# 7month heggie huge attitude problem.... Still biting.



## Zaugg (Sep 25, 2013)

Okay semi new owner here. Well I started out with watching my boyfriends 3 year old hedgehog(unsosialized) it took her a while to show affection. Anyway long story short I became an owner of a cute 2 month old Lyra. She was great while quilling she and the older one got along very well..... 
Well as we all know there is this horrific thing called cancer that I lost the older one too..... She lived till 4 in a half. As soon as she passed quess who decided to huff, click, purr and my all time favored BITING! Yay.....
We are slowly reworking on scent training and idk it's been a month since other one passed and I've been trying everything I can find on here..... She's been a bitter before but not as bad as resent..... Quilling is aalllmost done she's 7months now.... Have had her for 5 months. Any other creative ideas lying around????? Right now when I sleep( I work nights ) during the day I let her sleep in my hoodie on my bed, she'll sleep but once I slowly wake her up its free for all on prickling and biting. She's okay with back petting but hates the face. I'm using gloves to handle her face due to the biting.


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## eicg (Sep 27, 2013)

try this its one YouTube its called how to handle tame a mean aggressive hedgehog that's really all i can think of.


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## eicg (Sep 27, 2013)

> In young hedgehogs, biting/nipping may be a way of exploring the environment. This may or may not be preceded by a lick. To discourage this behavior in babies we think have gone overboard with the exploratory nibbling, we use a mildly aversive "air puff" technique. We watch the hedgie carefully, and as soon as it begins to open its mouth we blow a puff of air toward the hedgie. The hedgie's natural response is to lower the visor or ball up. It can't bite when it's doing that, and it usually only takes about 2 to 4 times of doing this for hedgie to learn that trying to bite something that smells like human flesh leads to something uncomfortable, and to stop. i got this from
> *Techniques for Managing Biting Behavior in ... - Hedgehog Valley!*
> 
> you can go on Google to find it hope it helped. if you want to find it know just click on the title above it should take you there.


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

While 7 months is still young-ish, that excerpt is mainly referring to babies, like 6 weeks - 4 months. The "air puff" technique is also discouraged as it teaches them to expect something negative which will only cause them to continue to act defensively. I believe there's another reason not to do it but I can't recall at the moment.

Zaugg, has anything in Lyra's environment changed, like moving to a new house? Do you have any other pets? Did she and your bf's hedgehogs live in the same house or were they "friends" (or as much as a hedgie can be friends with another hedgie)? I wonder if Lyra just misses her buddy. Does she only bite your hands or will she go for anything?

What about any new body washes/soaps/perfumes/air fresheners? Make sure your hands don't smell like lotion, food, etc. Is it possible she's hungry? If you hand feed her treats she may think your fingers are food. I'm not sure if females go through a puberty like the males do, but that could also be a possibility.

It's pretty normal for them not to like being touched on the face and head. I always get the Grumpus frown look from Pig when I touch his head feathers.

Some hedgies are just chompy and will get better with time, but the best thing you can do is remove/limit the opportunities for biting. Keep doing what you're doing with familiarizing her with your scent. Keep handling her daily (stopping the handling will only make it worse). Make sure your hands are free of any scents, keep fingers away from her face, etc., and keep loving on her.


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## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

Webster was rather bitey while he was quilling, basically I think he was just very uncomfortable and crabby and he wasn't afraid to show it, and my kids were handling him a LOT when he first came home, which he was good with at first, but then suddenly started biting any time anyone tried to hold him, and all of the kids were bitten repeatedly (he has only bitten me once) for a couple of months. He still has days where he's extra huffy and puffy and I don't dare try to get my fingers anywhere near his face (usually I pick him up with a blanket and plop him in a cuddle sack and just let him hang out on my lap if he will stay put), and other days where he's all curious and will climb all over me, and I can't even imagine him biting anyone, ever. Those days are happening more and more as he gets older.

I agree with the others - if you avoid handling your hedgie when they bite, that only reinforces the behavior, they quickly learn that it's something they can do that gets the result they want (to be left alone) and they are smarter than you'd think about making those connections. Spending time with you even when they are grumpy is really the only way to help them over it. If you don't want to get bitten, don't put your fingers near their face, but figure out some way that you can just spend more time together in a non-threatening way. What you really want is for your hedgie to learn to just chill out and relax around you, and once that happens they'll be much less likely to reach the point where they'll bite.


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## deftones (Jul 26, 2013)

Macey bit me yesterday. She is on her 12 week quilling however and was very fidgety and I could tell she did not want to be held. I tried to "tough love" her and hold her anyway. I had my hands underneath her so she was laying on my hands and she bit my left ring finger. It didnt draw blood but its the first time. I can tell she basically had just had enough due to being irritable from the quilling however.


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