To make it easy for you, I do sell complete cage sets with all the items in green in the set! Otherwise, PLEASE make sure your cage meets the following:
Cage – At least 3 square feet, with a solid PLASTIC bottom. Steer clear of metal or glass bottoms. Also, make sure that the cage is ONE level. Multi level cages can cause injuries.
Hide – Give your hedgehog a house of some sort, an igloo from the pet store, or one of my cozy hides (see the available page) are good choices.
Heat – Hedgehogs have to be above 72* at all times. This can be done in a number of ways, a ceramic space heater with a tip over shut off, a ceramic heat emitter bulb with a rheostat, a hermit crab reptile mat under part of the cage, etc.
Bedding –Carefresh, kiln dried pine, aspen or liners are all good options. Stay away from cedar, cat litter, corn cob, and newspaper.
Wheel – A Carolina Storm cake walk or bucket wheel are the only ones we recommend. A wheel needs to be at least 11” in diameter and have a solid running surface.
Food dish – Preferably something heavy that doesn’t get tipped, but anything will do. Try to have room for at least 2 TBSP of food in it at a time. Glass or ceramic are easy to clean.
Water bottle – I use 8 oz water bottles. They can use larger though if you’d prefer. Stay away from the bottles that have a spring in the nozzle. (you want to be able to see the ball bearing at the tip disappear if you turn the bottle over)
Food – Either purchase the mix that mine thrive on from me, or make your own version using at least 4 different dry cat foods. Avoid complex proteins.
Treats – store bought insects -though NOT freeze dried.
-cooked meats, veggies/fruit. Stay away from raw meats, chewy fruits like raisins, chocolate, raw eggs, and bugs caught outside. Dairy and nuts should be avoided (with the exception of unsweetened yogurt) Treats should be given in moderation, as the hedgie has a small tummy.
Toys – Any cat, ferret, or preschool toys, toilet paper tubes, they like to make noise and push things around.