# help!! it drew blood!!



## globeswitch143 (Oct 5, 2011)

I've been bitten by my hedgie...i was holding him last night and he was ok for a while, i looked away for a while and he bit the tip of my middle finger.. the odd thing is he bit me like a dog would bite a tug of rope,shaking and all..and the shocking thing is,it drew blood...after he bit me i still continued to hold him then i returned him to his house..does anybody have the same experience? do hedgehog have rabies or something?i know its unusual for hedgies to bite.. im new to owning hedgies and there aren't a lot of hedgie owners here..hope someone will help.. im from the Philippines..thank you


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

In my opinion, if your hedgehog had rabies you would know it.

Its not very common for a hedgehog to bite out of meanness. More often than not, your hands smell like food, your fingers are too close to their face and they are trying to tell you to back off, or theyve mistaken your finger for something else. If you dont wash your hands before handling your quilled friend, your fingers could smell like food which would make him want a bite lol

The tugging/shaking dog-like action sounds like what my hedgie does when she is in her fleece blanket and trying to get comfortable. Maybe your hedgie thought your hand was somewhere he could hide and he decided he would try to get comfy?

There are lots of possible reasons as to why he bit you, but a couple things you can do to try to keep it from happening again are washing your hands with nonscented soap before spending time with him and not putting your fingers too close to his face. A lot of hedgies will lick you a couple times before they try to bite (when your hands smell like something good) so if/when he licks, gently pull your hand away.

Hope that helps some!


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## globeswitch143 (Oct 5, 2011)

thank you for the reply!! i looked away for a while,maybe that's why his face got to my fingertips..or maybe my hand was so comfy he thought it was fleece!! =D... anyway,thank you..


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## power (May 6, 2011)

I've been bitten by both of my hogs a few times but one of them drew blood yesterday as well. It happened at the vet, and I'd say the vets advice to wash with some antibacterial soap is probably sufficient. I know what you mean by them biting and hanging on. I'd liken it to a dog playing tug of war with a chew toy or something, I'm pretty amazed at the strength in a hedgies jaws too, OW.


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

Norman draws blood from time-to-time. I'll be petting him beneath his shirt while we're snuggling or I won't be watching and he'll mistake a finger for a big meal worm in his sleepy stupor (or I forgot to wash my hands and they smell interesting) and then chomp. He'll occasionally pull and drag to try and wrestle it either into a ball or into his hiding spot but it hasn't done him any good yet. :lol: He leaves some pretty good marks. Quick wash of soap and water, then slap on a bandage with some Polysporin and everything's fine. I've left a few untreated and found they tend to itch and burn.


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## Alicia San Buenaventura (May 7, 2016)

Me too ((((((


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

Alicia San Buenaventura said:


> Me too
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This post is too old. Please don't reply to old posts because posters might haven't been on the site anymore and creates confusion.


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## debrah (May 11, 2016)

My hedgehog does the same thing it's because she likes the smell of my hand so what hedgehogs do when they like the smell of something they want to annoint themselves with it so the bite your finger to try and get that scent into their saliva. But if you see your hedgehog starting to lick the best thing to do is to pull your hand away.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Please do not post on old threads. This thread is 5 years old.


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