# Woke up to blood in cage



## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

It seems that Felix had quite the wild night. I woke up this morning to get ready to go to class and glanced in his cage briefly. In addition to a poopy wheel and some obvious liner diving, I noticed some tiny spots of blood on his liner/fleece digging strips. It doesn't seem like a lot, but of course I'm concerned. I picked him up to look him over and a little bit of the fur on his belly right next to one of his back feet looks like it has blood on it, but I couldn't find any source on his belly. The paw nearest to the blood spot is incredibly poopy, but looks like it has blood on it as well. I don't have enough time to give him a foot bath, examine him further, and hold him until he dries before class, but I plan on doing so the second I get home after class. (Later this morning around 10.)

His cage is in my bedroom, and he woke me up a few times last night furiously wheeling and attempting to burrow under his liner. He is also new to wheeling, as his previous owner did not have a wheel in his cage and I just introduced him to his CSBW this past Saturday. The poop in his cage looks normal to me, and he doesn't seem the least bit bothered by anything (although he seemed annoyed that I dragged him out from underneath his liner to check on him). 

Does this just sound like a case of a bloody paw from not being used to wheeling? I know bloody paws are somewhat common, but as a new and paranoid hedgie mom, I could really use some reassurance. I was pretty panicked when I saw the blood.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Tiny little spots of blood is usually from a foot because when the foot is bleeding and they walk, it leaves tiny spots. Sometimes if they bleed enough, the wheel will spray the blood as well. 

He will be fine until you get home to clean his feet. If it happens again tonight, it may be an idea to leave his wheel out for a night but that all depends on the individual hedgehog as sometimes with no wheel, they end up getting in more trouble. :lol:


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## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

Thanks Nancy. I'm about 95% sure it was just a bloody foot. Hopefully I'll know for sure after I give him a foot bath later this morning. The spots certainly looked like little bloody hedgie footprints, and they were mostly concentrated near his wheel. I held him in his blankie for a few minutes and sort of rubbed him a bit to make sure that wherever the blood was coming from it had stopped. 

I'm sure I'm just being paranoid. He gave me this look like "Mom, quit poking and prodding me. I'm FINE!" when I picked him up earlier.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

You very likely won't even be able to find where the blood was coming from. Hedgie feet bleed an incredible amount but they also heal incredibly quickly. If there isn't anything obvious, look for redness between his outer back toes. Often they get a little stress crack between the toes but by morning when we go to look, all there is is slight redness. 

Yeah, we all get paranoid when we find blood. :lol:


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## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

I gave Felix a foot bath and took the opportunity to check him over more thoroughly. I didn't find anything that looked like a cut or a puncture, but I did find some redness between his toes on one of his back feet. I'm going to assume that the problem is one of the stress cracks you mentioned, Nancy. I put a new liner in his cage that is mostly white, so I will keep an eye out for any additional bleeding today and tomorrow morning. 

Thanks so much for your help!


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## Andreanne.Tache (Jul 1, 2014)

Happened the same to me tonight... I woke up to blood all over my hegie's wheel... Flying saucer may be the reason ? I washed his feet and checked and found nothing. I have to go to work but I'm freaking out :/... He acts normally so I should wait to see how it goes ?? Few days without wheel and watching him!


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Andreanne.Tache said:


> Happened the same to me tonight... I woke up to blood all over my hegie's wheel... Flying saucer may be the reason ? I washed his feet and checked and found nothing. I have to go to work but I'm freaking out :/... He acts normally so I should wait to see how it goes ?? Few days without wheel and watching him!


A hedgehog can run it's little pads raw on any wheel, remove the wheel one to two days and all will be fine. This thread is from 2011, it's best to start your own thread if you have a question.


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