Now that the summer has ended and the approach towards autumn and winter has begun, many pet owners will want to make sure their Hedgehog is warm enough. But how can you make sure that your Hedgehog is safe, warm and comfortable during those winter days.
Well, I’ve put together a guide below which you can follow to keep your Hedgehogs warm.
Here are twelve points to help ensure your Hedgheogs are protected from cold weather.
- Avoid Opening/Closing Doors Frequently
- Block Any Draft Or Ventilation
- Heating The Home
- Provide Your Hedgehog With A Lot Of Hiding Spaces
- Consider Moving Your Hedgehog To A Cozy Corner Of Your House
- Provide Extra Bedding
- Provide Your Hedgehog With Blankets
- Provide Your Hedgehog A Heating Pad
- Cover Your Hedgehog’s Water Bottle To Avoid It From Freezing
- Increase Your Hedgehog’s Floor Time
- Use Warm Water Bags
- Provide Your Hedgehog With Fresh Food And Water Everyday
Helping your Hedgehog to keep warm & healthy through winter is essential. Now, let us discuss these simple ways to keep your pet and their homes protected from the harsh winter weather.
How Warm Do Hedgehogs Need To Be?
The ideal temperature for Hedgehogs ranges from 75°F-85°F (24°C- 30°C).
If you live in a place where winters are extreme, then you might need to look into some heat source or some other alternative method to keep them warm in their enclosure.
If the temperature drops below 60°F(15°F), then your Hedgehog might suffer from various health complications and may even freeze to death in some extreme cases.
So, maintaining an ideal range of temperature in their enclosure is a must.
What Happens If My Hedgehog Gets Too Cold?
If the temperature around your Hedgehog falls below 60°F (15°C), your pet can enter into a state of hibernation.
If your Hedgehog hibernates there is always a life threat. Hibernation can also make your pet dehydrated.
If you suspect your Hedgehog is hibernating or is on the verge of hibernation, then you should check for some of the signs listed below:
- Your pet has not moved from past 14 hours or more.
- Shallow breaths with fall in heart rate
- Ignorance of food and water
- They start burrowing deeper for extra warmth
If you not an experienced pet owner, it is advised not to try to rouse them by yourself. Take them to a vet for proper care and guidance. While travelling, try to keep your Hedgehogs warm.
How Cold Is Too Cold For Hedgehogs?
As already discussed above, the ideal temperature for Hedgehogs to live is 75°F-85°F (24°C- 30°C). If the temperature falls below 60°F (15°C), your Hedgehog can enter into the state of hibernation.
If you live in an area where the mercury dips below this point, then consider taking proper precautions to keep your little pet warm and cozy.
Ways To Keep My Hedgehogs Warm!
Keeping your Hedgehogs warm can be pretty difficult. If you live in an area where temperatures can fall below the freezing point, then you might have a hard time keeping your Hedgehog warm.
So, I did some research and collected some of the tips and tricks up my sleeves to share with you all so that you can take care of your little ones in those cold days.
Avoid Opening/Closing Doors Frequently
In the cold days, you should try to minimize the number of times you open and close the door.
When you continiously open or close the door, cold air gets into your home. This will cause the temperate inside the room to drop rapidly.
Futhermore, you must keep the windows closed of the room in which your Hedgehog is kept. Especially, during the night when the temperature is even lower.
Your Hedgehog’s health can be highly affected if there is a frequent fluctution in the temperature.
In addition, you must avoid keeping your Hedgehog’s enclosure near the main door of your house.
Therefore, try to minimize the use of doors and windows so that the temperature inside the room remains stable.
Block Any Draft Or Ventilation
If your house has a number of windows or ventilation, then the cold air passing through these openings can affect your Hedgehog.
In such cases, try to use towels or thicker curtains to stop the excessive circulation of air.
These small opening and drafts can make the room cool preety quickly.
Heating The Home
To keep your Hedgehogs warm, you can also choose to get a room heater.
If possible, you can install centralize heaters at your house. Centralize conditioning helps to keep the temperature of the home stable.
An electric heater is the best option amongst all. There are a variety of models of electric heater available in the market.
I would suggest you to pick a heater that has a facility of automatic temperature control.
You must keep in mind that the heat must never directly point at your Hedghog’s cage.
Direct heat from the heater could easily overheat your Hedgehog’s cage, especially if the cage is made of metal.
Furthermore, whenever you switch on the heater, keep an eye on the temperature as overheating could put your Hedgehog’s life at risk.
Provide Your Hedgehog With A Lot Of Hiding Spaces
During the cold days, provide your Hedgehogs with several hiding spaces in their cage.
Your Hedgehog will have a great time snuggling into these hideouts. These hideouts even help our Hedgehogs to maintain the temperature of their body.
You can also prepare hideouts at your home for your little ones just by following the necessary measure:
Cut slash a small opening out of a cardboard box to make an opening. Make sure that you do not leave any sharp edges, or your Hedgehogs might hurt themselves.
Your pet can now use this place to relax.
Consider Moving Your Hedgehog To A Cozy Corner Of Your House
To keep your Hedgehog warm during those cold days, the best tip would be to house them in a porch or garage.
You can even house them at the cental part of your home.
The drafts and even the small ventilations allow the cold swift air to enter our house, which easily drops the temperature around that area.
Therefore, it would be best to place your Hedgehog at the center part of your house or to any cozy corner of your house.
Also, if possible add a heating lamp in the room, this will make the room warm and comfortable.
Provide Extra Bedding
Beddings surely help to keep our Hedgehogs warm.
It is important for you to make sure that your pet maintain the body heat, especially during cold days.
Provide your Hedgehog with good quality bedding, which will help to absorb their pee and keep the cage dry.
Wet beddings can easily make your Hedgehog’s sick.
Hay and paper are excellent heat absorbers. They can help our Hedgehogs to maintain their body temperature.
You must avoid using wood shavings and cedar or pine beddings as they are not one of the best insulators. Also, these can also lead to several respiratory diseases among Hedgehogs.
Provide Your Hedgehog With Blankets
Blankets are yet another great way to keep our Hedgehogs warm and cozy.
Also, blankets provide our Hedgehogs a warm place to curl and sleep.
However, you must take care of the fabric you use. Certain types of fabric can prove to be harmful for our Hedgheogs, if ingested.
Provide Your Hedgehog A Heating Pad
Heating pads works great with Hedgehogs. However, you must not provide your pet with the heating pads that are advertised for human use.
Heating pads usually need a microwave to heat up, which can then be placed in the cage. It will remain hot for approximately 8-9 hours and are a great source of heat for your Hedgehogs.
You can attach the heating pad under one side of your Hedgehog’s enclosure. This will allow your pet to move to a cooler side if they wish.
Cover Your Hedgehog’s Water Bottle To Avoid It From Freezing
If you live in an extremely cold region, then it might be common for you to see your Hedgehog’s bottle freezing every now and then.
If the frozen water bottles are not taken care of, your pet might get dehydrated in no time.
I would advise you to cover your pet’s water bottle with a cover to prevent it from freezing.
As the level of mercury drops, the tip of the water bottle can easily freeze, which restricts the flow of water.
If the weather is too cold, you must check the tip of the bottle by tapping it every few hours or so.
Also, I would advise you to provide your Hedgehog’s with both, the water bottle as well as the bowl, during the cold days.
Even if the bottle gets frozen, your little one will have an another option. But, you must be careful with the bowls as well.
If your Hedgehog tips off the bowl, then the entire bedding would get soaked up with water. If this happens, your pet might get cold pretty quickly.
Increase Your Hedgehog’s Floor Time
It is important for Hedgehogs to exercise even in the cold days to keep themselves healthy.
Therefore, it is advised to increase their floor time during these cold days.
You can allow your little one to play by letting them out in a open and spacious room with closed drafts and ventilations, so that your little friend does not escape.
Exercise also helps your Hedgehogs to keep their bodies warm, which is excellent for those cold days.
Use Warm Water Bags
Placing a warm water bag on the top of your Hedgehog’s enclosure will help you to keepn them warm.
You can even place the warm water bag inside the Hedgehog’s cage.
Just wrap the water bag with a thick cloth or towel before using it. Do not use it without the cloth or the towel.
Also, make sure that the water bag does not leak, it could be dangerous for your Hedgehogs.
Provide Your Hedgehog With Fresh Food And Water Everyday
You must provide your Hedgehog with bigger proportions of food in the winters as compared to in summers.
Hedgehgs need a lot of energy to keep themselves warm. Fresh food helps them to keep up with the energy level.
Also, you will notice that the appetite of your Hedgehogs increases during cold days. So, it is essential to provide them with fresh food and water daily.
Changing the water daily is a must. Also, never provide your Hedgehogs with warm due as they might just ignore and not drink it. This may lead to dehydration in them.
