# Sudden Biting Habit



## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Hello. I'm new to this forum as well as owning a hedgehog, but I've read a lot of the helpful tips here on this site.

Anyways, today, I decided to start a thread about this recent habit that my hedgehog has started up.

I'm living in Japan, and so I bought this hedgehog here.
EDIT: When I bought her, she wasn't "friendly", but I think she basically acted like a typical hedgehog, balling up and hissing when she was unsure or frightened.

She's around 3 months going on 4, and as soon as I got her, I was trying to spend the 30 minutes a day with her, mostly at night because my job doesn't allow morning playtime.

I've introduced meal worms to her recently and it's the only other food that she seems to want to eat other than her normal hedgehog food.

Other than that, there really isn't anything different introduced to her recently.

She was getting used to me, and wouldn't hiss or curl into a tight ball.
She was climbing onto my hands, and everything seemed okay until a few days ago.

She bit me.
I believe this bite was a taste bite because she sniffed, licked, then bit.
However, recently, whenever I put my hands near her, she just clamps on.
She doesn't hiss or curl into a ball. She just walks up to my hand and takes a nice bite.

Granted her teeth are small, I haven't received much injury save for a small pin sized scar from the first bite, but other than that, her bites have been fairly mild... not that I would say they were by any means comfortable...

Anyways, I noticed that there are many very knowledgeable hedgie owners here, and I was wondering if anyone could possibly give me an answer as to why she's just suddenly gotten into biting.

I wash my hands before and after handling with a soap that does not have a strong scent.
Her poop is normal, not runny or green.
She runs on her wheel, and gets her food, water, and meal worms in her dig box everyday.

If anyone can tell me why this is happening, and how to reverse the behavior without getting bitten much more or having to use gloves for the rest of her life, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.


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## Melanie G. (May 29, 2014)

Do you put her back in her cage after she bites you?


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Melanie G. said:


> Do you put her back in her cage after she bites you?


The first time I did, because I didn't have any other place to put her while I washed the blood off. (She's not potty trained, and I live on carpet in an apartment whose landlord prefers no pets...)

After the second time though, I've been putting her in her plastic bin where she usually hangs out when she's out of her cage -or- I put her in her old glass tank that has really nothing in it at the moment.

Not sure if this is the right solution, but I read that you shouldn't put them back in their cage after they bite you, and could only think of these solutions by myself.

If you have some advice, I would be very happy to hear it


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

It'd be best to continue to hold her right after she bites her, even if your hand hurts. She may have decided that biting is the way to get put down & is doing so when she wants to be, or the way to get left alone for a bit.

Can you think of any similarities between what's going on when she bites? Is there anything stressing her out? Is it when she's been out for a while? Could she be hungry? Is it before/after you offer mealworms or anything else? Or does it just seem to be whenever she wants & whenever your hands are near?


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## Melanie G. (May 29, 2014)

I agree- continue to hold her (even if you hold her in a blanket or something). 
When she bites you can say no loudly and clap your hands to indicate you are not happy. I've also heard of people blowing in their hedgehogs face to get them to let go.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I wouldn't use any kind of punishment or negative reinforcement. It's more likely to scare the hedgehog & make the behavior worse than it is to help. It'd be better to ignore the bites as best as you can, don't reward her by putting her down, etc., and try to prevent the situation from happening as best as you can, and reward her for when she's out & being held and doesn't bite.


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Lilysmommy said:


> It'd be best to continue to hold her right after she bites her, even if your hand hurts. She may have decided that biting is the way to get put down & is doing so when she wants to be, or the way to get left alone for a bit.
> 
> Can you think of any similarities between what's going on when she bites? Is there anything stressing her out? Is it when she's been out for a while? Could she be hungry? Is it before/after you offer mealworms or anything else? Or does it just seem to be whenever she wants & whenever your hands are near?


Thank you very much for the advice.

The first time she bit me, she was out of her cage, and I think it was a taste bite, but I'm not entirely sure. After that, she bites me even in her cage before I take her out - I resorted to gloves when I had to clean her cage yesterday after she had tried to bite me again.
I really can't think of anything, but, if I had to say something, I always tend to handle her before feeding.


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## Teddi4211 (Apr 30, 2014)

Do you use gloves when you hold her? That masks your scent, so a blanket is a much better alternative.


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Teddi4211 said:


> Do you use gloves when you hold her? That masks your scent, so a blanket is a much better alternative.


I haven't before, but I used them a few times yesterday and today because I didn't want to get bitten.

I put her in a towel today since she poops on everything, and a blanket is harder to hand wash than a towel for me.


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Lilysmommy said:


> I wouldn't use any kind of punishment or negative reinforcement. It's more likely to scare the hedgehog & make the behavior worse than it is to help. It'd be better to ignore the bites as best as you can, don't reward her by putting her down, etc., and try to prevent the situation from happening as best as you can, and reward her for when she's out & being held and doesn't bite.


Thank you very much again.
What would you advise me to do, if she just bites me in the cage again?
She usually takes one sniff, and just goes in for a bite...
I tried playing with her today at the normal time, and she now always has dried food in her dish, but she still bites me...


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I would try to keep your hands away from her in the cage. It might be defensiveness against this new thing invading her area. Prevention is usually the best cure, as much as you can prevent it. I know one of the other admins (maybe Kalandra?) has said before that sometimes if you can just keep your hands away from their mouth as much as possible, eventually they may grow out of it, or if they're not getting a reaction because you have towel between her & your hand to help dull the bite, that they'll give up. Biting can be quite frustrating to deal with from what I've read, since sometimes there's just no obvious reason to solve...Hang in there and hopefully she'll quit soon!


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## Hannah (May 15, 2014)

I know you mentioned you wash your hands with a soap that doesn't have a strong scent. But even a soap that doesn't have strong scent to us can smell very, very distinct to a hedgehog. We use the same exact fragrance-free soap (NOT unscented! there's a difference) every time we hold her, and ask any guests at our home to use it too if they want to hold her. 

I would try buying a fragrance-free soap, so your hedgehog can become more accustomed to your scent isolated and free from any other scent (even though your current soap's scent is weak to you...), and see if that helps. Good luck!


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Lilysmommy said:


> I would try to keep your hands away from her in the cage. It might be defensiveness against this new thing invading her area. Prevention is usually the best cure, as much as you can prevent it. I know one of the other admins (maybe Kalandra?) has said before that sometimes if you can just keep your hands away from their mouth as much as possible, eventually they may grow out of it, or if they're not getting a reaction because you have towel between her & your hand to help dull the bite, that they'll give up. Biting can be quite frustrating to deal with from what I've read, since sometimes there's just no obvious reason to solve...Hang in there and hopefully she'll quit soon!


Thank you so much! This is very helpful advice, and I will definitely try it out. I'm glad that I'm not the only one here getting bitten. I was really surprised when she started biting, but I will keep at it, and use all of the advice you have given. Thank you very much.


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Hannah said:


> I know you mentioned you wash your hands with a soap that doesn't have a strong scent. But even a soap that doesn't have strong scent to us can smell very, very distinct to a hedgehog. We use the same exact fragrance-free soap (NOT unscented! there's a difference) every time we hold her, and ask any guests at our home to use it too if they want to hold her.
> 
> I would try buying a fragrance-free soap, so your hedgehog can become more accustomed to your scent isolated and free from any other scent (even though your current soap's scent is weak to you...), and see if that helps. Good luck!


Thank you very much for pointing about soaps and scents.
I didn't think of it as much of a problem because I've been using the same soap since I got her, and her biting has only started up recently. I will definitely try to find some fragrance-free soaps though. Thank you.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

You state she's between 3-4 months. Is she quilling? Sometimes they can have behavior issues when they are going through a bad quilling.


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Kalandra said:


> You state she's between 3-4 months. Is she quilling? Sometimes they can have behavior issues when they are going through a bad quilling.


I'm really not sure if she's quilling or not, but her back looks full of quills, and I haven't seen any quills laying around her cage.


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## mamu40 (Jun 8, 2014)

even if the soap has "no sent" try using a different soap to see if that helps?


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

Kalandra said:


> You state she's between 3-4 months. Is she quilling? Sometimes they can have behavior issues when they are going through a bad quilling.


I still haven't seen any quills in her cage, but, today, I noticed that she had quills in different sizes on her back, some very small, and others tall and thick. I read up more on quilling and I think this may be it? She's also been scratching a bit more than usual...


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## Yuumin (Jun 8, 2014)

mamu40 said:


> even if the soap has "no sent" try using a different soap to see if that helps?


I am currently looking for a soap that is fragrance free


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## hogwildhedgies (Jun 18, 2014)

I rarely ever have biters as my hogs are hand-raised but occasionally it does happen. Any animal with teeth can bite! Usually if a hog is nipping, I can find the source of the problem and fix it. In your case, my prediction would be that she was a little nervous when you were holding her in the first place and then smelled something on you. When she bit, she probably noticed that you instantly put her down and stop touching her. It might be a defense mechanism. She's scared of being handled and discovered that the moment she bites down, you let her go. If that's the case, try handling her wrapped up in fleece or fabric and just letting her chill on your lap so she learns your scent, voice, and body and can get used to you and learn to trust you without her being forced to be handled a lot. Eventually you will gain her trust and she will become used to you, and then she will be more easy to handle. 
That's only one possible reason, there's a lot of reasons why a hog could nip. For example we had a baby that was SO sweet and so friendly and her new mommy just ADORES her and gives her constant attention. A few months later she called me to tell me that she had been getting bitten a lot lately. I was taken aback because my hogs never bite. We talked for a few hours on the phone about everything she did with the hog. She told me she had never been bitten until this week and she never wears perfume or lotion or touches her after eating. We were at a loss for awhile until we realized that this woman was hand-feeding her hog all her treats every single day. She had been using treats as a way to gain trust and affection, and would stick her hand in twice a day to handfeed her hog chicken, apples, turkey, veggies, etc. The hog obviously associated it's mommy's hands with treats and jumps to go get some yummies whenever she sticks her hand in! So we told her to quit handfeeding for a while and within a week, she had no more biting problems at all. 
We adopted a baby hog with a hurt leg recently and I would medicate her twice a day, her nightly meds would be done right when my herd usually wakes up which is when I feed them and handle them every night. I couldn't figure out why my one hog Cher started getting angry and biting at me randomly during her nightly playtime. After watching her lick my hands and start anointing the one night, I realized that even though I was washing my hands thoroughly, she was still smelling the flavored medication I was giving the hurt hog. And she really, really hated it and would get angry and shake her head when she smelled it! So I learned from that and would medicate my baby one AFTER handling all the other hogs at night. 
I've only ever experienced one hog that I couldn't keep from biting but i'm fairly certain it is just because he is very bonded to us and other people make him nervous. He was one of a litter of 5 and all 4 others were angels. They got equal attention from the moment they were old enough to be touched. The other 4 made wonderful pets and are very loved by their new families. This one, however, was a nipper. He never bit me or anybody in our family, but whenever somebody else were to pick him up, he bit at them. We tried everything but like people, hogs have specific unique personalities. He was just very bonded with us and any other person holding him made him freak out a little and he would try to get away, if the person doesnt let him go, he bites. Knowing that he had nipped previously, we obviously would never home him. So we kept him as a pet. He's great and very loving, but nobody else besides our family can handle him. 

I don't know exactly what your hog's issue is but i'm sure if you think about it enough, you'll realize in time what's causing it like I always do. I wish you all the luck on getting your baby to stop biting!


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## Teddi4211 (Apr 30, 2014)

I would look for quills in her cage. If you're using liners, sometimes the coloring of the liner makes them hard to see. But you want to be sure she's quilling, because if she isn't then it's something else that needs fixing.


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