# She just bit me!



## puckfaery32115 (Apr 27, 2009)

So I have had Tiggy since last Friday, and she's a few days over 2 months old. When I take her out, I'm usually just holding her, and her behavior varies. One time she could be very cuddly, curling up in the crook of my elbow, and the next she's very active, running up and down my arms and up to my shoulder. 
So I decided to get a play pen thing, the one that's a cage and you can set it up on the floor, so she could run around, and not get away. I have a very big, old house with lots of places for a hedgie to get lost. So I pick her up today and set her in the play pen. She goes around the perimeter constantly and looks like she's trying to find a way out. She not interested in the toys I put out for her. 
When I go to pick her up, cause she looks frantic and I don't want her to freak, she starts nipping at my fingers, and then she actually bit me! This is a first. She's nibbled on my bracelets before, but not my fingers. It was like she genuinely did not want to by held by me at all. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to get her to... like me?


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Try offering her some food as soon as you get her up. Often they are hungry when they first get up, babies especially. See if she is hungry. That may be why she is nipping.


----------



## puckfaery32115 (Apr 27, 2009)

I will try that, thank you!


----------



## memechan1990 (Mar 29, 2009)

The first time Coraline bit me was while I was letting her run around my bed, she actually bit one of my toes with out any warning, as soon as I put her in her cage she went straight to eating so I am guessing she was just a hungry little girl.


----------



## AAdict (May 2, 2009)

she sounds like one of my hogs - he does that - one min cuddly and the next day manic - I think its down to how they feel and how awake they are when you get them out. Mine also runs around the perimeter like something demented - I even tried blocking the bars with card so he couldnt see it but he still mithered and I have 4 pens that all attach so almost covers my entire living room - in the end I put it down to not liking the oundaries and the grass always being greener on the othe side - I do try and distract him with a wheel in the pen, toys/tunnels and mealies but it only works short term - not sure about the biting in that scenario - do you have food in the cage too? I usually put in a little bowl otherwise it could be down to being a bit skitty or unsure if you havent had her for long and shes still young??


----------



## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

I agree with the responses about biting but I wanted to comment about your playpen. 

I noticed that Quigley always tries to escape from the pen if there is something interesting on the other side. If I've accidentally left a rag, extra blanket, or bag of food close enough to the boundary that he can smell it. 

He is so determined to explore these things that he does not notice anything else in the pen. He's actually quite the escape artist, he figured out that he can lift the cage from the bottom by getting his nose between the bars. He also runs close to the edge and sometimes runs into the bars trying to get through them. Once he even tried to climb them (I stopped him right away). 

But my point is that maybe there is something specific on the other side of the pen that your hedgie can smell. But if he is not actively trying to escape then maybe he just likes to run around the edges.


----------

