# help needed- african pygmy hedgehog



## cal2 (Nov 18, 2008)

i have recently bought an african pygmy hedgehog from a good breeder in knaresborough & i am following their instructions on how to litter train him. they told me to find out where he usually poos & put the litter tray there and then he will learn where to do it... ut he just poos everywhere! on the wheel next to the bowl, even sometimes in his hut! the cage is 46"/ 117 cm long & 25"/63 cm wide, i use wood shavings as the substrate and normal, non paper based cat litter. oh yeah and how much fruit and mealworms should i feed him per week? thanks


----------



## angeldog (Mar 12, 2006)

unfortunately not all hogs will litter train
the vast majority will do all their business in the wheel, the wheel should stand in the litter tray for best results.
i use chinchilla sand as litter for mine, and fleece liners or shavings as substrate.
it might take him a while if he is still settling in.
you could try moving his poo's into his litter tray so he gets the idea.
i give mealworms about 6 twice a week, you can also give crickets, roaches, waxworms ect.
none of mine are keen on fruit but will occasionally take a bit of banana.


----------



## cal2 (Nov 18, 2008)

ok thanks


----------



## Tan (May 7, 2008)

litter training is a bit of a pain sometimes. I fully agree with Faith, it is normal tbh that some just go what ever way they want and where ever they want. They have this uncanny nack of slowing down while running to poo and wee and then start up again to steady speed in the wheel. Once a wheel is in place they will rarely leave to go to the toilet, why would they, they have a perfectly good one under foot  I would recommend you use a rectangle one with sand in place for under the wheel as you can check this to make sure no blood has been passed ect...as this can be missed if shaving are used.

Diet wise, OK, this again is a debate with everyone having their own opinions on it, my advice is at the end of the day after all is said and done look at their scientific classification, then look at their requirements, and finally look at natural diet (it is possible to improve on natural but also to go the other way). This is a post I did recently on HC about it, hope it helps:

Diet wise this will come down to a matter of opinion, some will say one thing and others will say another. I think it helps to look at the Scientific category they belong to and then the natural behaviour in the wild of ALL hedgies. Although varys from genus to genus, they do share many similar traits. As they are an insectivore I only give kibble to keep teeth in check rather than the biggest part of the diet. Some fruits and plant matter cannot be fully digested by hedgies and I honestly have never seen the advantages of offering them or disadvantages of not offering them. If you take the poo and pull it apart you can see some undigested plant matter, banana will digest though but can cause a little bit softer poo but this would be natural as apposed to an undesired effect. 

They do need slightly higher protein and love animal protein so boiled chicken, morio worms (gut loaded 2-3 days prior to being fed to your hedgie of course), hoppers as apposed to crickets (the Calcium to Phosphorus level is 2:1 in some supplements like T-Rex and this would be a good ratio to work with if your going to ad anything to the diet, again gut loaded insects)
I have to say I don't usually bother supplementing as once you have a good balanced diet they shouldn't need it. I have had no ill effects either way, some may sware by or against it so again the choice is yours. You can also get Calcium from a natural health food store but IF I choose to supplement I would go for the mix with a 2:1 ratio (this is my opinion and may not be agree with by others). Oh you can also go for vit D3 which can come in premade powders as a complete mix along with C&P. I have had no MBD in either wild or domestic animals with no sign of softening or subtle bones or structure and I know there is still some debate as to whether hedgies need any sun light but as most do come out as sun is setting and not complete dark they do get some exposure so there for the body is filtering it and it is important for bone growth BUT if you go a little mental like me about all these thing many don't even think of and I can tell you many hedgie people look at my like I’m a nutter and say sure I give them any old thing, I don’t, read the side of the bags of kibble you buy, compare them in the supermarket, they give everything from Ash content to phos, and this with a balanced diet of gut loaded insects and other animals proteins should be enough. BUT keep in mind you do not want higher phos especially if your hedgie had a kidney disease as some do develop in later life, just something to keep in mind. 

Also a little tip but no good for this time of year as your weather is worse the ours and it's cold here now, but when its warm you can bring your hedgie for outside time in the garden. You can buy a little pen for very small furries and they cannot get out and just watch the fun, loads of anointing and sniffs to be had but the most important thing is they are getting day light and fresh air. Again my opinion but heck, many taking this advice and swearing by it now. If you do go out side even just in arms and spent time with him out doors I would recommend you stronghold him quarterly, this is what we do and it a good habit to get in to. Now we looked up selemectin a while back in the Formulary and it states takes care of external parasites in hedgies, no mention of it does or doesn’t work inside, so it obviously must not do for the hedgies what it does for the cats and dogs but still, Parazole every now and then will take care of insides.


----------



## cal2 (Nov 18, 2008)

thanks Tan i have a pen but i'll take him out in spring if it gets warmer


----------



## wallyreptiles (Nov 17, 2008)

*hey cal2 from wally2*

yes i totally agree with tan:2thumb:


----------



## wallyreptiles (Nov 17, 2008)

*Wheyyy!!!*



cal2 said:


> i have recently bought an african pygmy hedgehog from a good breeder in knaresborough & i am following their instructions on how to litter train him. they told me to find out where he usually poos & put the litter tray there and then he will learn where to do it... ut he just poos everywhere! on the wheel next to the bowl, even sometimes in his hut! the cage is 46"/ 117 cm long & 25"/63 cm wide, i use wood shavings as the substrate and normal, non paper based cat litter. oh yeah and how much fruit and mealworms should i feed him per week? thanks


wheeyyyy wheeyyy i lov u tango from sean ryan


----------



## chewy (Aug 2, 2008)

*litter training*

:welcome:None of our aph have been litter trained. we have been told loads of different ways to train them from different shops and breeders but at the end of the day it only takes 5 mins a day to do a spot clean and put a bit of fresh shavings in and 10 mins a week to do a full change and disinfect the cage and the rewards are well worth it. This is also a great opportunity to handle them and give them a good check over and what we have seen of the ones that have been litter trained they don’t do all their business in the litter tray so you still need to do a spot clean thanks for the comment andy and kay from knaresborough


----------

