So I started using reinforced gift bags, but it still shocked people that she stayed in there. I told them I was working on a personalized bag for her but I never got around to it. I quickly learned that a hard sided pet carrier is the best way to transport any animal in a vehicle but I still needed a better way to keep her once at my destination.

After I became a student teacher that was even more important. I wanted to be able to introduce her to my elementary school class in a situation where everybody was comfortable, including her. Using the cat carrier it was hard to make sure the children could see and pet her without making her upset, huffy, and spiky.

My solution to this problem was a combination of the hedgie bags I'd already seen combined with the suggestion of using fleece and fleece strips as a burrowing supplement for other bedding. Cocoa needed to feel like she wasn't pinned down out in the open, and I needed to be able to find her easily.  

The strips made this possible (pulling apart strips is easier than pulling out and carefully disassembling some of the blanket fortresses Cocoa liked to make) but if I wanted to be able to wash them easily, I had to attach the strips to the bag so that you wouldn't have to sort through several dozens of strips to make sure all the poop was out. By putting strips on the sides and the bottom it makes a perfect distribution and availability of strips when closed. When opened, it pulls back the strips on the side to leave her a small circuit of dense strips to hide in if she's scared, and then a somewhat sparse collection in the middle.

I find this ideal for all kinds of situations. For my elementary school classes I can easily find her and pull her out to show her ball in an initial introduction, and then I put her back and allow groups to come see her. You can pull back a strip or two to show them her face or her back, letting them gently touch the quills on her back if it doesn't frighten her. It's also great for the vet's office. It's a simple matter to pull her out, and when she's not needed to put her back in the open bag (I also keep her lab values in the bottom pocket). I still use the cat carrier, but the Burrow Bag stays inside it during the car ride and keeps her warm for those short walks between car and building.

Recently Cocoa stopped using her log and her tubes and was just burrowing in the blankets/clean liners that I replaced them with. The only problem with this was that sometimes she slept against the plastic bottom of the cage, which wasn't very warm.

This was worse than I imagined though as she recently tried to hibernate. She was fine, but I immediately changed my setup to keep her warmer, and this included putting her burrow bag in her cage (minus the stiff carrying inserts.) I havn't found her sleeping anywhere else since, she loves it. I leave it somewhat closed so that she has an entrance about her size to make her feel secluded and I put a small blanket over it for good measure. She's fairly litter trained so this is practical for me; I don't have to wash it every day.