# Behaviour question (litter box related)



## Ela (May 16, 2012)

Hello, I am a first time owner of a hedgehog that I got about 3 weeks ago from a breeder. I've always browsed the forums for advice on food, habitat, toys (thanks for all that!), but I can't seem to find an answer to my particular question.

So, my hedgie recently started playing with the contents of his litter box and I'm a little worried that he might be eating/chewing the pieces. I have Yesterday's News cat litter in the box and he always takes the bits out at night and drags them everywhere in his cage, and I mean everywhere! All along the floor, in his wheel, his food bowls, in his sleeping sack too. Some pieces are shredded so I know he's at least chewing on them. I don't want him eating the bits, it can't be good for him. =( I tried switching to paper towels, but it stinks and he tends to step in poop and track that all over the cage.

Is this a phase that he'll grow out of or should I remove the cat litter? 
Does anyone else have this problem (where your hedgie chews on the litter and/or pulls it out of the box)? 
Is there a way to persuade him to stop? 
If I am to remove Yesterday's News, is there another type of litter that anyone can recommend? 

Some background: my hedgie is about 10 weeks old and very clean. He only poops on his wheel and his litter box, he only takes the cat litter pieces out. The breeder had kept him in a cage with some type of white paper bedding.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

My Gambit loved trying to eat yesterdays news and making a mess so I started putting a paper towel in his litter box but then he would drag the paper towel into his sleeping quarters :roll: so now I use a paper towel weighed down by a solid landscaping brick that has to be cleaned frequently.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

Yesterday's news can expand and cause internal blockage if eaten. I would get rid of yesterday's news and go on with paper towels or nothing in the litter box


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

You could always try using aspen shavings  Most hedgies love digging and rooting through it, and he'd be less tempted to eat it.


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

You could always try using aspen shavings  Most hedgies love digging and rooting through it, and he'd be less tempted to eat it.


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## Ela (May 16, 2012)

Thanks for the information. I have decided to use paper towels as suggested, but put yesterday's news cat litter underneath it to absorb the pee. So far it's working great because he doesn't seem to know that the cat litter is actually still there. lol Now his area doesn't have cat litter all over and it's not so smelly. =) The only problem is that his feet still get dirty, but I can live with that.


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## HeartfeltHedgehogs (May 17, 2012)

We use about 1 inch of yesterday's news or similar product in our litter boxes, and place about a 1/2 inch of crumbled paper bedding on top. This way the pellets can absorb urine and feces are easily removed from the crumbled paper bedding. We get our crumbled paper bedding from petco:

http://www.petco.com/product/114718/Pla ... dingLitter


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