Thinking About Hedgehogs

[sheilaandroses]

Oh my, where do I start. So I have a hamster and a chinchilla, and I love them just so much. Like, really, when my chinchilla of seven months wakes up for play time he doesn't go back in his cage for at least two hours. Hamster gets lotsa lovin to. <3 Anyways, I've really been thinking about cute little hedgehogs for a while now, and I read the "Before you get a hedgehog" thread. I just want to get a hedgehog and spoil it like no other. Now, I realize that the chinchilla and the hedgehog can't be in the same room because chinchilla's need 75- degrees and hedgehogs need it warmer than that. So anyways, my string of questions.
1. Is a heating lamp necessary for hedgehog in a already warm room? How warm can it get before it's "too warm"?

2. I've been planning to get my chinchilla a new cage, so can I put the hedgehog in his old one (it's about the size of a FN 141 but just a smidge smaller)? How far apart can the bar spaces be?

3. Are hedgehogs anything like chinchillas? I love Kodah (chinchilla) so much. Like he's my favorite thing ever.

Since I'm just looking into this and not quite planning on getting one yet, tell me any extra information you think I should know. These are the only questions I have as of now.

 

[smhufflepuff]

1. Is a heating lamp necessary for hedgehog in a already warm room? How warm can it get before it's "too warm"?

Depends on what you mean by an already warm room. Typical room temperatures ususally have a way of changing over time - they get cooler in the evenings/night and warm up during the day. That change might be too much for a hedgie. Of course, if you have a special room set aside where you can accurately control the temp of just that room so it doesn't follow the typical rise and fall of temperatures, then, yes, that could work.
Also, if hedgie becomes ill for any reason, a common recommendation is to up the temp by a degree or two, so you would need to be able to bump the temp of the whole room.

In sum, a heat emitter (with thermostat control) can be very helpful in making sure you get the temp just right and that it stays pretty constant. It's not needed if you have another reliable method of doing so. But, gosh, it's the best method I've found.

How warm before too warm... depends on the hedgie a little bit. I've had the pleasure of seeing 11 hedgies in one place at one time. At 75 degrees, 3 girls were too cold, and 3 girls were fine, and 5 boys were just fine. Bumping the temp up to 80, then all 6 girls were fine, one boy was fine, and 4 boys were splatted out (too warm).. but not dehydration levels of too warm.

2. I've been planning to get my chinchilla a new cage, so can I put the hedgehog in his old one (it's about the size of a FN 141 but just a smidge smaller)? How far apart can the bar spaces be?

I think my cages' bar spaces are about half an inch. If you're getting an adult hedgie, half an inch should be fine. You can always put a coroplast liner around the bottom and sides of the cage so hedgie can't either get out or get hurt trying to get out if the spaces are too large.

I'm not so sure how big a FN 141 is. I can tell you that I was first picturing using a cage that was about 2' wide by about 1.5" deep. Once I put in the wheel, water dish, food dish, igloo, and litter box, I realized there was no place for a hedgie

3. Are hedgehogs anything like chinchillas? I love Kodah (chinchilla) so much. Like he's my favorite thing ever.

Depends... What is it that you love so much about Kodah that you'd like to see in a hedgie?

 

[sheilaandroses]

Depends... What is it that you love so much about Kodah that you'd like to see in a hedgie?

Thank you for all your answers! And some of the reasons I love Kodah is because I think it's cool how he has his own personality. I like how he runs on my floor and climbs onto me. I like how he comes when I call him (I make a noise with my mouth whenever he gets a treat so if I make the noise he always comes to me). I love it that he lets me handle him for a while before/ after he has playtime. But I have to say that my favorite thing of all is when after a long day of school, I go into my room, and he jumps up and stands at the cage bars for attention. LOL so now that you read my life story, I basically would like my hedgehog to be playful, loving, and tolerate a little handling if any. I can wait for him to trust me, I waited seven months for me a Kodah to get to this point!

 

[Christemo]

Hedgehogs aren't really as reactive as that. I mean, they'll run around, but they are very much nocturnal and aren't very cuddly.

 

[smhufflepuff]

...and aren't very cuddly.

Personalities differ between hedgies, so there's no guarantee of a certain type of behavior: some want nothing to do with humans other than to be given food and water, others are runners, others are snugglers.

I'd best describe my little ones as snugglers. Satin would snuggle for about an hour before she got all antsy and want to go potty and get something to eat. Tex will snuggle as long as it's warm... a marathon snuggler he is Sitting with my little ones... feeling their soft bellies and pudgy pink feet is one of the great joys in my life.

 

[Christemo]

I should rephrase that. They're not cuddly like a dog or cat. My girl loves to plop herself down on my lap and snooze away.