Cage help for my new hedgie?

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Kaylarene13

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
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2
I just recently got a new hedgehog and I started out with bedding in her cage but I'm wanting to switch that out and try fleece liners instead. I was wondering if it would be safe for her if I used Vitakraft brand super-absorbent cage liners under the fleece as a way to catch all the yucky stuff and keep it off the bottom of the cage? Thanks for any help!!
 
The site for them says
Not for use in cages without wire or mesh grate
meaning your animal is not to be directly on them and hedgies often go liner diving under their fleece. There shouldn't be a mess you need to keep clean. They don't pee much. Our cage floors are never wet when we pull up the fleece and their droppings dry. Usually we just have some dry poops and spilled food left after rolling the fleece up to throw in the washer. That's easily swept up with a small broom or picked up with a paper towel and then we spray with bleach water (2 parts water, 1 part bleach) and leave to dry while the fleece washes and dries. Lay the fleece back down, replace cage items, and all done. It's rare we have to scrub a cage even with liner divers. The aquarium cage is the only one that poop sticks to and most of that is actually above the level of the fleece from a hedgie just backing up and pooping against the wall. We try not to use the aquarium but we don't have all our cages built for separating hoglets yet. We've got the wood for 3 more in the garage and I just made space for 2 more beyond that.
 
Good catch on the "not for use in cages without wire or mesh grate." Definitely not a product to use for hedgies who are apt to burrow under the liners. And, of course, you don't want to have your hedgie in a cage with a wire or mesh grate.

Agreed regarding the amount of hedgie messies. You can easily have a fleece liner and not have a massive amount of "yucky stuff" to deal with. Like Akane mentions, you'll likely see some poops in various stages of drying and some kibble crumbles (depending on how much of a messy eater your hedgie is) - you can just pick these things up with your fingers and toss them. And if you don't fancy picking them up with your fingers, a small vacuum like one of those rechargeable Dustbusters will pick them up for you.

The fleece will get wet where they pee -- often near the wheel or on the wheel and it runs off. You can put down a wheelmat (ie, smaller piece of scrap fleece) and it will catch most of the pee. Then all you have to do is change the wheelmat out every day.

I'm not so big on bleach with hedgies - one exception being when Texie had MRSA and I was rotating the quill kids in and out of different cages every 3 days and cleaning the heck out of the ones they weren't in. Usually hedgiewipes (ie, unscented baby wipes) will do the trick. But I'll move to the stronger stuff like vinegar & water and even bleach & water in the event of an illness. If you do use the stronger stuff, make sure that you've rinsed well and that the cage is completely dry before putting hedgie in.
 
Bleach dries to a harmless salt so rinsing is not actually required of anything they won't chew on. The only danger is fumes or still wet bleach. We cannot spray every cage at the same time or there is a risk of respiratory distress from the bleach fumes in the room. Vinegar has the same problem though. I actually burnt my throat and lungs cleaning too many gerbil cages and aquariums with vinegar during the same day. Took a week to heal.
 
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