# "Expecting" Hedgie Mama who just has a few questions....



## Piratemama (Jan 3, 2012)

Hi! I am so grateful for this site and all of the knowledge that is here. My friend and I have spent so much time reading over the last week or so to make sure that we get the absolute best for our girls (we are each getting a hedgie from the same breeder, they arent sisters but they are just a few days apart). We pick them up on Sunday! We have our liners, snuggle bags, food/water bowls, litter pans, litter, igloo, 12" comfort wheel, heating source, thermometer, light timer, heat timer regulator thing, and of course their new cages (purchasing food from the breeder). We both purchased one of these http://www.petco.com/product/106066/Pet ... atsHutches.

The only thing left to do beside get our girls is to enclose the loft and the ramp. We do have the dryer vent tube but the ramp doesnt fit in there can we cut it and secure it around the ramp or is it sturdy enough to hold them and just lose the ramp all together? I intend to have mine pretty low (hers isnt set up yet, we were just testing m ine) so its not a huge angle but I want to make sure its totally safe for my little girl. When we go to enclose the loft, are there suggestions beyond coroplast or cardboard? How high should it be? 4-6"?

Thank you again!


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I've seen plenty of cage examples where just the dryer vent tube is used, so there should be no problems with that. They can be a pain to clean though - it can help to have a fleece strip down the bottom of it, which can be removed more easily.

The dimensions don't include the depth of the bottom bin (of course, they never do), but depending on what that is, you might have to add a few inches of coroplast (or similar) to cover the bars so they can't be climbed. The cage I have has a 6" deep bottom, which is plenty for a young hedgehog (mine will be 6 weeks when he comes home in a few days), and then as he gets bigger I'll possibly cover a few inches of the wire, depending on whether he's a determined climber. So that's something to keep in mind.

Some hedgehogs will never use a loft, and that one looks kind of small. The cage is large enough that you could just remove the loft. If you do really want to make the loft, it should be closed all the way to the ceiling of the cage, or 8" minimum, depending on how high or low you place it. The wire sides should be covered as well. You should use coroplast/plastic rather than cardboard, because cardboard won't hold up against urine/feces, and it's less sturdy. You shouldn't put the food/water in the loft, because if your hedgehog isn't interested in climbing up there, she won't have access to anything placed there.


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