Im going to be making a C&C cage for hedge-hogs which I will be getting soon. I wanted a 2 story cage made rom coroplast and the wire squares. Where do I get ramps, or how do you make them?
Does anyone know anything about feeding hedge-hogs. I know basically what they eat but can you catch beetles, spiders, etc and give it to them??
What do they like?
Any information will help! What do they like to play with?
PLEASE HELP! Thanks
Augh - NOOOO!!!! Never ever ever ever ever catch wild insects and feed them to your hedgehog! Yes - they are insectivores, but African Pygmy Hedgehogs (ie - the ones kept as pets in North America) are a specially bred combination of hedgies such that you need to be VERY careful as to what you feed them.
Hedgehogs should NOT be fed petstore-style "hedgehog" foods as they are lacking in nutrients. They need a very carefully balanced diet of high-quality cat foods, with the following qualities... in order to assess these qualities in the dry cat food kibble you purchase, look at the ingredient labels and nutritional content analysis for the following things:
Protein: as high/close to 30% as possible
Fat: as low as possible (6% - 14% maximum)
Some examples of good brands of food to feed your hedgie are:
"Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Light", "Royal Canin Slim 37 or 38", and the 'light' or 'low-fat' cat foods manufactured by the following producers:
Natural Balance, Solid Gold & Wellness.
Pet foods sold in grocery stores or department stores are generally low quality. Actual meats (i.e. chicken, lamb, beef) should be the first five ingredients listed; not corn gluten or other fillers. Do your best to find the combination of high protein, low fat and quality ingredients; preferably from one of the preferred manufacturers, listed above.
You can give small amounts of the following 2-4/week: veggies (cooked peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and raw, rinsed and diced green pepper); fruits (banana, apple slices, watermelon, blueberries, cranberries, kiwi)and occasional small servings of plain organic yogout, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs. When hedgies are sick, or as an occasional snakc, feed them baby foods of plain meats (ie turkey) or fruits or vegetables... not the pasta or rice combination ones.
NEVER feed a hedgie any of the following: chocolate, onion, nuts, raisins, misc. human junk food.... they can be very dangerous if not lethal!
The most important point is NO WILD INSECTS!!! It's good to supplement their diet with some mealworms, crickets, etc., which you can easily buy freeze-dried in the reptile section of most pet-supply stores. Ensure that you aren't feeding too many, though, because they are very fatty and that's an issue to watch for as well.
Hedgies should be fed a MAX of 1-2 tablespoons of dry kibble a day. They are very prone to gaining weight and numerous associated complications, which come with it. Exercise is KEY! Your hedgie needs a large C&C cage for as much room as possible, as well as a safe, large, solid-surface wheel. The type we use is similar to this: (broken link removed)
We have 4 hedgies and each of them have a base area of 2x3, with an upper level of 1x2. Our hedgies are all males and as such, each must live seperately. Hedgies are not like cavies in this regard; males will attack and even kill each other - never worth the risk!
As for upper levels; hedgies can be seriously injured or killed from falling; they have poor depth perception. As such, any upper level must have a well-constructed 'fence' to ensure that they don't fall, as well as an enclosed ramp, or one with high sides. We use Super Pet bubble-wave ferret fun-nels ((broken link removed)), zap-strapped to the C&C grates above the upper and lower levels.
IMPORTANT: Second levels never compensate for first... always have the largest main-floor possible.
Hedgies poo like crazy, and when they're running. Give them a large 'litter-box' area around and under their wheel, and you will contain the majority of the poo.
As for toys; it depends on the hedgie. Almost every hedgie I've ever heard of will first and foremost always love his/her wheel above all else. They will wheel for 4-8 hours a night, which is why quietly operating ones (like the bucket-wheel style ones I linked to above) are most peoples' favourite choice.
Fun places to hide often come second; hedgie bags, kleenex boxes with openings cut into them (no rough or sharp edges), pop can boxes, cereal boxes, etc all work well since you can toss them when they get icky! Pigloos and PVC pipes can also work well and are re-washable and re-useable.
Next will be the amazingly simple, yet amusing cat ball plus toilet-paper tube. They love to roll the jingly (or non-jingly) balls around, stick their heads in the TP tubes and run around like their head is stuck (making many caregivers freak out even though it's just amusing for the hedgies), and as some of my boys do, they'll 'pick up' a cat ball in one end of the TP tube, stick their head in the other end, then run around smacking into things, then relax and gnaw on teh TP tube. Sounds silly, but it's a blast to watch.
Okay - that's enough for round one. If you have more questions, PLEASE ASK. It sounds like you have very little info, and the info you have (at least about nutrition) is very very wrong, so please ask! :important You don't want to make your hegdie sick or kill it through poor choices, so it's good that you're asking, and important that you follow this information loyally until you've got your hedgie safe, healthy and happy and have done a lot more research! Okay?
