Possible hedgie owner soon

[BarkingPup]

well, since I havn't posted yet and I just activated my account I might as well get started.

Questions one and all:

1. Are there any hedgie breeders (reputable ones of course) in the prince george/williams lake area? I don't really care what color they breed (although african pygmy hedgie's would be preffered)

2. Is a 36 Gallon aquarium a good home? The lid will be mesh (escapee's beware!)

3. Is litter training hedgie's like litter training rats? You put some poo in the different litter litter box and pray?

[freznow]

1. I doubt anybody breeds anything but african pygmies, except for the occasional egyption, and those aren't colors... I'm terrible at remembering where everybody is, so maybe someone who lives in your area can help with that.

2. Short answer: NO. Long answer: Aqariums are never very good cages for hedgies. Hard to clean, bad ventilation, and to get a large enough size for your hog to be happy calls for a bulky container. The best bet is to get a large plastic storage bin or hook two together with 4" PVC pipe. Cut holes in side/top (or cut out a piece and replace it with mesh) Very minimum is 2 sq feet, though 4 sq feet or more is much much better.

3. They poop while they run so normally their wheel is their litter box, with some stuff below it. I have the wheel in a pan with a paper towel under it. I haven't had any problems with it but putting stray poos in can help.

[herbiesmom]

Litter training is just like with rats. you put poo in the litter box and pray. My boys use their litter box and their wheel but not me anymore thank goodness. :lol:

[Cortni<3]

I live in Prince George and I looked all over for a good breeder. There wasn't any! Sadly- I had to get mine from a pet store- which turned out to be a good move, I was taking a chance and she is the sweetest thing ever! And I feel much better knowing she is in a better place :) Keep me updated :)

[LunaMidnight]

These were 2 breeders who kept popping up when I searched:

Goat Creek Ranch
Bryan & Anna Smith
S21 Comp 28 RR1
Cawston, BC
V0X 1C0
(250) 499-5143
http://keremeos.net/goatcreek (http://keremeos.net/goatcreek)
GoatCreek@keremeos.net (GoatCreek@keremeos.net)

Jen Crashley
Golden, BC

jencrashley@hotmail.com (jencrashley@hotmail.com)
jens-prickley-pets.piczo.com (http://jens-prickley-pets.piczo.com/)

I got Luna for Petcetera, she's a pretty nice hog and I love her lots. Isis came from a local pet store so no help there I guess. :p

[BarkingPup]

Hmmmm.....I know about litter box being a wheel (*cue Currently Nameless chuckling*). I didn't know about the aquarium thing. Is there a minimum bar spacing for hedgies?

Freznow: I know about them not being colors I just wanted to make sure I was getting the hedgie I've researched and not another breed whose requirements might not be the same.

[ScooterinAB]

1) I couldn't find a breeder when I bought mine, so I started looking in the Bargain Finder (a classifieds paper) and on Kijiji.ca. I wish you luck finding your new pal.

2) I bought a large (I think) gerbil cage. It has really high sides and fairly close together bars. This kind of cage is best. Also, make sure you get a large, solid wheel. Mine is about 12". You might also want to figure some was of fixing it to the bottom of the cage. My hedge (Michigan) liked to move his around the cage before I taped it down.

3) I have no idea. Mich just poops anywhere he wants. Most on his wheel.

[freznow]

Hmmm... bar spacing, I don't really know... Mine is a super pet cage (which I hate) but there is about 6 inches of plastic to discourage climbing and then from there up the bar spacing is something around 1x6 inches... You can make a cubes and coroplast cage (www.cavycages.com) for an older hog, but the bar spacing won't work for a young hog. If you use plastic bins then very few hedgies can get out of that...

[OnAnAmbulance]

Usually the C and C cages are inexpensive, and moddable to whatever size you want, so they are a good bet... I found a cage by Marchioro that I love, it has about 4.4 cubic feet of floor space, and my hedgie really seems to like it. I had to fiddle around with the "furniture" in order to maximize the floor space, but it has a plastic bottom and wire top, and is very convenient to work with.

Good luck with your new one - and you've come to the right place! Keep posting, and don't forget, we like lots of pictures! :)

[Nancy]

Hmmmm.....I know about litter box being a wheel (*cue Currently Nameless chuckling*). I didn't know about the aquarium thing. Is there a minimum bar spacing for hedgies?

Freznow: I know about them not being colors I just wanted to make sure I was getting the hedgie I've researched and not another breed whose requirements might not be the same.
The only hedgehogs sold in Canada are African Pygmy. There are algerians, or white belly. One thing to be careful of is someone using the term salt & pepper. S&P's are quite rare and you probably won't find one unless it's from Bryan Smith and S&P's are very expensive.

Many breeders and petstores use the term salt and pepper for all dark coloured hedgehogs. They are not actual s&p's.

Bar spacing should be no larger than 1" with exception of C&C cages. The squares are 1.5". Hedgehogs less than 275g's can get out of the grids so something else needs to be used until the hedgehog is full grown. When looking for a cage one with verticle bars is best so he can't climb. Hedgehogs climb up very well but down usually results in a fall. A C&C cage needs either a lid or a barrier to prevent him from climbing out. If you have other pets a sturdy lid is necessary. :)