# African Pygmy Hedgehog Setups!



## lessthanthree (Mar 24, 2010)

Hi guys.
I am getting an APH very soon (17th December; I am far tooo excited ) And I was wondering if anyone had any pictures of their set ups?
Or just a list of the essentials?
Just So I can make sure I've got it all right.

Was also wondering if this:
Trixie Hendrik XL House at UKPetSupplies.com

would be big enough for the little fella?
He will be 8 weeks old when I get him.

Thanks everyone!


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## Sarahhampson (Oct 19, 2010)

lots and lots of info and pic i have just joined 

http://pygmyhogsuk.forumandco.com/


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## fliddie (Oct 3, 2009)

The pygmy forum site above is the best. Where I learned everything I know!

Heres a few pics of my setups:

This is Trio's home, it is an old 5' sideboard which I bought for £20 and removated for him. You can have a lot of fun with hoggle homes as they dont tend to chew or destroy them. He lives in it on two layers now. Just make sure that any ramps you put in are boxed in (clear perspex on the one below and white perspex in lulu's) so the hoggles cant plummet off the side as they are clumsy and will nosedive off anything.















































Lulu's old home: it was an office storage shelf / cupboard which was renovated. It is 2' square x 3' high. I put rails and glass doors on it. 










Lulu now lives in a 5' long viv on one level.

Hoggles need a minimum of 3' long space, no bars as a few have had horrible accidents including hanging themselves as some will climb. 

They need a wheel of 12" wide - either a silent spinner or flying saucer is best. As they go to the loo as they run then this also benefits from a kitten litter tray to stand it in. I fill mine with chinchilla sand as it is absorbent. 

I also put a second litter tray with chin sand in there as they like to bath in it.

They need a warm bed. I use plush kitten beds covered with layers of cheap fleeces. You can use boxes full of fleeces / t shirts / towels etc or fill it with torn up toilet roll / kitchen roll...

An absolute must is a heat pad or lamp. I use heat pads - snugglesafe. If they arent kept warm they can try to hibernate and die as they dont have the body reserves to stay alive and bringing them round from any hibernative state is incredibly difficult. They can get very cold very quickly, check them twice daily as you reheat the pads. 

Some hogs like soft toys to cuddle up to, some ignore them completely. Some love ping pong type balls to knock around and cat toys but some dont bother with toys. They do love tubes - cardboard tubes from the centre of carpet rolls are free from carpet shops and the ideal size. You can give them toilet roll centres to play with but make sure you slit them all the way up one side so that they cant get them stuck on their heads.

For the bedding you can use wood shavings, fleeces, megazorb, shredded cardboard.... lots of things, just dont use hay or straw as they can get it wrapped around their feet.

You can go to town decorating the viv as most hoggles wont chew it. Just take care if you choose to paint anything and make sure that you use hoggle safe paints. You can use paper to decorate / pvc tablecloth / wallpaper etc, some people put stickers on them.... just make sure any stickers are out of reach of more investigative hoggles!

Obviously also food bowl / water bowl etc too


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## Jamiioo (May 8, 2010)

Wow, loving the set up pics above, amazing :2thumb:

Here is the set up thread from pygmyhogs uk, im a member so i can see it by clicking on it, not sure if you can view it if your not registered, if not, register! You wont regret it. Haha

Set ups (pic heavy)


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

What great setups and that is a very happy looking hog you have:2thumb:
I agree with looking on Pygmy Hogs UK - African Pygmy Hedgehog Forum, I find it a very friendly site:no1:


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## fliddie (Oct 3, 2009)

Unfortunately that hamster house wont be big enough for your hedgie, you really need to go for guinea pig size houses as they will grow from babies quickly and this size housing will allow for lots of bedding to be put inside too to keep them warm. As a rule I use anything big enough for a guinea pig to be adequate for a hoggle. APH's vary vastly in adult size too for no apparent reason so going guinea size means you will never have to replace anything if your little hoggle grows into a super size hedgepig!

There are lots of housing options - cardboard boxes are fine too, wooden ones ( Great Deals on Cabins for Small Pets at Zooplus: Thordis Cabin for Guinea Pigs

Trixie Corner House: Great Deals on Small Pet Houses at Zooplus )

are cool or you can use plush kitten beds for a nice soft, heat retaining bed (Bargains galore at zooplus: Smilla Cat Bed).

The main thing is to make sure that whatever bedding you provide, you also put in a heatpad for them to sleep on top of with room to move away from it if they get too warm. I find kitten beds with fleeces on top ideal for this they are large enough to move away from the heatpad, whereas if they are in a wooden box which is sat on top of a heat pad they will have to leave the bed altogether too cool off and may get cold outside of it.


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## Kare (Mar 9, 2010)

One tip I always give is to avoid hard and bottomless beds altogether to start with.

If you have a soft bed like a pouch or the square type someone has pictures above, you can move the whole bed out in your hands and then take it to the sofa/bed etc where you will be exercising your animal that evening/night and then take your time tempting them out with mealworms etc.

Trying to get the hedgy out of a bottomless house would involve far more possible rush as you will not be sat comfortably and more stress as you will at the very least be an intruder in their domain and at the very worse cause stress for them as you lift off the house shake them up and start the evening stressfully.

After they are tamer and you have put in all the work night after night the pretty houses are a great option.


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## lessthanthree (Mar 24, 2010)

Thanks guys.
I am going to convert a huuuuge Plastic storage box into his cage.
I'm going to cut the middle of the lid off and replace it with mesh for air ventilation, and drill a hole to add his wheel Maybe give him a few perspex or mesh windows too; Not so high up he can climb and hurt himself though.
I have just bought the guy a lovely rabbit sized wooden cabin for him, which I plan to glue fleece around the inside, also going to make him a little pouch out of fluffy fabric and fleece, and put that inside the cabin to start with, so I can just lift the cabin and then lift him up inside the pouch and carry him to my bed like you suggested.
Any preferences with Bedding? 
Or just anything that isn't scented and I know definitely not cedar or anything that clumps when water or a liquid is added. And I assume not cotton wool as that would get all caught up in them.
Thanks everyone; that forum page is brilliant for ideas; looks like lots of happy hogs.


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## lessthanthree (Mar 24, 2010)

bambifreddygirltwo.gif picture by dolphy1 - Photobucket


This is my little Timothy
I can't wait for him to arrive!.


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

My Hoggle had a bread box for a bed... It just had a circle drilled out of the front for him to climb in. He loved it.


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