Mystery blood

[hemi_mygirl]

Hey everyone...last night I noticed some dried blood on Hemi's front right paw. I checked her entire cage for any other signs of blood, but couldn't find any. I was just wondering what it could be from. I have some ideas, and I was wondering what the most plausible would be.

1) My sister (who was keeping an eye on her last night while I was out) said she had been scratching alot. Is it possible she might have scratched her delicate little paw with a quill?

2) When she bathes her feet, she tends to bite them. Is it possible she might have bitten too hard, and drawn blood? Although, I don't think this would be possible, since all feet were poopy when I got home.

3) Are her feet maybe dry, and the skin is getting chapped? This one seems sort of out there, because I gently massge a bit of Vitamin E oil on her feet after each bath just to counteract the drying that might occur.

I'm really confused about this. I've been wiping off her paws everyday to try to keep it sterile, and to keep an eye out for more blood. So far I haven't noticed any new blood. her paw also doesn't seem to be bothering her when I touch it (clean hands) or when she walks on it.

Could someone please help, and if there's any other possibilities why her paw is bleeding, please post them?

* Oh, and there was no blood anywhere else on her, or in her mouth. I checked that last night as well.

Thank you.

[Ododad]

If there is one spoiled and well loved hedgie, Hemi is it. :lol:
If there is no sign of a torn nail, scratched leg or foot, scratched snout, or anything else and there is no blood anywhere else then keep a close eye on her poop and pee. If there is not any blood there that she may have stepped in, then wait and see if it happens again. Check her wheel and everything in her cage for any sharp or ragged edges. (I know, you have already did this. Probably six or seven times already). I don't know what else to tell you. Keep us updated on this please!

[Nancy]

Hedgehog will quite often run on their wheels until their feet bleed. This happens most frequently in the first month a hedgehog has their wheel, then their feet seem to toughen up. Sometimes the amount of blood they can loose is scarey and there will be nothing visible wrong.

You can try rubbing a bit of vaseline or vit E oil on her feet although it may make her slip on her wheel.

Usually their feet heal up really quickly so just keep an eye on them. :)

[Ododad]

Hedgehog will quite often run on their wheels until their feet bleed. This happens most frequently in the first month a hedgehog has their wheel, then their feet seem to toughen up. Sometimes the amount of blood they can loose is scarey and there will be nothing visible wrong.

You can try rubbing a bit of vaseline or vit E oil on her feet although it may make her slip on her wheel.

Usually their feet heal up really quickly so just keep an eye on them. :)
Trust the OLD pro to come through yet again! ;)

[Nancy]

Trust the OLD pro to come through yet again! ;)

Game on .... OLD MAN. ;) :laugh:

[hemi_mygirl]

LOL...I knew you two would be the first to come running. LOL.

And Billy...I did check her poop. Mom thought I was crazy. Her nose is not scratched - it's perfect as usual, and her feet look fine. All her nails are fine, I checked those too (much to her dismay). The blood seems like it came from between her toes, but I can't be sure, since she won't spread her toes for me. LOL. But, when I washed her feet off with some clean, warm water (no soap), I couldn't see any evidence of scratches at all. And there has been no new blood - I checked a couple times last night after I discovered it.

Nancy - I don't think it came from her wheel...there's no sharp edges, and the blood wasn't coming from the pads of her feet (where I'd imagine it would come from if it was due to too much running). But I'll be sure to keep an eye on that for a couple days just to make sure.

Being such a new hedgie-mom, I was a bit worried at the blood. It wasn't even alot (about the amount you'd get from a torn cuticle). Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Thank you.

Oh, and Nancy - Hemi says she can't wait for her new sleeping bag. LOL.

[hemi_mygirl]

Trust the OLD pro to come through yet again! ;)

Ohh..I finally caught that one. :laugh:

[Ododad]

Oh, *adjusts halo* I didn't mean anything by that. :winkgrin:

[Nancy]

It rarely comes from the pads on their feet. Usually it is a slight crack between the outer two toe nails and very often the back feet. It isn't from anything sharp it is just like a stress split.

[Ododad]

LOL...I knew you two would be the first to come running. LOL.

And Billy...I did check her poop. Mom thought I was crazy. Her nose is not scratched - it's perfect as usual, and her feet look fine. All her nails are fine, I checked those too (much to her dismay). The blood seems like it came from between her toes, but I can't be sure, since she won't spread her toes for me. LOL. But, when I washed her feet off with some clean, warm water (no soap), I couldn't see any evidence of scratches at all. And there has been no new blood - I checked a couple times last night after I discovered it.

Nancy - I don't think it came from her wheel...there's no sharp edges, and the blood wasn't coming from the pads of her feet (where I'd imagine it would come from if it was due to too much running). But I'll be sure to keep an eye on that for a couple days just to make sure.

Being such a new hedgie-mom, I was a bit worried at the blood. It wasn't even alot (about the amount you'd get from a torn cuticle). Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Thank you.

Oh, and Nancy - Hemi says she can't wait for her new sleeping bag. LOL.
I know that you already checked everything. Probably already checked it 50 times before you posted. :) I just didn't know what else to say. lol
Noone can ever blame you for being a bad hedgie mommy. lol