# Too small or just right?



## Nell (Aug 26, 2010)

Hello all.

I am about to welcome a new little hedgie to my home, but I'm having doubts about the cage I got for him. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2753281
It's Super Pet My First Home, Large. Measures 30"x18"x16"
Now, I know that a hedgehog requires 4 sq ft of total cage space, but because this cage is 30"x 18" instead of 30"x 19" the total square feet comes to 3.75 as opposed to a full 4 sq ft...

Is this still acceptable or is the lack of that square inch going to be detrimental to the hedgie's living conditions? Does it have to be exactly 4 sq ft?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I think that's the same kind of cage that I had for Lily, which is now used as her travel cage. It is on the small side, especially after you put in the wheel, igloo, food and water bowls, and any toys. If you want to give your hedgie more room though, and still make use of that cage you might be able to cut whole in the side of that cage, and connect it to a sterilite tub with some PVC pipe. If you look in the cage examples thread, there's lots of pictures of people that have connected two tubs or cages like this.


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## jdlover90 (Jun 14, 2010)

I would have to say that cage is a little too small. I'd go for something a little bigger, or try to find a C&C cage or a big plastic tub, those always work well.  

Congrats on getting your hedgie soon!


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

I have two cages about that size. I started off with one... an old cleaned-up one from my younger days with guinea pigs, put everything in it (wheel, igloo, food dish, water, etc...) and, much like you're experiencing, it looked small. Too small. I went out and bought a bigger cage. Satin lives in her big Marchioro 120. But she uses the small one as a travel/vacation cottage.

Tex also has a cage about the size you purchased... taller, but same floor space. But he lives in a Marchioro 102. And, again, the smaller cage is his vacation/travel cottage. 

It's actually nice to have two cages for the hedgies. When we were dealing with giardia, I could rotate them between their big homes and vacation cottages while superduper cleaning (bleach, vinegar, etc...) whichever ones they weren't in. 

I don't know that I'd recommend going out and purposely buying two cages for each hedgie as a starting point, but thought that I'd share my experience to let you know that buying a cage that's a bit on the small side isn't necessarily a bad thing  You can keep it as a vacation cottage, cut a hole in the side and put a tunnel in that leads from it to second room/cage, return it for credit toward a larger cage. Plenty of options to consider.

And, perhaps, you don't even need a different cage. Put all of hedgie's accessories in the cage and take a look... set it up just like hedgie was already living in there and look at how much space hedgie has to navigate and run around. Depending on the type of wheel, size of bowls, etc... it might be alright.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I have the Super Pets Extra-Large, I think the measurements are 40x18x20 and it's a good size cage. Do you think you can exchange it for the extra large one? Pet Smarts carry them as well.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

I have that cage (same dimensions, but not the same brand), and yes, it's quite tight in terms of space... especially because I have a CSW which takes up half the cage now :lol:
I also have a waffle block house thing which takes up half of the half left :lol:

It's very cramped at the moment, but I'm moving in a few days, and I will be building a C&C cage for him then ^-^


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## Nell (Aug 26, 2010)

Drat, I should've known. Guess I'll have to rep it eventually but I hope it'll do while Ziggy's in his baby stage...


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Nell said:


> Drat, I should've known. Guess I'll have to rep it eventually but I hope it'll do while Ziggy's in his baby stage...


Yeah I bought mine off of Kijiji from a woman who had rats... she offered me a bigger cage, but I was like "nooo" because well... I don't know why actually.. :lol: I wish I had gotten the bigger cage, though, because now that he has his CSW he does not have much room.


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## Nell (Aug 26, 2010)

I might be in trouble because I just ordered a CSW too. Oh goody.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Nell said:


> I might be in trouble because I just ordered a CSW too. Oh goody.


It's better to have a wheel they love and a cramped cage than a crappy wheel and a larger cage (in my opinion, anyway).

Just get a bigger cage later on ^-^


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## Nell (Aug 26, 2010)

Thank you, I will. I was just checking if it was acceptable or not.


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## Beanie (Jun 9, 2010)

I have the extra large one for both of my guys and it seems to work great


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