HEDGIE WARNING! lol

[Sheilagh]

So, I'm not sure if this is common with hedgies, but tonight, my brother was letting my hedgie sniff his hand, I had the hedgie out to roam on a blanket a bit, his hand was down, hedgie was sniffling, then started licking, and then CHOMP!!!! Pepsi bit my brother! I was out of the room at the time, but saw it out of the corner of my eye, everyone else saw it to. I can't believe it. The worst part though, is Pepsi went right for my brothers cut on his hand. I felt really bad and ashamed of him, but it was my brothers fault. I guess my fault to, I forgot to tell my brother they like meat :p OOPS!! Well, just a warning! DON'T PET HEDGIES WHEN YOU HAVE WOUNDS ON YOUR HANDS! (I also think it was because my brother is ALWAYS eating, so I bet he had just eaten something nummy, even though I tried a bit of turkey, which was licked, but ignored, oh well, some young uns don't take treats at first I've learnedd on here)

[herbiesmom]

My two have never bitten because of a wound.Snow has never bitten at all. Herbie has only bitten us three times and all three times somebody forgot to wash their hands after eating or in my case I had hamburger grease dripped on my pants and did not change before holding him. We use Dove unscented soap from Walmart and wash before touching the hedgies. As long as we are faithful about that they don't bite.

[Jeanette]

I think that it's important to stress one point:
IT IS NOT THE HEDGEHOG'S FAULT!

Wounds are very hard to clean and if your brother had soap or food smell on his hands, it's going to happen.
Spiny, the most gentle of hedgehogs, bit my hand the other day because I smelled like laundry detergent. It doesn't mean that he is vicious at just a natural biter, he was just following his instinct (smell=food).
I felt so bad that I didn't wash my hands and he bit me because Spiny got scared. (Again, it wasn't his fault!). Poor little thing :D
I guess it's just something that you come to accept owning a hedgehog.

[Nancy]

I've never had anyone bite where there was a cut. I'm betting that was just coincidence or your brother had put something on the cut that smelled interesting.

[Sheilagh]

I'm glad it wasn't because of the smell of blood. Knowing my brother, he wouldn't have put something on it to take care of the cut, but he probably had just eaten without washing his hands (I didnt have a chance to tell him to make sure his hands were clean before he got to the hedgehog). I know it's not the little guy's fault, and I can't blame him if he meant to hurt my brother! Sometimes I wish I could just smack him in the head, but being the little sister, I'd get beat back. Oh the joys of siblings. I'm just glad my little guy isn't a blood hungry lil vampire! That would be scary..
And an update!!! Last night he ran on his wheel allllllllll night! He had never seen a wheel before! First night was a blast, can't wait til tonight!

[reddevil]

Hi Sheilagh,

What your hedgie did is very natural. If a hedgie likes a certain scent he or she will start to lick it but that almost always leads to him or her bitting. Let people know if the hedgie starts to lick it may bit.


Red, the keeper of prickly butts...lol

[OnAnAmbulance]

Licking usually leads to biting. I know this one for sure, but usually only one lick precedes a nice attempt at a chomp here... I have to be quick to get out of the way :)

My hedgie even likes the sweat on my hands that happens on occasion... so any scent or new stimulus could cause something like that.

[scythefwd]

My hedgie has only tried to bite me once. I saw her opening up so I moved, she balled up:) She likes to chew on my shirt though, then shell annoint:)

[wyvernrider18]

I wouldn't worry about the biting thing. My hedgie bites me all the time. They will bite if they think there is something tasty on your hands and they want to try it. It really has nothing to do with wounds or anything. But hedgie bites are seldom dangerous, I have never had one break the skin, even when she means it. Try getting some unscented soap. That might help. My Hotaru likes the green apple soap that I use. :)

[AlbertaGirl]

LOL, at least you don't have to worry that he has developed a "taste for blood"! Although having a vampire hedgie would be kind of interesting, especially with Halloween coming up. You'd have to change his name to Audrey II! :rofl: