# Blood stains all over its wheel



## Aliciacyh (Jul 3, 2013)

Ok i had kept my hedgehog(still cant think of a suitable name for it) for nearly 2 weeks now. Its had put on nearly 100g within the 2weeks. It weigh 325g n previously 240g. Yesterday i came home n went to see it n the first thing i saw is the wheel. It was dirty as usual but this time it was covered with dried blood stains. I thought she must had scraped her feets or smthing so i took her out n check but cant find anything. Her pee n poo r clear no blood stains. I am bring her for a check with the vet later. Does anyone has this problem? My wheel is a chincilla wheel so should be ok? N one side behind her ear seems to be more bald also. I didn see quills in her cage maybe its hidden under the bedding. She is not scratching her ear also so i don neo wats wrong. A photo her blood stained wheel


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## Sonics1AndOnlyGirl (May 25, 2013)

I think you should get a different wheel. That wheel (a silent spinner) is know for hedgies getting their nails stuck in the small slits on it. She may have bled because a nail got ripped out. Or maybe she ran to much on it. Hedgehogs sometimes run until their feet bleed.


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## Mel_W (Apr 26, 2013)

I agree with the comment above. Silent Spinners are known for injuring hedgehogs. I also agree that you should look into getting a new wheel. Make sure the wheel has a solid surface, that means no wire, or groves that can catch hedgehogs tiny little nails, toes, and feet.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

A little blood can go a long way. If you can't find any source of the blood, it's likely hedgie had a small cut or a crack between her toes that bled while she ran. I've had wheels look worse... It's horrible (OMG, is s/he okay? what happened? argh!!!) when you see it. 

Assuming it's a little cut or nick to a toe or foot, make sure hedgie's feet are clean - plain warm water; blot dry on a towel. Pull the wheel out for a night or two to let her heal. And when you put a wheel back in, choose one other than the Silent Spinner. It's possible she injured herself on the groove that runs down the center of the running surface. Also, if she isn't already on white or light colored fleece, use that for bedding so you can better keep track of what's going on with bleeding. Particulate bedding (like Carefresh or shavings) and dark fabrics will hide blood - it shows up better on white.


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## Aliciacyh (Jul 3, 2013)

Vet cant find anything wrong with her. No cut or ripe off toenail or anything. Anyway i took away her wheel n had decided to only put it back when i find another type of wheel. Over here petshops sold only this type of wheel. But only a day without wheel n she is going crazy. She kept climbing up her cage bars and falling down from it. Although i had a plastic base and its quite a good height but she still managed to climb the bars. She even wanted to do the monkey bar climb across the top of her cage. Placed toys for her but all she wanted was the wheel. I was so worried tat she wil hurt herself from the falls so i gave up n put the wheel back n she immediately went to run it. This morning i found blood stain again n again cant find anything wrong with her.. Actually the vet suspected she ran too vigourously til her nails get filed to her quick n so tat started the bleeding. So my question is if i were to make the bucket wheel for her will the same thing happen? Coz the silent wheel has smooth surface too n if it can file her nails will the bucket wheel do the same? Or i just have to let her nails grow longer before putting any wheel for her? But if no wheel for her for few days then how do i stop her from being so frustrated n climb around n kept falling?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

It doesn't seem like the nails would be getting filed down - smooth surface wheels don't have enough friction to do that, even if the hedgehog is running a lot or very quickly. I think it's more likely she has some cracks on the bottom of her feet that are too tiny to see. Still though, you made the right choice by putting the wheel back in - climbing is more dangerous than the Silent Spinner, IMO. I would definitely keep working on getting a new wheel ASAP though, just in case. Her feet should toughen up soon, I think, and stop getting cracks in them from so much running. I've never had this problem though, so others may have some more advice regarding that bit!


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