2 replies to this topic

[MushuTheHamster]

Hey guys!

Long story short, just a day under three weeks ago my boyfriend and I got together, although I've known him since like, May. We've been friends for quite a while, so he knows how deeply I care about animals. I've dropped a couple of hints to him, but he hasn't seemed to pick up: his hedgehog care is absolutely terrible.
Terry is his family hedgehog who lives in a glass aquarium (somewhere between 30-40 gallons) with a small plastic hide (which I don't believe he can fit in) and some sort of bed, a water bottle, and a food dish. Notice that they're missing bedding and a heating lamp.

I don't know too much about hedgehog's, but I believe I've heard that they do best in large barred cages with some sort of substrate, a heating lamp, and some sort of fleece hide.
I know they got Terry impulsively but I'm not sure how long they've had him or what they feed him. My boyfriend has mentioned several times that Terry is very unfriendly and mean, which I'm sure it's because they didn't do the taming process, and probably since he has lots of small children handling him the majority of the time.
The main care comes from the parents who clean the cage and buy everything, but have his cage balancing on a stool (not large enough to hold the entire cage) in their kitchen.

So my question is, since I know so little about hedgehogs, would someone care to tell me what my boyfriend could improve on, and maybe send me some resources to research with? I already have an idea how I'm going to approach him about this, but I don't really know where to begin with information. Any help is welcome!

Thank you!

[Alessia]

I know how helpless it feels to be in a situation like this, hedgehogs are amazing animals but do require some critical things. A animal channel called Tori Lynn has a bunch of videos on hedgehogs and their care particularly this one

Spoiler

 https://youtu.be/nqtgHKEfjvo 

I hope your boyfriend will take your advice with a grain of salt!

[ajuniceu~]

I don't really know too much about their care but I know the basics so hopefully I can help some

 

- most experienced owners say 8 sq ft minimum cage size

- c&c cages (like ones for guinea pigs) are generally what I've seen being used most, it shouldn't be smaller than 2 by 4 grids though

- you're right about the heating and bedding, i've seen some people use fleece and others paper bedding and I think it just depends on the person, though I'd personally go with fleece as it's cheaper long run.

- i'm pretty sure a wheel of at least 10" is a necesity as well, the carolina storm bucket wheels are ones i've seen most used

- dry cat food is the optimal food, 30-33% protein, 9-13% fat, and 3-8% fibre are the numbers i've seen for the GA

- fleece hideouts, snuggle sacks, pvc tubes, digging box, cat toys, etc are all great items to have in a cage

 

I'm pretty sure Remy has a hedgehog so maybe they can provide more insight