Bedding
There’s a multitude of bedding options you can use for tenrecs, it’s best to use some kind of loose bedding/substrate so they can dig, burrow, build nests, & make tunnels which are natural behaviors they exhibit. Do NOT use cedar & non kiln dried wood shavings, they are toxic to them.
Popular bedding options are small pet paper bedding, aspen wood shavings, coco peat/loose coconut fiber, & reptile wood chips/mulch. Please keep in mind that all substrate should be frozen for a minimum for 24 hours & let thaw before use to kill off any possible mites in it, or you can apply kitten Revolution once a month topically to the tenrec. (Revolution is an anti parasitic medicine safe for small animals).
We recommend using paper bedding. It is soft, absorbent, easy for them to build tunnels with, & it’s not too expensive. We don’t recommend the use of fleece for their bedding. Tenrecs aren’t domesticated animals & are still partially wild & still have the need to exhibit natural digging, burrowing, nest building behaviors & fleece won’t allow them to do these behaviors & that can be detrimental to their psychological health. Fleece can be used to cover secondary shelves in cages & cover wire ramps.
RECOMMENDED BEDDING
Popular bedding options are small pet paper bedding, aspen wood shavings, coco peat/loose coconut fiber, & reptile wood chips/mulch. Please keep in mind that all substrate should be frozen for a minimum for 24 hours & let thaw before use to kill off any possible mites in it, or you can apply kitten Revolution once a month topically to the tenrec. (Revolution is an anti parasitic medicine safe for small animals).
We recommend using paper bedding. It is soft, absorbent, easy for them to build tunnels with, & it’s not too expensive. We don’t recommend the use of fleece for their bedding. Tenrecs aren’t domesticated animals & are still partially wild & still have the need to exhibit natural digging, burrowing, nest building behaviors & fleece won’t allow them to do these behaviors & that can be detrimental to their psychological health. Fleece can be used to cover secondary shelves in cages & cover wire ramps.
RECOMMENDED BEDDING
- Small Pet Select natural paper bedding
- Small Pet Select aspen wood shavings
- Eco Earth coco peat/coconut fiber bedding
- ReptiChip compressed coconut chip substrate for reptiles (brick bedding)
Wheels
EXERCISE WHEEL
Tenrecs need a wheel to get proper exercise, a wheel is a non-negotiable item. Tenrecs can have 2 different kinds of wheels, a solid surfaced running wheel & a wire/mesh wheel. We do suggest sticking to solid surface wheels because some tenrecs have gotten toes caught in the holes on wire ones & injured themselves. If using a wire wheel be very careful & watch them closely for any injuries. We don’t suggest using wire wheels with cross bars due to the rise of them catching a leg when getting off the wheel. The wheel must be a minimum of 8.5 inches in diameter & 3.5-4 inches running width.
RECOMMENDED SOLID SURFACE WHEELS
*(We no longer recommend wire/mesh wheels for tenrecs, we’ve had tenrecs get injured on them, & while these injuries happened once after years of use without issue, we won’t risk further injuries to our own tenrecs or others by recommending these type of wheels. We recommend solid surfaced wheels, if the tenrec is having issues with the smooth surface of the wheel then you can try adding bath tub anti slip grips on the wheels running surface & that can help, plus they’re washable. Don’t use fleece wheel covers for tenrecs wheels though, they’re fine & really great for animals like hedgehogs, but the animals nails must be kept trimmed to avoid catching nails in the fleece & ripping them & tenrecs have naturally long curled nails & need to have them long to be able to effectively climb. So it just wouldn’t be safe to give a tenrec a fleece wheel cover since their nails would get caught while running & could rip them off).*
Tenrecs need a wheel to get proper exercise, a wheel is a non-negotiable item. Tenrecs can have 2 different kinds of wheels, a solid surfaced running wheel & a wire/mesh wheel. We do suggest sticking to solid surface wheels because some tenrecs have gotten toes caught in the holes on wire ones & injured themselves. If using a wire wheel be very careful & watch them closely for any injuries. We don’t suggest using wire wheels with cross bars due to the rise of them catching a leg when getting off the wheel. The wheel must be a minimum of 8.5 inches in diameter & 3.5-4 inches running width.
RECOMMENDED SOLID SURFACE WHEELS
*(We no longer recommend wire/mesh wheels for tenrecs, we’ve had tenrecs get injured on them, & while these injuries happened once after years of use without issue, we won’t risk further injuries to our own tenrecs or others by recommending these type of wheels. We recommend solid surfaced wheels, if the tenrec is having issues with the smooth surface of the wheel then you can try adding bath tub anti slip grips on the wheels running surface & that can help, plus they’re washable. Don’t use fleece wheel covers for tenrecs wheels though, they’re fine & really great for animals like hedgehogs, but the animals nails must be kept trimmed to avoid catching nails in the fleece & ripping them & tenrecs have naturally long curled nails & need to have them long to be able to effectively climb. So it just wouldn’t be safe to give a tenrec a fleece wheel cover since their nails would get caught while running & could rip them off).*
NEW BABIES AVAILABLE - PICTURES COMING SOON. Visit our Facebook and Instagram pages for posts and pics.
What Our Clients Are Saying
"Victoria is extremely responsive and knowledgeable. I appreciate that she takes the time to thoroughly answer all questions, and no question is considered trivial. When we decided to get a hedgehog from her, she gave us frequent updates and helped make sure we were fully prepared before we brought home our hedgehog. She assisted me in knowing exactly what food, toys, and cage components were needed. As the babies grew, she did a great job of handling them and socializing them. I can't speak highly enough! We love our hedgehog!"
-Sarah M.