# Daytrips with Hedgie questions



## readthebook2 (Jan 16, 2012)

I've seen many posts about people who take the hedgehog to visit a friend, or out to a store, etc in a special knapsack or carrier. These are my questions:

1) Do you do this during the day or only in the evening ours?

2) How do you keep his temperature at a safe level?

3) Do you put anything in the bag aside from fleece scraps to keep him happy? Any food, etc? 

I'm just trying to figure out how all this works, I'm new, thanks


----------



## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

I usually try and keep it to night trips. But like when I did her christmas pics I took her out in the day. She didn't seem to mind much. But I wouldn't do it every time. 
I keep a thermometer in her carrier and adjust the heat accordingly. 
I don't put anything else in the carrier. It's almost always a short trip and eating while out may make her sick. But if I'm brining her somewhere were she's going to be in her play pen then I bring a bag of food also. And I have one of her wheels in the trunk of my car. :3


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I took Lily out on a couple day trips to school and such. She did fine with them, I just limited the amount of time she spent out of her carrier and around strangers so she wouldn't get too stressed out. I think all of the times I took her to school was during the spring/summer, when it was warm out, so I didn't stress about temperature too much. When taking her out in the winter though, I put a handwarmer in a cover I made for them in the soft carrier with her, and covered her hard carrier with a blanket, and made sure the car was warm before I took her out. Other than the handwarmer, I only kept fleece scraps/a blankey in the carrier with her, since she'd just go to sleep in it. One of the trips for school though, I did take a little bit of food in a baggy, treats, a bowl and a bottle of her water, wipes in case she pooped, and hand sanitizer for after my friends held her. I remember feeling like I was packing a diaper bag for a baby. :lol:


----------



## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

I wish I had gotten to meet the infamous Miss Lily!!! Such a special little girl!


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Of course it all depends on the individual hedgehog how well they react to visiting and little trips, but I've found most of them are fine with it. If you start doing it from when they are babies, they will be used to it. 

I've taken them winter and summer. I have Snuggle safes for in the vehicle and mitten warmers for when not in the vehicle. You must have a cover for the mitten warmers as some hedgies find them very interesting and will chew. Covers are simple to make if you can sew a straight seam. 

Hard sided carriers are best for in the vehicle but then once at the destination you can transfer hedgie to something lighter and easier to carry. I always prefer a front pouch or purse type carrier that has slightly solid sides to it, rather than something like a hedgie bag with a strap. The solid sides prevent hedgie from getting squashed if someone bumps against you. When I was making carriers, my most popular one had a solid floor and soft sides. 

Make sure you take extra bedding because they always potty and soak their bedding. With luck, if you are traveling by car, he/she will do all his business in the carrier in the car.


----------



## readthebook2 (Jan 16, 2012)

Thanks, Nancy - do you just make a small rectangle with an open end for the warmers? Your carriers sound great - you don't make them anymore? ;(


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

The covers I made for my handwarmers were just two rectangles sewn together on three sides, turned inside out to hide the seams, and then I also sewed some velcro on the open end so I could close it and keep the handwarmer out of reach from the hedgie. They were very easy!


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

The easiest hand warmer covers is to cut a strip of fleece about 7" x 16". Lay it right side up and fold up about 4". Keep folding it over and you should end up with 4 thicknesses which when the warmer is in the middle will give two layers of fleece on each side. Once you get it all folded over, sew up each side. Put the warmer inside and keep folding it over. Very easy to make and use and hedgie can't get at it. I'm sure my directions are as clear as mud. :lol:

I quit sewing due to health issues. I may get back to it someday but have other things I'd rather do right now and I'd like to do some sewing for myself. :lol:


----------



## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I take my Vera bag, line the whole inside with her blanket, then put a snuggle bag in, and she sleeps in the bag. I don't take her out often, but when I do, she sure doesn't seem to mind the attention. :roll:


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

The easy alternative for hand warmers/mitten warmers is to stick them in a sock. A clean one, obviously. The warmer goes in the bottom, then you just twist it a little and bring the opening at the top down over the part where the warmer is. Basically making it into a ball, and the little bit of elastic at the top of the stock keeps it in place like that well. Pretty much impossible for a hedgehog to get into that way. The socks I use are women's ankle-socks, which are plenty large enough to work for this, and I chose fairly thin ones (i.e. not woolen or extra padding or whatever) so plenty of heat gets out of them.

Depending on the size of the area, one or two of the normal hand warmers are adequate. When we take Archimedes out it's in a fleece bag (similar to a hedgie bag but modified with a carry strap) and just one of the hand warmers is plenty to keep him warm and cozy in there. For something larger or not as insulated, like a cat carrier, you'd probably want to use several. They also make larger body warmers (same thing, but bigger) which you'd really just need one of.

Walmart sells the hand warmers in packs of 6 (3 pairs) for $1.97. Something to keep in mind is that they take a little while to warm up, generally 15 minutes, but up to 30 to get all the way warm, so you should set those up a little while prior to actually going out of the house.


----------



## packrat (Oct 23, 2010)

My hedgie would freak out if I put him in the car and drove somewhere.

Why do you guys take the hedgies to school and such? You can't take pets to class lol I'm confused.


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm in college, and while technically animals aren't allowed in school...I uh. Haven't really paid attention to that. >.> :twisted: :lol: Lily came to school with me twice, both times for presentations in class. One was for my Human Genetics class, where I did a presentation on hedgehog genetics. She stayed for an hour or two afterwards to meet a couple friends, and did great. The second time was for my Zoology class, my teacher encouraged bringing in animals for show-and-tell since that was the main focus in the class. Other people brought in a bunny, ****roaches, tarantulas, and I think something else... Lily did good for that one too, she was only out for a few minutes while I was talking about her. Neither of my teachers thought it was a problem to bring her in, since she was going to be contained, and really, a hedgehog isn't disruptive. :lol: Besides, she's not the weirdest animal I've taken to class - I took a screech owl (one used for education) from Wildside to my Environmental Science class for my presentation about Wildside.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I know some hedgehogs can get motion sickness from a car, but for Archimedes it's the exact opposite. He blisses out, I assume from the motion, and spends most of the time snoozing, or otherwise peeking out of his bag and trying to explore. We take him out regularly, I'd say once a week so far since we've gotten him. Usually it's just to come along when we're going shopping or whatever. Depending on how long it is, sometimes he'll spend part of it sleeping in his bag, but mostly he's curious about the new surroundings. Since it's two of us, my boyfriend and I, when we take him somewhere, one of us is holding him/his bag and paying full attention to him. People tend to get very excited and interested when they notice he's in our hands, and he gets a lot of attention, which doesn't really bother him. Since he's not stressed by it, I see it kind of like how you would socialize a puppy - the more they're exposed to different environments, sounds, people, etc., the more okay they'll be with those things.


----------

