cage smell?

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michellemonster

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Mar 27, 2011
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169
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oregon
my sister has 2 hedgies and was wondering if there is something that she can do to eliminate the smell. like a spray or a powder. she also would like to know is there a way to make her hedgehogs a little skinnier evidently they are way to fat and cant even roll into a ball lol
 
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my sister has 2 hedgies and was wondering if there is something that she can do to eliminate the smell. like a spray or a powder. she also would like to know is there a way to make her chinnies a little skinnier evidently they are way to fat and cant even roll into a ball lol

I don't know much about hedgies. However her chinchillas should not be obese as long as they are being fed a high quality pellet and hay as their diet and limited, healthy treats.

In the future it would be best if you only put hedgie questions in the hedgie side, and chin questions in the chin side, not combining them on just one side. It will make it easier to get more answers to your questions.
 
lol im sorry i meant hedgies on those too.. >.> i was talking to her on the phone as i was typing and i have a one track mind. i was talking to her about my chinchilla who just had babies while i was trying to do this. lol
 
Hedgehogs don't really smell other than when they urinate and poo. They don't have scent glands. Their poo's don't smell very nice but there's not much you can really do about that as far as I can tell. Give the hedgies foot baths daily (just have them run in shallow water to clean their feet), a bath sparingly (like, once a month), clean their wheel/cage of any poo as soon as it happens, and clean cages once-twice a week. If after the cages are cleaned the actual cage still smells, I'd try a vinegar/water mixer. It'll neutralize any bad smells and clean the cage pretty efficiently without bothering the hedgies. That should help at least a little.

As far as them being overweight: Hedgehogs MUST have a large solid plastic wheel at all times. Hedgehogs run for miles at night and are very active and need that outlet to be able to exercise. Also, what kind of food do they eat? I would lower their insect intake slightly since insects are high in fat and switch to a high quality, low fat cat food. I feed mine Blue Buffalo weight control cat food. It's got really healthy ingredients and prevents my hedgehogs from getting overweight.
 
Hedgehogs shouldn't have a smell if their cage is kept clean...their urine and feces smells, which is why their cage and mostly their wheel needs to be cleaned frequently. But I clean my cage and wheel every two days and it doesn't smell much at all. Making sure the cage is cleaned regularly should eliminate most the smell, if not, it might be a good idea to take them into the vet to see if there is some other reason that causes them to smell.

Her hedgies need exercise and proper diet - especially if its so bad they can't roll in a ball. It's very bad for their health if they are overweight but a wheel can be a good solution. If they don't have a wheel, she should get one. If they do, she may need a bigger one so they will use it and she should try to give them some out of cage play time if she doesn't already. And, like Spinypigfacelover said, they need good food and limited insects.

Hope that helps!
 
they have a wheel that they run in but if they poop on it they wont run on it at all. like just once then they are done with it. she has them on chicken soup for the cat lovers soul. ill pass along all the suggestions hopefully it will be helpful.
 
If the owner is up when the hedgehog poops on the wheel, I would suggest cleaning it until she goes to bed. Unfortunately after that point there's not much she can do about them being picky about running on their own poo! Once hedgehogs get the idea that they want or don't want to do something, basically you just have to comply and do things a little differently.

I would suggest having at least an hour or two of active playtime. Get tubes or PVC pipes they can run around in. Make sure they do have their wheel in their play area just in case. Or even have them run around your house (with careful supervision of course). When hedgehogs are exposed to new stimuli, usually they become very curious and want to explore. That is a good alternative way to keep their exercise up.

I would still have her look at the fat content in the food she's feeding them. My food has around 9% fat to keep them lean and healthy. I would say that amount or at least below average fat content would be acceptable until they are able to roll back into a ball again. Cut back on their insect/fruit intake.
 
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