# Introducing your hedgie to new housing setups?



## Alex (Dec 7, 2012)

Hi guys, I've got another question for you (I know, that's pretty much all I post, I'm sorry), this time about your hedgie's housing setups.

Hannibell is four and a half months old now, and she's getting bigger, which means I've had to add another room to her house and get her a bigger shelter and a cage. I'd like to ask you all what you think is the best way to go about doing this, because after living in her 'old' enclosure for so long, I know all the changes will stress her out.

I know one should go about this slowly, but it's really a matter of 'how' slowly to do it. Currently she has a single storage bin of a house with four square feet of it, a small-ish shelter, and a medium sized wheel, both of which she's outgrown. I haven't yet connected this enclosure to the second 'room', as I'm not quite sure when would be the best time to do it. The first step I took was to take away her old too-small shelter and put in the larger one with the fleece bedding. 

This is where my question comes in; after adding just the shelter and the bedding, Hannibell kind of freaked out. I know she was stressed out because she hid under her wheel and huffed up, and when I went to try and pet her to calm her down (she's a cuddler), she huffed up even more. So I know you're supposed to move slowly when introducing new additions to their housing, but how slow do I need to be going here? Is the shelter the last thing I should change, so she has a safe and familiar place to go to?

Does anyone have any suggestions? How do you go about this?


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I would just go ahead and make the changes at all once. That way it's one change, not a series of changes. She'll have whatever her reaction is, then get used to it within a few days. If you change one thing at a time, for her it's just constant changes, and it doesn't let her settle down and get used to things. Food changes should be gradual to let their bodies adjust, but anything else, unless she's sick or something, there's no reason to do it gradually. To her, every change probably seems like a "big" change, even if you feel like doing one part at a time is less compared to doing it all at once. Just get it over with and she'll be fine.


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## Alex (Dec 7, 2012)

I hadn't thought about it that way...Thank you :] I was worried about the stress of all the changes at once maybe making her sick, but you're right that it should probably be that over a bunch of smaller changes over an extended period of time. Thanks!


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## Alex (Dec 7, 2012)

Oh, and I have one more question, if it's okay.

I got this to connect the houses together http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... 27419C2B44 , thinking it would be the right size for her; I set it on my bed while I let her play around, and she loved running through it, and had no problem getting through it at all. However she fell asleep in it, and when I moved on the bed she got startled and puffed up into a ball, and I'm worried at that point it might have been too small? The quills on her head may have been caught on the ridges inside because she stayed in a ball a little longer than normal, but she was fine after she uncurled. Should I buy the larger one just to be safe, or should she be okay?

I think I'm just a paranoid newbie hedgie owner haha


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

If you're using bins, just go with 4" PVC pipe. That's what I've used connecting bins in the past.


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## Alex (Dec 7, 2012)

Alright, will do. Thanks :]


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