Getting ready for our Two new girls

Hello all,

First off I would just like to say thank you for an amazing forum, I have gotten so much knowledge and information from it.

Right so we pick up out two 7 week (at that point) female sister Hedgies on Wednesday the 8th of Feb, and I am getting together a bit of a shopping list for there new home.

My Wife and I like the idea of having a Vivarium in our living room and we like the 48” Viv from Vivexotic

Firstly, I have read all the posts about ventilation etc so I will be installing new air vents into the Viv and possibly cutting a whole in the top and putting in a mesh.

Secondly, I intend to Coat every bit of wood internally before its put together with Fablon, then put it together and coat the seems with Aquarium sealent.

Next I plan on installing a 75w ceramic heat emitter linked to a thermostat.

My wife will work on creating some floor covers made of fleece so they can be washable.

I have purchased a wooden house that is on the larger side and put two doorways in for them, I will then be coating this with plasti-kote

We still need to purchase a litter tray for them and I plan on using the forum to purchase two crittercribs wheels closer to there 12 week age. We also will be purchasing some toys etc for them to play with.

What I would like to ask, is would you all be happy with the above for your Hogs?, any advice would be much appreciated as we really want to do the best for our new Hedgies in every way possible.

Many Thanks Ben & Abi

Hello,
Just one thing I would mention is that you may need to be prepared to seperate your hedgehogs as they may fight. It is a good idea that you are getting sisters but even they have been known to fight. Just to pre warn you.

I have a vivexotic ex48 for Dave and added extra vents to the back. I have also Fabloned this and sealed it although many people say it doesnt matter so much with hedgehogs. Never had any problems with this.

I have another 48 viv made by Faith (Crittercribs) for Snuffles. It has mesh doors and she can make it and decorate it any way you want. Have only just started using this but again no problems.
Faith does deliver also which is a big benefit, and if you buy the wheels at the same time you wouldnt need to pay postage for them I think.

Hope this helps

Amanda x

Ahh, that is really helpful, I will make sure to keep an eye on them and will have a chat with my wife about having a backup plan for a second Viv for them if they do fight.

Thanks

you are welcome.

Amanda x

Hi, welcome to the forum. It is indeed a great source full of advice and information, you can also find lots of pictures on how others have decorated, laid out their vivs.

I do agree with Amanda, it might be best to seperate them. It is very rare that 2 hedgehogs together will get along, it might be allright for a bit, just be very carefull.

Please do post some pictures of your finished vivarium and ofcourse some pictures of your 2 new prickly balls of joy.

Ok, My good Lady wife and myself have had a chat and we have decided to purchase 2 viv's and stack them ontop of each other.
We just couldn't live with ourselves if anything bad happened to the poor lil Hedgies.

They can still have supervised play together though. If you get a play pen etc.

Amanda x

Now that i am getting two vivs would the "Habistat Twin Channel Thermostat 300w Per Channel" be ok to use over two vivs as its a good price on the surreypetsupplies website?

Then do I just need to buy 2x lamps, lamp holders and cages?

thanks for future replies