Poos in his hideaway

[yourmine]

I've had Zeek for almost two weeks now and he is a wonderful friendly little guy...the only thing is, he seems to LOVE to poo in his hideaway. I gave him a little hedgie sized box with the bottom cut out for his "den". He loves it, but he can't seem to resist pooing in it! I haven't given him a litter box, as I use pine shavings (kiln dried) for bedding. Would a litter box perhaps rectify this situation? And how do you go about litter training a hedgehog?

[Ododad]

I have never been successful in litter box training. Some hedgies just won't use a litter box. Odo goes in her wheel and also in her igloo. Marco uses his wheel and sometimes will fling a turd into his little cardboard box that he has. Frodo uses the wheel only so far. But all that could change overnight! I have noticed that hedgies will do one thing one time, then something different the next time. They have very distinct personilities and my crew will do something different most every day.

Personally, I quit using Pine shavings when I found that they are more likely to harbor mites and have since switched to Aspen, which is a hardwood instead of a softwood like pine. Pine shavings that have not been kiln dried properly may cause breathing problems too. JMO I also place the Aspen in the freezer for about two weeks before using to help with any chance of mites.