# Travel with Hedgie in winter (warmth related)



## Clove (Sep 15, 2016)

Hi all,

I've had my hedgie girl for a little over a year. I live up in Canada, and as you know, it gets really freaking cold there in the winter. Problem #2: I had to move to a basement apartment. I was there for part of last winter with her, and it was extremely difficult to keep temperatures high enough for her. I had electric heaters going, a heating pad for her, sealed off the windows with bubblewrap, and so on and so forth, but keeping her toasty was difficult. Not impossible, but definitely a challenge. Light was also a problem. 

I'm an upper year university student who spends a lot of time in the toasty library at school, working. Think 8+ hours a day. It's a 5-10 minute commute. I'm wondering if it would be better for me to take her with me to the library, where it's toasty warm, quiet, and bright. I've already checked on the school rules, it wouldn't be a problem. And she wouldn't be pestered or woken up during my time at school. I wouldn't take her on my days full of classes. What I'm more worried about, of course, is the temperature. So. What are your tips for keeping your hedgies warm and well-lit inexpensively in the winter, and can you recommend a roomy and WARM travel case should I need to transport her for a few minutes outside? Preferably something that closes completely and has room for a warming device. Also useful for vet runs and such. Am I completely crazy to consider it? Let me know.


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## paige.alison (Aug 30, 2016)

Wow you are really dedicated! I'm not sure. It sounds great to me but I have heard something about them being able to get sicknesses or something when they go out and about with their owners. Don't take my advice, though. Wait for a more experienced hedgie owner.

~Paige~


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## Clove (Sep 15, 2016)

The risk is that she might go into hibernation, which for a domesticated hedgie usually means death. Definitely research hedgie health and care some more if you aren't aware of these issues! I like this site for hedgehog information:http://hedgehogheadquarters.com. They cover everything from cages to nutrition and health.


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## Hammy (May 3, 2015)

Hey Clove,

I've got a couple questions, if you don't mind? What temperature is it in the basement, and what temperature are you trying to achieve? When you say electric heater, do you mean a space heater? Why was light a problem? What kind of bedding and cage set up are you using?

I'm also a post-secondary student in Canada, and I lived in a cold basement apartment with Marceline for about a year before we moved. It was about 62F in the basement and there was pretty much no natural light in the room. First we tried CHE's, but the C&C cage didn't really hold the heat; we tried insulating it with cardboard and styrofoam but it didn't help. Eventually we used a space heater to raise the room temperature up to around 75F or so, kept her cage elevated instead of on the cold floor, used energy conserving light bulbs in the room and left it on all day. I wasn't paying for hydro back then, though. I am paying for hydro at my new place, it's not a basement so there's natural light and I have control of the thermostat so I keep it toasty, but I still leave the lights on when needed anyway.

As for your transportation problem, I'm currently using an old version of the small animal carrier (large size) from PetSmart because it was on clearance. Air circulation is decent and we can see inside, so it's pretty nice. Ours has a zipper door that closes and the bottom is hard, so it's like a little luggage. When we have to take her to the vet during winter (it's about an hour away) we usually fill a hot water bottle, put it inside, place a dollar store tub over it, and line the tub with fleece. Keeps things toasty.

I don't know about taking hedgehogs out as frequently as you're suggesting, though. Someone else will have to chime in on that. I know I wouldn't be able to do that with Marcy, just because she gets very anxious while traveling and tends to... poop. A lot. :lol:


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## Clove (Sep 15, 2016)

Hey Hammy,

Thanks for the feedback! Good idea with the carrier. My hedgie doesn't show signs of stress while traveling, except for this one time when she got carsick.  

Space heater is what I'm using, I just turn it on a few times a day to help maintain an optimal heat (preferably 70 and up). Lighting is a problem because hydro here is expensive and the windows I have only allow light in that equates to dusk. It's an old house with very old single pane wooden frame windows that let in a lot of cold air, and I don't have control of the thermostat, hence the main issue.


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