# New APH owner to be :)



## jojo9380 (Oct 12, 2011)

Hello everyone. My lovely fella has agreed to let me have one of these cuties for christmas.... Excited is an understatement! 

So basically I'm looking for as much advice as I can get from people that already have them!

Brand of cat biscuits people use?

Bedding? 

Wheels for exercise and which one?

Will be using a plug in pet safe heat pad in the hide. It says it's safe to use as it has a built in thermostat. Anyone use these? 

Also how easy are they to litter train, as I was thinking of fleece as bedding with an additional litter tray.

Look forward to hearing from you all  

Joanne


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## polar (Sep 24, 2009)

Mine are on fleece bedding and only 1 of my hogs poop's outside the litter pan. The liners are very easy to clean too.

Food I use a mix of Whiska's, Purely(you can get it at petsathome), Iams and a bit of royal canin.
I also feed chicken, scrambled egg and mince twice a week. (as well as live meal worms)

Wheels' I have 2 different brands soon to be 3.
I use Larry's Carolina storm/bucket wheels which are very good but not easy to get over here. (they are from the USA) I also have 1 silent spinner which is not as easy to clean but does the job and I have just ordered a new wheel made by Faith (who run's the hedgehog registry) which I am waiting for it to arrive, it has good reviews so far.
CritterCribs

I use petnap with a thermostat and I have snugglesafes incase.
Best of luck.


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## jojo9380 (Oct 12, 2011)

emmamalakian said:


> Mine are on fleece bedding and only 1 of my hogs poop's outside the litter pan. The liners are very easy to clean too.
> 
> Food I use a mix of Whiska's, Purely(you can get it at petsathome), Iams and a bit of royal canin.
> I also feed chicken, scrambled egg and mince twice a week. (as well as live meal worms)
> ...


Thank you for the reply  petnap is what I was looking at. Do you mean you use an additional thermostat? The description says they have one built in. Isn't this sufficient?


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## PresqueVu (Jul 27, 2008)

Congrats, look forward to pictures when you get them! Do you think you'll be getting a boy or a girl?

I also use liners, and I have a carolina storm wheel with litter tray underneath. I've actually found an improvement since having this litter tray and most of the poo does end up there.

One thing with liners I think is that it doesn't provide the opportunity to forage like a substrate does - so I think some keepers have a foraging 'tray' or dish type to hide mealworms and similar in. I haven't tried this yet as my guy doesn't like mealworms and so far I've only got him eating biscuits or mince!

I'd also recommend trying a bonding bag to help get them used to you. I've got a rat one that I'm using and it was great initially, and now works well for nights when he doesn't actually want to come out and play but I want him to stay used to me and not revert to huffyness.


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## jojo9380 (Oct 12, 2011)

PresqueVu said:


> Congrats, look forward to pictures when you get them! Do you think you'll be getting a boy or a girl?
> 
> I also use liners, and I have a carolina storm wheel with litter tray underneath. I've actually found an improvement since having this litter tray and most of the poo does end up there.
> 
> ...


There is a little boy that I'm in the process of enquiring about at the mo. Is there much difference in keeping males and females? Does one make a better pet than the other?

Thank you for the tips, the forage tray and bonding bag are definitely something I want to use  Also great tip on putting the litter tray under the wheel. I did hear that they do most of their pooping when exercising! :lol2:

It's the heating and warmth side of things that are worrying me, don't want him to be cold!


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## Jamiioo (May 8, 2010)

Petnaps do need thermostats, i have a petnap and its on a thermostat, everyone else i am aware of that has one has a thermostat, i would get one just to be on the safe side.

Also, there are no real differences between males and females other than some people who have male hogs noticing that their boys like to erm, self pleasure every now and then :lol2:


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## polar (Sep 24, 2009)

jojo9380 said:


> Thank you for the reply  petnap is what I was looking at. Do you mean you use an additional thermostat? The description says they have one built in. Isn't this sufficient?


I have used petnap's before for puppies and kittens and I believe what it means by a built in thermostat is that it will only go as hot as the weight applied to the petnap. I did at first try it without a thermostat and found my hedgehogs cage at 28c which is a bit to hot for a hoggy. 

Its better to have a stat so that it keeps to a stable level instead of fluctuating.


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## IamAshlyRose (Nov 7, 2011)

I've had my two & a half month old Hedgehog for a few weeks now, she was a gift from my boyfriend & I can't get enough of her! She's adorable. 

The breeder I bought my Hedgehog from gave me a relatively detailed care sheet that states a wheel mustn't be smaller than 12 inches as they require the room to spread out as they run & I've chosen a Silent Spinner wheel.

From my own experience, I use Whiskers dry kitten chicken flavoured biscuits & Noah seems to love them. I also give her a couple of dried mealworms every night before handling her to build up trust between us. 

I use soft hand towels bundled in the corner of her cage for bedding as my Hedgehog is naturally curious & loves to burrow through it before nestling to sleep.

At the moment I line my cage with newspaper as it is easy to spot clean & although I haven't gotten around to litter training yet I'm going to give it a go once I have a little more advice. 

I'm not an expert but I hope I've been some help? :}


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## jojo9380 (Oct 12, 2011)

Thank you all for the wonderful and helpful replies, really grateful for them!

So I have found my little boy and I pick him up a week today  He's 10 months old and gorgeous 

Here he is










What colour catergory does he fall into?


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## jojo9380 (Oct 12, 2011)

[/QUOTE]People who have male hogs noticing that their boys like to erm, self pleasure every now and then :lol2:[/QUOTE]

Haha :lol2:


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## Jamiioo (May 8, 2010)

Its true! Lol

I would guess your hog looks Algerian Grey or Chocolate.

Those are the only 2 colours i can really tell. Haha :lol2:


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## IamAshlyRose (Nov 7, 2011)

jojo9380 said:


> Thank you all for the wonderful and helpful replies, really grateful for them!
> 
> So I have found my little boy and I pick him up a week today  He's 10 months old and gorgeous
> 
> ...


I'd say an Algerian Grey, which is what mine is.
Do you know what colours her parents are? It might be easier to tell!


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

wow, a fantastic read on this thread so far .....

I get my 5 month old albino boy tonight, I am soooooooo excited.....

Just wondered what you use as substrate ?

Would you suggest aspen ?

Thanks

Stephen


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## Jamiioo (May 8, 2010)

Why does everyone on here ask if Aspen is ok for hogs? Is it a reptile substrate or something? Lol.

And i have no clue what exactly Aspen is but i have read a few times that it is not good for hogs, here are a few things most people use - 

- Dust free woodshavings/chips
- Carefresh
- Megazorb
- Newspaper
- Fleece Liners


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

Fantastic, thank you 

Yes, we / some use aspen for our snakes


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## Vickyhayes (May 18, 2009)

Ours love special hedgehog biscuits that we get from our local pet supply shop. Have seen some hedgehog biscuits in pets at home but dont know if these are the same. We sometimes put some water in with them and they really like them soggy too. 

We also tend to have 3 bowls on the go at once- one with biscuits and dried meal worms in and we use the other for treats such as chicken/mince/wet cat food (free from fish and fish products) which are portioned so not too much of these. We have also tried them on various fruits and vegetables but they wont touch them. We also hand feed them things like morio worms or wax worms but again not too many.

One of our girls is due to have a litter in 2 weeks and the other gave birth on Sunday night : victory: Hedgehogs are so addictive!


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

Ive had to use dust free hay for now (all I could get)

Will that be ok for now ?

This is the enclosure :










Thank you 

Stephen


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

Cant I buy Finacard from Jolleys ? or anywhere like that , I have got him on dust free Hay at the moment, which I know isnt any good , but cant wait to order online ! anyone have any ideas ?


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## MattsZoo (Oct 27, 2011)

I use Aspen.


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

MattsZoo said:


> I use Aspen.


I have asked about Aspen , but everyone said NO ...

That would be a lot easier for me if I could


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## MattsZoo (Oct 27, 2011)

I was referred to Hedgehog Central

They say Aspen is suitable  I have no problems as of yet, it does get a bit messy though with an "un-toilet-trained hog", lots of spot cleaning required.


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

MattsZoo said:


> I was referred to Hedgehog Central
> 
> They say Aspen is suitable  I have no problems as of yet, it does get a bit messy though with an "un-toilet-trained hog", lots of spot cleaning required.


lol, have you tried to litter train yet ?


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## MattsZoo (Oct 27, 2011)

It's in there but he doesn't seem interested  Poops whenever and wherever he wants 

But that website has a lot of useful info


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

MattsZoo said:


> It's in there but he doesn't seem interested  Poops whenever and wherever he wants
> 
> But that website has a lot of useful info


cool, thanks , it has to be a certain type of litter stuff to dosnt it ?


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## MattsZoo (Oct 27, 2011)

I put low-dust cat litter in the tray, which I have for the fluffy beast in my life too 

Definitely don't use 'Clumping' cat litter.


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## fangsy (Sep 17, 2007)

Anyone got a link on what one to use for litter ?

Thanks

Steve


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## MattsZoo (Oct 27, 2011)

I use Tesco Low Dust Lightweight Cat Litter. Its dust free and doesn't clump. Some one may have a better alternative, in which case I'm open to suggestions


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