The Hedgehog Gear Buying Guide

This is a gear guide; we never sell live animals. Nothing here is a live-animal listing, and reference product links are not active yet — there is no checkout and no store.

Pine & cedar shavings. Their aromatic phenol oils irritate the respiratory tract and can damage the liver with long-term exposure. Use aspen, paper bedding or washable fleece instead.

Hamster exercise balls. Ventilation is poor, panicked animals slam into walls, and toes or legs can be trapped and broken, with rapid overheating. Never put a hedgehog inside an enclosed ball.

Wire-grid cage floors. Feet catch and cut on the mesh, leading to painful infected sores (bumblefoot). Only use enclosures with a continuous solid floor.

Heat lamps or mats without a thermostat. An unregulated heater runs hotter and hotter — burns, melted cages, fires and hedgehog deaths are documented. Buy the heat source and the thermostat as one package.

Wheels smaller than 28 cm (12 in). A small wheel forces the spine into an unnatural arch during hours of nightly running, causing progressive injury. Minimum 28 cm; 30–32 cm is safer, and the surface must be solid.

Tiny multi-level wire "hamster" cages. They look roomy but provide almost no continuous floor space, so the hedgehog cannot walk or run normally — leading to inactivity, obesity and stress. Provide at least 0.4 m² of solid floor area.