Best bedding?

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SilverHedgie

Active member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
33
Location
British Colombia
Looking at getting a hedgie and just curious what you recommend as a bedding? I've read about fleece, carefresh and even aspen shavings, but I want to know from those who actually use them what works best.

Thanks for the help!
 
I use Carefresh. It works well, but it can get expensive. I have two hedgehogs, and I clean both cages about twice a week (spot clean everyday), meaning I spend at least $20 a week on their bedding.

I'm looking into switching to fleece. I have heard a lot of good things about using the fleece liners. The pros of that would be it is inexpensive since they can be reused, and if you use light colors you can monitor their urine and feces for any problems. Some hedgehogs will burrow under it though, so you have to be careful with where you place things in their cage so they don't knock their food and water all over. They may also choose to go to the bathroom underneath the fleece instead of on top of it.

Personally I don't like the wood shavings. Even if you get the fine shavings there can be sharp pointy pieces, and I worry about injury.

If you're interested in getting a male, I have heard that substrate beddings like the carefresh and wood can get stuck in their genitals and cause problems, so that is also something to think about.
 
I prefer fleece.
- You can clean it/it's reusable.
- There are no particles that will cling to hedgie/me and spread all over the house.
- There are no particles that will get stuck in/to a male hedgie's genitals.
- There are no tiny particles that can be inhaled and cause irritation to hedgie's tiny lungs.
- Health issues like messy poops, no poops, bloody poops, off-colored urine, bloody feet, uterine bleeding, other bleeding will show up quickly on light-colored fleece and not get lost/buried.

I've tried Carefresh, Yesterday's News, and shavings in litter boxes... Just too messy. Gets tracked all over the cage, in the water dish, in the food dish, ends up on my sleeves, then spread around the house... Then there's the dustiness issue. And some hedgies will eat the stuff... which is dangerous to them.

So fleece liners with smaller fleece wheel-mats (smaller scrap pieces that go near the wheel to catch run-off) is what I've found works best. And for my messy eaters, I put down small fleece place-settings under the dishes so I can just grab up the crumbs and shake them into the trash. If they use a litter box, then a paper towel works just fine.
 
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