An African pygmy hedgehog is the sitter brief most likely to go wrong if it is written like a generic small-pet note, because the essentials are unusual: this is a nocturnal, solitary, warmth-dependent animal whose day begins when the sitter is winding down. Organise the sheet around those facts and a careful sitter can keep everything steady until you return.
Heat and light: the non-negotiable first section
State the enclosure temperature range your hedgehog lives at and exactly how it is maintained — the heat source, the thermostat, and where the thermometer sits. Instruct the sitter to read and record the temperature morning and evening, and explain why: a hedgehog who gets too cold may become lethargic and attempt a dangerous torpor-like state, which is an emergency, not sleepiness. Describe what to do if the heat source fails, including your contact number and a backup plan. Cover light as well: the room's day-night pattern should stay as usual, the wheel goes in at night, and nobody should flip the schedule to daytime visiting hours just because that suits human routines.
Evening feeding and the wheel
Write feeding as an evening job: the measured staple food, fresh water in the dish your hedgehog actually uses, and insect treats in the small numbers you specify — offered as enrichment, not as the meal. Note any foods your hedgehog refuses or must not have, and ask the sitter to record what was actually eaten, since appetite is the easiest health gauge in a nocturnal animal the sitter may barely see awake. The solid-surface running wheel is nightly exercise equipment, not an optional toy: it goes in clean each evening, comes out for washing, and a hedgehog who suddenly stops running has told the sitter something worth reporting.
Handling a hedgehog who balls up
Explain the ball honestly so the sitter is not alarmed or tempted to poke. A balled hedgehog is a frightened one, not an aggressive one: the method is a fleece or towel on the lap, quiet patience, and letting the animal uncurl and explore at its own pace. Scooping from underneath is kinder than grabbing from above. Mention the litter spot your hedgehog actually uses, since many will choose one corner and a sitter who spot-cleans there daily keeps odour and stress down without a disruptive full clean mid-stay. Note the normal nightly sounds too — wheel rhythm, rustling, quiet feeding — so silence is noticed. Mention foot checks after wheel time, the occasional foot bath if droppings have caked, and that self-anointing — frothing and licking a new smell onto the spines — looks alarming but is normal behaviour the sitter can simply note.
Health flags and handover details
List the call-you-or-the-vet signs in plain language: wobbliness or unsteadiness, a cold belly with deep lethargy, refusal of food across a night, green or runny droppings, or mites suggested by heavy scratching and flaking skin. Leave your vet's details and your own, plus any current care notes. Delivered through KinsLe's Care Pass, those hedgehog instructions sit as temporary, clear access for the sitter, so the temperature routine survives even if the paper copy disappears.