Wednesday 23 May 2012
Travelling with hedgehogs.
Alright. So, a week ago, i was on a +- one week trip to somewhere. Naturally, i just have to bring one of my babies with me. In this case, Kichi. My adult male hedgehog. Tips on travelling with hedgehogs :
1) You should at least have a pet carrier, i.e bag, or hard side carrier. If you only put in in your lap, it might fall off when you were asleep or something. A big storage box would be excellent. Everything should be with enough ventilation holes though.
2) If you travel by day, it probably will be sleeping along the way. So a sleeping pouch/fleece blanket inside the carrier would be enough. If you travel by night, i would suggest a wheel if you have it in its storage box. If not, a toilet paper roll would suffice. Just to keep it occupied.
3) 1/3 water in its bowl/bottle. Same goes for food. Put sticky back velco on the bottom of her food/water dish and onto the bottom of the carrier (not the fleece). This will hold the bowls in place. I'd actually suggest not having a water bowl in the carrier. Even if it's not filled all the way it could spill. The better option would be to offer water when you make pit stops.
4) Extra blanket to cover the pet carrier in case there is too much sunlight or the aircond is aimed right at the carrier.
5) Hopefully you can bring the cage and keep everything familiar to reduce stress. Stressed hedgehogs can lead to green and abnormal stool which smells a bit more yuckier than the normal stools.
p/s : Some hedgehog do get car sick, if that happens, just cover any holes that enable it to see outside and try to reduce the bumps in the ride. And lastly, if you only have the per carrier with you, PLEASE HAVE A BIG BASIN / STORAGE BOX / CAGE READY WHEN YOU'VE REACHED YOUR DESTINATION.
5 hour trip by bus and walking. He enjoys peeking out to see the view and whenever he smells something good when i'm walking. But when he's in the bus, he sleeps like a baby. See the fleece blanket? I cover the carrier because the aircond is directly above us and yet there are still enough sunlight for him to realized that its still day time. :D
