# Digging?



## MintyDuhh (Sep 1, 2008)

I put this under housing/cage stuff because Nook literally destroys his cage every night from his digging. D:

I've switched him over to liners and ever since he's been trying to burrow like crazy. He'll dig all the way under his liners (I use two at a time) and will flip his food/water dish over, his wheel over, and his igloo too. And he does have a hedgiebag that I made, that he can hide in.

I've even tried putting his dish in one corner, the house in another, and his wheel on the opposite end to try and stop it from lifting up and it still won't work. D:'

Is there any way to try and prevent this? Or does anyone have any suggestions? It's just a pain having to change/clean his cage every single day because he ends up dumping his entire water dish over and getting everything completely soaked. D:


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

there's a very good chance he's bored. something that tends to help this if possible is to get a bigger cage. more room to run and play usually makes a happier hedgie. 

you can also make a dig box out of fleece strips for him to dig in or rocks (big enough he can't get his mouth around and boil them first) and put crickets in there and around the cage. 

you want to come up with ideas to stimulate him. try changing around his cage periodically and adding more tunnels and things he can crawl under, in, and around.

most hedgies just like to liner dive though and lay on the bottom of the cage and it's hard to prevent it. it's annoying as all heck for us, but just something they like to do. 

sometimes it's because they are too hot though which is why they lay on the cool bottom of the cage so depending on your cage temp you might lower the temp one or two degrees (make sure you're not lowering it too much especially with the winter coming you don't want them to get too cold). 

try putting his water dish in a corner where he doesn't usually liner dive so it won't get knocked over as easy and get a heavier dish so it's harder to knock over as well.


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## MintyDuhh (Sep 1, 2008)

I do change his cage around periodically, along with toys and other things and it persists.

The other thing is, he doesn't dig near the water dish, but as he burrows around his cage he goes all over and ends up tipping it. D:

The box might be a good idea, that's something that I haven't tried yet. 

I even tried buying a new food/water dish for a cat and using that to try and prevent it and it hasn't worked.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

lol sounds like he's just a stubborn, persistant little man

i know a bigger cage really helped me, but i also know that's not always an option for various reasons (financial, home space, etc.) 

other than that you may just have to do like i do and roll my eyes every morning when i go to check on them and gently place them in their sleeping box, cover them up, and usually then they will stay put for the rest of the day as long as it's not too hot or cold in their room (stupid sun coming in makes it a little difficult sometimes as it will raise the temp in the room even with the shades drawn so i always have to go check the temp in the room and lower it to make it cooler or make it warmer otherwise right back under the liners they go). i really need to get some of that aluminum foil stuff for the windows that's clear and doesn't allow the sun to beat in, but you can still see out the window :lol:


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

How 'bout velcro? Might require some sewing know-how (which I clearly don't have), but gluing one side down to the coroplast floor and sewing the other side on his liners might do the trick. He might also just get tired of it or out grow it. Norman has had a few wacky nightly habbits that he developed and stopped within a week or two.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Something I started doing with Cholla is I got several wide pvc pipes, elbows, etc & have tthem on one side of his cage, covered with another piece of fleece or liner. I will hide treats in different areas. He loves going through tthe pve, as well as burrowing under th fleece. He'll climb on top of the fleece as well. Sometimes I will tuck some ofthe fleece under the pipe to make it more of a challenge. Only bad thing so far-he likes it so much he doesn't want to use his bed. :roll:


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

As a temporary soultion for the water thing maybe put the water in the corner or side of the cage and make it so there is no fleece under it. That way it wont tip when he's liner diving.

But other then that a dig box is probably your best soultion. :3 Or maybe more playtime at night to wear him out a little.


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