How To Hedgehog Proof A Room? (10 Easy Steps)

Whether you’re bringing home a brand new Hedgehog for the first time, or you’d like to make your home a safer place for your existing hedgehog, you need to take care of a few things. Luckily there are some tried and true ways to hedgehog-proof your home.

Clean up your room, block off the area under furniture, look out for electric cords, seal all escape routes, keep all the chemical objects out of reach, be mindful of breakable or dangerous objects, and keep your hedgehog away from your other pets. You can keep your pet hedgehog in your home with all these aspects.

You’ll need to go through your home and look at it from a hedgehog’s perspective. Get down on your hands and knees to look around and see what dangerous behaviors your hedgehog will be able to get into. Then, with a little foresight and preparation, you can make your room totally safe for your hedgehog.

You must be aware of the common Hedgehog bad behaviors that are destructive to get hedgehog proof of your home correctly. This comprehensive guide will help you ensure that your home is as safe as possible for your Hedgehog.

How To Keep A Hedgehog Safe In A Room

Although Hedgehog proofing a house can be a technical task, this article ensures that your house is totally hedgehog-friendly. Here are all the points you need to consider while hedgehog-proofing your house.

1) Keep Your Room Clean

If you plan to house a Hedgehog in your room or leave one there to play, you must make sure that your room is clean and tidy. For example, after a competitive game of Monopoly, make sure you put away all those tiny game pieces, which can be a choking hazard to your hedgehog.

Don’t leave out supplies (especially sewing needles and thread!) that could be tempting to your little pet if you’re a crafter. Likewise, keep these things out of sight if you use makeup, lotions, hair products, or perfume. The same goes for jewelry and hair clips.

Also, never leave any laundry lying around. The problem with leaving laundry strewn across your bedroom floor is that strings and buttons can pose a serious choking hazard to pets if ingested. It’s just another incentive to get your family to pick up after themselves.

2) Block Off The Area Under Furniture

Your Hedgehog would love to explore areas under your furniture, such as sofas or beds. In some cases, the hedgehog might even decide that these are great places to build a home or nest, and they’ll start to dig into the carpet underneath the furniture.

You can also use fencing to stop your Hedgehog from nesting under the furniture. I recommend storage cube fencing attached with zip ties. You can first try to block off the area underneath your sofa, bed, cabinet, etc. Next, you can use DIY storage cube fencing to block the gap along the bottom of your furniture. Finally, use zip-ties to connect the panels and command hooks to attach the fence to the walls or furniture.

3) Keep All The Chemical Objects Out Of Reach

There are chances that our Hedgehogs will get their hands on many everyday chemicals that we use at our home. These chemicals include cleaners, detergents, fabric softeners, and bleach that we leave out in the open. Clean up any spills immediately to keep your little hedgehog from lapping up a deadly sample of this stuff.

Besides these, some other threats to your Hedgehogs could be the pesticides, garden fertilizers, or a medicine box that you have stored at a place where it is easily accessible to your Hedgehog. All these items should be strictly out of your Hedgehog’s reach at all times.

4) Look Out For Electric Cords

It is important to ensure that your Hedgehog does not have any access to the areas containing electrical appliances like the television. Your hedgehog might like the warm and cordoned-off areas behind the appliance and spend their time cooped up in the place. It can prove dangerous as there are persistent dangers involving electric shocks.

You should also be aware that electrical cords are a great danger for your hedgehog and can also cause a lot of property damage for you. In the long run, this could even lead to a major short circuit at your home due to negligence in this matter.

To avoid this, make sure your electrical appliances are totally out of reach for your hedgehog, or at least pushed well close to the walls so your little hedgehog cannot get behind or inside them. Before you turn on an electrical appliance, double-check whether your Hedgehog has made itself comfortable in or around it.

In addition to this, remember to use extra protection and utilize some electrical tape on these low-lying wires, so it isn’t easy for your hedgehog to chew through the rubber coating.

Besides this, hedgehogs also like to get themselves cozy in laundry baskets, so there is always a danger that you’ll throw them inside the washing machine while listening to your favorite jam.

5) Keep Away Anything Valuable Or Breakable

Hedgehogs are pretty curious. They have an urge to look to everything in sight. . If you own things you’d rather not have broken, chewed up, or otherwise destroyed (say, like a precious family heirloom, a stuffed toy that you bought for your kid or just got yourself a pair of amazing loafers)—keep them out of your hedgehog’s reach.

If you do not take proper care, yu might have a torn stuff toy or a shoe with two holes in the front by the time they are done with their adventure. People who just throw their clothes down on the floor should also refrain from this act for their own betterment.

6) Be Mindful Of Other Dangerous Objects

Sharp objects such as nailcutters should be kept somewhere your hedgehog cannot get at. This also applies to tiny choking hazards like hairclips, earpods, or screws.

Do not grant your pet hedgehog access to places where heavy items are placed, especially ones which can topple over. This poses a significant risk of injury for your hedgehog. These items include, but are not limited to, plants, speakers, and desktop fans.

Besides this, there are a number of ordinary houseplants that are toxic to pets, so you need to be judicious in your selection and placement of greenery. Also, do not place candles in precarious places where your hedgehog could easily knock them over.

7) Keep An Eye On Your Fireplace

You might find your fireplace a cozy corner, but the same is not the case with your Hedgehogs. Therefore, you must ensure that the flames or any flying spark do not harm your Hedgehog.

Even if glass fireplace doors would prevent access to the fire, the doors themselves can be very hot. Also, it would be best if you always kept the damper and doors to the fireplace closed when it is not in use.

8) Seal All Escape Routes

Hedgehogs love to roam around. They become detectives of every little thing that they find. It is in their instincts to climb, run, and jump onto things.

While letting your Hedgehogs roam free, make sure that the room door is closed at all times so that Hedgehogs do not find their way out.

No matter how smart you think you are, your little hedgehog can trick you easily. For example, you might have thought of the perfect room with minimal risk factors, but your Hedgehog would still find a way out of that room once in a while.

It would be best to communicate with your family and roommates to close all the doors behind them. Hedgehogs can squeeze past the most unexpected of places, so I’d advise you to keep attention at all times. Other possible escape places include air ducts, so keep them out of reach at all costs.

Once you have closed all the possible exits that come to your advice, it is advisable to get down on your knees so you can see the room from your hedgehog’s eye level. Now look for possible hiding places like holes or cracks, and make sure that you get all of this fixed before your friend is left in the room.

9) Interaction With Children

It is essential to handle the Hedgehogs properly. Your Hedgehog could be hurt or hurt a child if the little animal is not handled properly.

Before housing a Hedgehog in your room, you must keep in mind the children of your house. Therefore, it is important to consider children’s age, maturity, and experience with hedgehogs and other pets when deciding if they may be left alone with a Hedgehog.

You must also take into account the temperament of your pet Hedgehog. The best idea is to establish household rules regarding the handling of the Hedgehog, including who may feed him and what supervision is necessary.

You must show children the correct way to play with a hedgehog and praise them when they do it properly.

10) Keep Your Hedgehog Away From Your Other Pets

Hedgehogs are terrified of other large animals. Therefore, you must never leave your Hedgehog unattended in a room with any other pet. Even if you feel that your pets get along well together, leaving them alone might prove to be a bad idea. Therefore, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

It would help if you took extreme cages while introducing your Hedgehog to other pets, including other Hedgehogs. It is an instinct for dogs and cays to attack small animals.

Besides these, the pointy spikes of the Hedgehogs can prove to be extremely dangerous for your other pets. These spikes can cause severe injuries and be fatal.

Also, you need to keep all flea and tick sprays and pet medications and supplements, especially those that are flavored, out of the reach of your Hedgehogs.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I Keep A Hedgehog In My Bedroom?

You can surely keep a Hedgehog in your bedroom. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind before doing the same. The pros and cons of keeping a Hedgehog in your bedroom are listed below.

PROS:

  • You can always keep a check on your pet’s health
  • You will be able to maintain a stable living environment for your pet
  • You will now provide adequate attention to your Hedgehog
  • Your Hedgehog will feel safe around you

CONS:

  • You might develop allergies over time
  • Your Hedgehog will probably not let you sleep
  • Your bedroom may start to stink
  • Leftover Hedgehog food may attract flies and rats
  • They will occupy a huge portion of your bedroom
  • You will now not be able to use any kind of perfumes, body spray, essential oils, etc.

Can Hedgehogs Roam The House?

You can definitely allow your Hedgehog to roam free in a portion of your house. However, at the same time, you should make sure that your little Hedgehog is safe and secure while left free.

Hedgehog proofing the house is extremely significant as your little pet can hurt himself in several ways. Whenever you leave your Hedgehog free, pay proper attention to him.

Can I Keep My Hedgehog In My Closet?

Never make the mistake of putting your Hedgehog’s cage in a closet. If you do so, your little one will die in no time. Just like every other living being, Hedgehogs need fresh air to survive.

However, if your closet does not have doors, you can consider putting your little pet’s cage there. Also, do this only if you have no other option left.

Do Hedgehogs Need A Hideout?

Hedgehogs do not necessarily need a hideout. However, every hedgehog loves to have hiding spaces in its cage. Hiding spaces make them feel at home. Besides these, hiding spaces will help your Hedgehog maintain their body temperature and keep themselves warm.

Mohini

Hello, I am Mohini, the founder of this blog. I am a qualified Animal Nutrition. I am here to help everyone understand their pets better.

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