our office, where there are two computers which also produce heat. I don't think I could get the room cooler if I wanted to. We don't have any AC and the only sacrifice we make is that we can't open the window when we're in (unless it gets really hot). The configuration of my place is ideal for that method, I don't know if yours is.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

When set up properly a Ceramic heat emitter/thermostat set up is the safest and most economical heating system there is. It also keeps only the cage warm so no worries about the room being too hot. It needs to have a heat emitter safe fixture and the fixture needs to be securely attached to the top of the cage so it can't slide off and also ensure there is nothing that can fall against it. When used properly, a CHE is every bit as safe as a light bulb and nobody worries about leaving lights on. 

Although slightly cheaper to set up, a space heater over time will cost more as it uses more electricity to operate and it's heating the whole room rather than just the cage. 

When setting up a heating system, do not go cheap. This is something that is going to be on 24/7 for months at a time and you want something good quality and safe. The more moving parts, the more there is to break down so avoid ones with fans and oscillating. There is more risk of something going wrong.

Many hedgehog owners, myself included use the oil filled radiant space heaters. There are no moving parts, they never get too hot to touch, and even once they click off the heat continues for a while after making them one of the most economical to operate heaters there is. They also produce a warm total room heat with no cold areas, unlike there are with fan forced heaters.


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