Top Document: Hedgehog FAQ [4/7] - Hedgehogs as pets Previous Document: <5.8> Any suggestions on toys? Next Document: <6.2> What should I feed my hedgehog? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge Simple, make sure there's nothing to climb onto, off of, into, or out of, nothing that can fall, and finally no kryptonite. A little too much to ask, you say? Oh well, let's try for a more realistic approach based on what hedgehogs will try to do if allowed to run free. Seriously, ``hedgehogproofing'' is a lot like ``childproofing,'' and the most that you can ever really hope to achieve is to ``hedgehog-resist'' your home. Hence, the stress on supervising your prickly kids, below. A free roaming hedgehog will climb anything it can get its claws hooked into. African pigmy hedgehogs in particular (as opposed to Egyptian hedgehogs) are notorious climbers, and escape artists. They are also not afraid of jumping off household cliffs (we call these precipices counters and tables) by simply rolling into a ball and leaning forward, using the quills as springs for landing. That pretty much means your hedgehog needs run of the floor, and if you have stairs, you will either have to block them or keep him on the lowest floor. Next, hedgehogs will get under just about anything they can. This includes any piece of furniture that has any more than about a 1'' gap between it and the floor. The problem here isn't so much the hedgehog getting under there, but that there may be dust or other things accumulated there that are not good for your hedgehog. The best guide is probably to get down to the hedgehog's level and try to imagine any place your frisky little friend might even consider trying to get into, and what it would be like. Beyond keeping these activities in mind, make sure your hedgehog has a warm place that's easily accessible for a den, as well as access to water and food. Hedgehogs will usually prefer to leave their droppings on wood shavings or a similar bedding, if, that is, you are as successful (or rather unsuccessful) as I have been in the litter box training department (at least as I was with Velcro). Although Ambergris has sawdust that she uses 1/2 the time, she also has chosen 2 other spots in her room for droppings. I put paper towels there. So far that is working great and she is not tracking saw dust everywhere. -- Katherine Long User Contributions:Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:Top Document: Hedgehog FAQ [4/7] - Hedgehogs as pets Previous Document: <5.8> Any suggestions on toys? Next Document: <6.2> What should I feed my hedgehog? Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Part6 - Part7 - Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: macnamara@bastet.hedgehoghollow.com (Brian MacNamara)
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
|
Thank you!