Biting Hedgie

[TXMaple]

I have a female hedgehog, and have had her home her for a little over a week now. She appears to be quilling at the moment and is about 3 – 4 months old. She has been getting more and more comfortable with my girlfriend and myself and is very playful with us. However, two nights ago was a little different. Normally, she balls up when I initially put my hand in her cage, but quickly uncurls after she smells me. The other night, instead of uncurling, she latched onto my finger (bit visciously). I did not react as I should have and pulled away, resulting her landing on the floor unharmed. Afterwards I learned it is better to not pull away as I did, rather you're suppose to blow in their face. Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I didn’t allow it to faze me too much and picked her up off the floor, to which she was fine with, and placed her back in her cage. After a lot of thought and research as to why she might be doing this, I thought I may have had something tasty on my hands, but it was not an eating bite, it was a defensive bite, so I have almost ruled that out. Last night I took a rag and rubbed it in my hands to transfer my scent onto the rag and gently lowered it in her cage near her to which she smelled it and latched on yet again. Once again I thought something must be tasty on my hands, so I had my girlfriend take off her sock and hand it to me since I thought it might be my scent in general. She latched onto that just the same. I tried blowing in her face, which proved to be unsuccessful. Then I got a Q-tip with rubbing alcohol. The Q-tip worked once, and then when she latched on again, the alcohol did not even faze her. I was very careful not to touch her with the Q-tip. To that, I got a pair of leather gloves and rubbed my scent on the outside so I could pick her up and see if she had just snapped and wanted nothing to do with being handled any longer. That was not the case at all. Once she was out of her cage, she was the playful hedgehog we know. She had no problems climbing on either my girlfriend or myself and just running around being curious. And even when given the opportunity, had no desire of even licking my fingertips, let alone biting me. Do you think I have a pregnant hedgehog on my hands? It concerns me that even though I thought I had a female in my hands (since i went in researched up and prepared to buy), the girl at the pet store told us we had a male, which is what we wanted because of the stories we read online of bringing home a pregnant female not knowing it. So my best guess is that they were mixed in the pet store, which you can read on almost every hedghog under the "never do" section. After being able to get a closer look, I am positive we do have a female. Would her being pregnant explain her aggressiveness inside her cage (nest) and being fine outside of it, or is there something we have overlooked in our research. :dunno:

Brett

[wbarnhill]

Elvis has latched onto me once. Dunno why he did it, but he didn't pierce skin or anything. The only other times he's nipped at anyone is when licking their hands, but that one time he just felt the need to chomp down on my finger. Wrestled it away from him easily though. And it was when trying to remove him from his cage, so it could just be a territorial reaction, and another reason to just scoop under them (keeping your fingers away from their face) when picking them up. Hope everything is alright!

[Jeanette]

Maybe the first time she bit, she was startelled....
Then the second time and on, she associated you picking her up with being dropped.
Just wrap a blanket around her to pick her up and just leave her on your lap... do stuff like watch tv or read with her there. She will get used to being around you... take it one step at a time. It will take some time to win back the trust.

Hedgies are funny things. They have moods just like you and I do :)

[Jeanette]

Oh, and I almost forgot...

Hedgehogs are VERY good at hiding illness and injury... so you may think that she wasn't hurt... but keep a good eye on her for the next couple of days for limping, not eating as much, not wheeling, etc. Anything out of the ordinary.

If this happens, go to the vet!

I hope this works for you!

[Nancy]

Quilling up is a very natural response when you go to pick them up from their cage. It is a territorial behaviour and it sounds has if your girl has added biting to her reaction. Try using a cloth to pick her up and then once she is away from the cage, go bare handed.

Blowing in their face usually does nothing more than to further 'p' them off. The only time blowing in their face is successful is at the exact second that they bite. Otherwise they have no clue why you are doing it. I don't believe in using alcohol. Their sense of smell is so acute and alcohol is so strong. Usually just staying still until they let go on their own is best and then try and figure out the reason for the behaviour and try to keep exposed skin away from her mouth.

Make sure she is awake before reaching in. Talk to her first so she knows you are there.
When you get her up, do you immediately feed her and then allow her to potty. Often touchiness is because they are hungry when first woken or they have to poop. She could also be more sensitive because she is quilling and doesn't want to be handled.

Biting is not normally a pregnant reaction. :)

[TXMaple]

It's been made official today.....she was pregnant....she gave birth to at least three babies...there could be more, but i've only seen three. I have been very careful not to disturb them or her and have taken out her wheel - even though i'm not sure if she'll think too highly of me for that. I've just read that's the protocall.

[Hedgiepets]

Yes, no wheel until the babies are weaned. She could try to wheel with a baby in her mouth and injure or kill the baby.

[hemi_mygirl]

I don't mean to be rude... but she's 3-4 months old and just had hoglets? Watch her carefully to make sure she's not feeling an adverse effect to such a young pregnancy.

[herbiesmom]

She must have been very frightened to be pregnant and moved to a new place! Hopefully she will bond better with you when her kids get bigger.

[TXMaple]

I don't mean to be rude... but she's 3-4 months old and just had hoglets? Watch her carefully to make sure she's not feeling an adverse effect to such a young pregnancy.


Not rude at all. She came that way from the pet store. Hopefully this does not affect her or her hoglets. I still hear them squeeking/chirping, so they're still alive. Let's just hope she doesn't eat them. I've covered her cage with a towel and stocked her up on food and water as not to bother her. I'm going to buy some sour cream or cottage cheese tomorrow to keep her calcium up.