Washing and Cleaning

Everyone who owns, or has owned, a hedgehog will tell you this: they can be incredibly messy! Every morning without fail I find a poop/pee splattered wheel, food crumbs, and bits of litter strewn about. I clean his wheel daily (and I am seriously considering investing in a Carolina Storm Wheel soon to make my life easier) and try to remove large pieces of miscellaneous litter filth. The wheel that I have has small ridges which supposedly help small critters get a grip on it, but really just makes cleaning more difficult. Some wheels, like the Silent Spinner, are downright dangerous, but mine- the Comfort Wheel- is just inconvenient, and could pose a potential threat if my hog were big and fat because there is a plastic beam which sticks out into the middle of the contraption. He's not, so he's fine for now. Anyway, up until yesterday I went through a ton of Clorox wipes scrubbing the wheel. Then I got the idea to try using some Listerine as it has a high alcohol content and would save me wipes, and be a little safer for Phinneus as there wouldn't be as many harmful chemicals. I rinse the wheel thoroughly with near-boiling temperature water after every scrub to make sure I get rid of any chemicals anyway. The Listerine method seems to be working, and here is how it goes: First I use a cleaning wipe to remove large chunks of nasty (i.e. poo). Then I rinse the whole wheel under a heavy stream of hot water, adding Listerine as I go. This makes a soapy, minty mixture of cleaning goodness which I swirl around the wheel. Finally I go back with some toilet paper to remove any particles which may be clinging on, and give the wheel a final hot rinse.

Because I use fleece bedding, and because Phinneus mercifully keeps limits his excrement to his wheel (usually) I only have to change the bedding every two or three days. When I do I shake all the mess into the bin and then dump it into the trash. Next I take a wet napkin and go over the inside of the bin, and then follow up with a drying rag. Then I add a new fleece liner with a towel under it, his food and water dishes, his wheel, his hidey log, and his blankies and toys. The whole thing takes less than ten minutes.

I have also been attempting to litter train Phin...this has been so-so. Some hedgies get the idea right away and become loyal to their litter pans. By the way, the litter pan I use is just a small rectangular cookies sheet with Yesterday's News in it, which I place under the wheel to catch anything that might come off it. Like I said though, this only goes so-so. Some hedgies simply refuse to have their refuse contained and spread it willynilly around their environment. Phin is somewhere in the middle of these two poles. He won't go out of his way to use his litter pan, but he rarely poops or pees outside of his wheel. So really, I guess his wheel is his litter pan. Silly hedgepig, pans are for pooping!