# Extra Popping and Hissing



## AtomicHedgie (Jan 20, 2012)

So Gimli was a sweet, attention craving little man when I first got him, but then I had to trim his nails and he started quilling and now he's extremely antisocial. When I take him out of his cage he'll ball up, pop and hiss, and he gets going so much that he'll actually be shaking. Did I traumatize him when I clipped his nail (I didn't get the quick)? I feel like my hedgehog doesn't like me anymore because I was taking care of him lol.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I'd be willing to bet it has to do with the quilling, and most likely not the nail trimming. Archimedes has been like that for most of the time we've had him. We met him twice prior to taking him home, and he had a lovely friendly personality that started to go away by the end of his first week home. He was 6 weeks when he was brought home, had started quilling, but as it got more intense his demeanor got worse. For about two weeks recently he was a downright terror, to the point of huffing continuously when we handled him and popping/clicking at any little provocation. We knew it was related to the quilling, and that he would improve after that was finished, but it was frustrating nonetheless! Then, around when he hit 11 weeks (this past Friday) he started to improve dramatically. He seems to be right at the end of quilling - he completely changed color around week 9, and has a nice thick coat of mostly adult quills, and for the last few days he's been losing what seems to be the last of his baby quills (around 20-25 per day, so many more than he was losing before, haha) with no new quills visible coming in. The change in personality for him is really obviously related to quilling for him, and I know this is pretty typical for hedgehogs.

So, yes, the quilling does cause grumpiness, which can be pretty severe - and yes, in almost every case, it gets better once the quilling is over. Also, yes, it's incredibly frustrating when it's happening, and it's so easy to start thinking that it's something you did. If nail trimming is the worst that he's had to deal with coming from you, then I can assure you, it has nothing to do with you at all. Hang in there! :]


----------



## AtomicHedgie (Jan 20, 2012)

haha thanks Moxieberry! I assumed it was quilling but he's been quilling for what seems like forever haha. We weren't sure how old he was when we got him but with the amount of quiling that he's done and the size difference we've noticed in the month we've had him I'm assuming he must have been quite young when we got him. 

He's also the fussiest little man, and he doesn't like any of the foods other hedgies seem to love, so bribing him has not been an option.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Yeah, it pretty much seems like forever. Archimedes is just shy of 12 weeks now, and started to improve at around 11 weeks. We've had him since 6 weeks and he's been grumpy to some extent or another just about the whole time - with occasional good days and little glimpses of the sweet personality we know he has. So .. yeah, the better part of a month and a half so far. Things are looking much better right now, so most likely the worst is over now, yay!

Archimedes is also extremely picky, and I sort of wonder if it's related to the grumpiness - maybe the grump and the discomfort from quilling makes him less interested in trying new things, or something. I guess I'll know for sure depending on whether his pickiness lets up after the quilling is done. He has no interest in mealies, cooked chicken, baby food, or any of the fruits and vegetables I've tried - the exception being watermelon, which I only discovered he likes after 5 or so weeks of various attempts. Until I finally figured that one out, he literally would eat nothing but his kibble.

We actually got a small bag of Royal Canin Kitten 36 (the older-kitten kind) because I wanted to add a little more fat to his diet to replace the breeder's mix which just ran out. He was doing fine with gaining weight, but he's becoming a little wheel-crazy and also - the food we use is 9% fat, but his overall diet was more like 11% because of the breeder's mix. I didn't want him to drop to a lower fat content overall than what he was getting already, so we use the kitten kibble in small amounts (only about 10-15 kibble pieces each day) to even that out. I was cautioned that introducing him to a kitten food might make him less interested in his normal kibble, but that hasn't been a problem, maybe partly because he's given so little. The RC Kitten 36 works great as treats for him, which is good, because even though I just found out about his watermelon interest this past week, it's too watery and sugary to be a daily thing.


----------



## wewerebound (Dec 7, 2011)

For many months Henry acted like he hated me. I had him since he was 4 weeks. Not until about 7-8 months is when he came around. He used to ball up and not unroll. Huff and pop. Now he chirps when I take him out of his cage and loves snuggling up on my lap to sleep. Give him time.


----------



## hannahlc (Feb 7, 2012)

This is encouraging! I am getting so frustrated with my hedgehog, Harriet. The past week or two she has been horrible. Usually when I pick her up she's cranky for a minute but then calms down and cuddles, but these past few weeks she has gone into a ball and puffed and hissed at me. I was worried that it was because I was really busy with school this week and haven't spent as much time with her as usual. I also noticed that she had severely dry skin, and I thought that was maybe why she was so cranky when I picked her up. I have her an olive oil bath, and her skin is fine, but she hasn't improved. We got her in November of 2011, and she was about 6 weeks old, and she is still loosing quills! Hopefully this ends soon.


----------

