Free Ranging Hedgies

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

hedgie_kid

Slave to 1 Prickly Pig
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
117
Location
MD
What is your opinion on hedgies free ranging in a limited amount of space? This probably isn't the best way to ask this question because there are multiple answers that could be given. You could state what your hedgie does or your general opinion. Like I said, there are multiple answers so here are just SOME things to think about when debating or answering-

-How much "out of cage time" do I give my hedgie?
-Do I supervise my hedgie during play time? If not, what have I done to hedgie proof the room?
-Do you typically interact with your hedgie during his/her playtime?
-Do you leave an opening in your hedgie's cage so that he has the choice to stay inside the cage or play outside the cage?:winkers:
 
I used to let Sid have free range on the couch and the living room floor. But I would be sitting there with her and stopping/redirecting her if she went somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. I would always supervise cause I was afraid of her pooping/peeing. But when she had mites, I stopped cause I didn't want them spreading. She's been quite upset with me. But she has a huge C&C cage I built for her (42"x28" with a 2nd story) so she still has plenty of exercise.
 
I do not think a hedgie should have free range of a room or even an area of a room to the point where it is their full time living space. I believe they need a certain level of privacy, and an environment that can be easily controlled/maintained for their own health and safety. A cage is the best and easiest way to provide this.

I do try to give them 'free range' out of cage time when they are in the mood ( Angel nearly always wants to cuddle, Barley likes to run on some days and cuddle on others )

For me 'free range' time is always supervised, but not always physically interactive. I block off half the hedgie room, make sure the floor is clean ( we do not wear shoes indoors and mop/vacuum weekly so the floor is generally very clean ) put some toys, food, and water down, and just let them do their thing.
Sometimes i will lie down in the area and let them climb or cuddle against me, coming and going as they please. Other times i will stand at a distance and photograph/ film them or just watch them. Its easy to tell when they have had enough, as they look for a hiding spot and start to settle down to sleep :)
 
This is probably because I am a fairly new hedgehog owner(got my first about 2 months ago) but I can't bear to let Hot Dog lounge around in her cage all day. She has NEVER fallen asleep or even rested for even a minute. Though she does like to stay away from light. She kind of invented a racetrack for herself. She starts off underneath my bed(where I can esily see and reach her at all times), runs behind my desk, into my closet, tries to run over my pile of books I have on the floor(she has yet to accomplish it), back behind my shelf, and underneath my bed. Ths usually goes on for at least 15 minutes before she gets distracted by something but usually lasts up to an hour.(she is always supervised. It is my bedroom she runs in but I very carefully make sure that the room is hedgehog proof before allowing a run around time. :)
 
Years ago when I first got hedgehogs (about 15 years ago), there was a woman named Carol who had two free ranging hedgehogs. They had the entire run of her home.
 
I let Hector out for four hours of free-range time every evening. However he has food, water, and his hedgie bag plus all areas of any question are blocked with socks filled with rice and he is in a sunken livingroom area (which means there is restriction to his free roaming). I know he is done when he goes back into his hedgie bag (though it is usually between 3-4 hours). He is then returned to his cage where he gets his full dinner and retires for the evening. It really depends on the hog, some like it, some prefer to cuddle, some prefer their wheel, some really only want about 20 minutes of exploration. Hector spends most of his time jogging laps and he gets very angry (evidenced by extreme cage turmoil) when I miss a night.
 
Mallas Time

We just got our baby girl 2 weeks today. We have hedgie proofed our living room and kitchen for her to run in at night for a couple hours. Daddy normally gets her up and cuddles a bit while Mommy cleans her cage and does water and food duty which then gets put down for her. Malla then gets run around time. She can really boot around the room. We have to make sure limited lights are on or she won't go anywhere. She normally runs around under the lip of the couch, runs under the tv stand, and under Daddy's chair (still trying to figure out how to keep her from under there). She seems to make a route for herself lol. (it's cute cause the floor is slippery and she's running her little butt off but her feet are slipping and sliding out from under her. She looks like she is skating). We are hoping to get a play pen for her but we will have to see.:thinking:
 
I have heard of people making over size cages out of ferret play pen panels & or kiddie swimming pools.(however you would need to customize them so the hedgie counld climb out. I suppose if your room was small enough free range would be ok, BUT as said, its really best to just put them back in a cage when you arent around. Even if things are proofed to what you would think they can surprise you. All it takes is a few moments in the wrong place to prove dangerous.

I would just invest in a nice size cage & allow as much run time as you & or your hedgie are ok with nightly.

Then of course a wheel in the cage & other stimulation.

My hedgies have cages with wheels in them & we generally take them out for about 2 hours at a time. If its much longer than that i find them sleeping somewhere. This is all done via a proofed room & so far no complaints from the peanut gallery. =]
 
Last edited:
You are going to have to deal with feces and urine in places where you aren't necessarily going to find them. You will wake up to puddles on the floor and poop stuck to your socks. It's not the chinchilla kind of poop either. It's the squishy, human like poop (only smaller).

There are just too many things that could go wrong.

1. Drafts they could find (they will hibernate and either have their immune system severely compromised or they will not recover from hibernation at all).
2. Debris on the floor. I can never find all of the junk on my floor. Perhaps a paper clip in the corner, or a pebble here or a piece of road salt fallen from a winter boot. It's just asking for a hedgehog to swallow it!
3. HAIR and string. Get that caught around a foot and it's goodbye foot and hello $800 (or so) vet bill.

I've hedgie-proofed a room before and I'm always amazed at where he can fit and what trouble he can get into.

There are safer alternatives like a play pen (I've found a perfect one!) or supervised time around the house. One girl on here had a room dedicated to her hedgehog that had nothing except for a kiddie pool, a litter pan, etc. in it and even then she made sure she had the option of restricting the hedgehog to just the kiddie-pool.
 
I have different policies for each of my boys:

Spike: He's a snuggler, so he doesn't really need too much "on the floor" time. If I do put him on the floor, he hightails it towards the nearest piece of furniture to run away from the light. So if I keep him out with me, I set up a penned in area out of C&C cubes that I've fashioned into an expand-o fence. I put a blanket or sheet on the floor and he can do his thing. Usually his thing is just to find a dark spot and sleep, but I keep him out anyway so he is still accustomed to hearing humans around him.

Jack: will NOT stop moving. He is very curious and not light-sensitive. He has no interest in the furniture and prefers to wander around the living room floor. However, since he is not litter trained, we first give him a foot bath (because he guaranteed will poop and pee in the tub). While he's in his towel, my boyfriend holds him on his desk. When Jack feels he is sufficiently dry, he'll come out and start exploring. Once he annoys my boyfriend enough (Jack's a "rearranger"), it's time to hit the floor. I sit on the floor with him and he gets to explore- he explores the Xbox controllers, my backpack, etc. Sometimes, if I need to go do something I will put him on a towel with a few kibbles. I know I've got about 5 seconds per kibble to do something. This is good for when I need to run into another room to grab the phone or use the toilet. Even if he decided to go off somewhere, there's nothing dangerous for him to get to. All the wires are bunched off the ground and the plugs are in a plastic bin that he also can't get into.

Both my boys though think my bed is a jungle gym. I have about 5 pillows and another 5 blankets on the bed that serves as a hiking and spelunking area for them. I think this is the safest play area they have... and it's their favorite.
 
I used to use cardboard boxes, unfolded, to make a playpen for Sweet Pea. After too-many urine stains and "muddy-carpet" I stopped. Then when she was litter trained, I let her run around on my bed. She was very well trained and would sleep on my bed (after eating and pooping). I hope I can get Mika at least litter trained! =D
 
Free range question

Howdy I am not a hedgie owner as of yet. I feel I need to read about them and learn all I can before I attempt to find one. I have learned alot and dont want to sound stupid but wandered what you all thought about getting like one of the play pens for ferrets for a hedgie to play in. I thought it'd be a place it could run around and play with its toys and be safe kinda thing. I was just wandering if you all had used one and the safety of using one for a hedgie. I was just thinking if you got up to get a drink you'd be leaving him/her unattended and figure thats when anything could happen but if it was in a playpen it'd be ok if you had to do something real quick. Thanks Guys and it sure is good to meet you all on here now!!!!!
 
Just make sure its not a box wire play pen they could climb up and fall or break a leg.
 
When I owned hedgehogs in the past, I attempted free range in my bedroom. The girls LOVED it, however it was a disaster for me. I am female, I had long hair, and I shed. It's not possible to find EVERY hair i've shed while in my bedroom. At one point, sometime while I was not around one of the girls got hair wrapped around her foot, cutting off the circulation. It needed to be surgically cut off, as everytime she walked etc it just made the hair tighter and tighter.

As mentioned, you honestly cannot keep your room 100% spotless, either. There are things they can get into. Their bathroom habits ended up being horrible, whereas if they were in the cage they just used the litter boxes. Free range, they didn't want to go back to the boxes to use the bathroom.

I ended up switching to a large C&C cage w/ tile floor, and Vellux blankets. It gave them a lot of space, but I was able to keep it clean and keep that area clean and free of objects and hair.
 
My hedgehog is afraid of heights and can be safely left on any table, bed, or raised surface without fear of him falling off. I will often clear everything off the dinner table and put a few things he can climb in ( like a hat, or an old sweater) and watch him, however I can confidently walk away for a few minutes. On a warm day I will also do this outside on the patio furniture.
 
My hedgehog is afraid of heights and can be safely left on any table, bed, or raised surface without fear of him falling off. I will often clear everything off the dinner table and put a few things he can climb in ( like a hat, or an old sweater) and watch him, however I can confidently walk away for a few minutes. On a warm day I will also do this outside on the patio furniture.
This is an injury waiting to happen. It doesn't matter in the least if you think your hedgehog is afraid of heights. Most hedgehogs have very little if any spatial awareness and are often not even aware of an edge being there and will walk of it without even realizing it.
 
I know this thread is old, but my insomnia is bad today, so I'll chime in as well. I let Khaki and Mace out about once a week. I have a little playpen wire wall thing that I can change the shape of and put anywhere. I put down a towel, put it into an 8 formation (don't want any babies) and let them at for a bit while I watch from the floor in the next room where they can't see me watch. Normally they just fuff and sit there, but last night Mace figured out he could stick his nose under the right joint and push up and he'd be free to roam. I got him back in immediately just for him to go right back and do it again (smart bugger). I dont recommend ever letting them roam when you aren't watching, too much can go wrong. I have long hair and really shed, so I wouldn't want something as simple as that to hurt them. I wouldn't want them to find a hidey hole where I couldn't find them, eat who knows what in corners, etc. I'm just too paranoid.
 
Back
Top