# Biting Issues



## chalula88 (Aug 26, 2010)

Hello!

I just got my first hedgehog on saturday and I absolutely love her! She is very sweet and outgoing, but she has a serious biting issue. She bites anything and everything, including people. I know she is exploring her environment, but her bites are more than just testing things for food. She will actually chase objects, hands, and feet just so she can bite them. 

She has drawn blood twice already.  

She seems to be actually attacking things, not just tasting. She pulls on things and body parts in a very aggressive way when they are nowhere near her. She will seek out toes and fingers and bite them even when we are giving her space. 

She seems well socialized and she doesn't mind being pet or held so I don't believe she is biting out of fear. 

We tried puffing air in her face and she put her visor down for just a half second before lunging to bite again. She will do this over and over no matter how much air we puff in her face. 

What should we do? Should we allow her to bite on things? Is this just a phase? She is 8 weeks old.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Quigley goes after my boyfriend's skin, my armpits, and my hair. Usually we just move him. He gets mad, balls up and either goes to sleep or starts over. We use unscented everything and it hasn't worked for us but it might for you and it's the first thing you should try. At the same time try to distract your hedgehog before she bites you. If you think she'll start to lunge put a toy in her way, cover her in a blanket, keep a bowl of treats near by and let her nibble at it during snuggle time if she's doesn't bite. I have to wear thick sweaters when I snuggle with Quigley because he will bite any exposed skin. I'm also very careful not to put my fingers near his face. Oh and I don't know if you hand feed treats but if you do stop and if not don't start. 

Good luck, biters might be the most challenging of all temperaments.


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

I've been reading what I could find here at HHC on biting, hedgielover has first hand experience. Since she is 8 weeks old, from what I see some can get bitey when quilling, and some can just be doing it to be dominant or territorial. Hopefully its just a phase. Every hedgehog is different personality wise. My Loki will bite anything shiney like he was a shark (makes me cringe for his little teeth). When I got him his Carolina Storm Wheel, he got on it, looked at the bolt in the middle and then bite at it.

I'm not sure if it would be a good thing either but I know some hedgehogs do enjoy playing tug of war. I've never done this nor read it but maybe make a braided rope of fleece strips or some sort of material and when she goes to bite, put it in front of her. If she happens to just like to bite, maybe you can associate the braided fleece toy with her for biting, and then try and keep her from biting anything else. Puffing in the face isn't always recommended, if she happens to be scared (sounds like she's not), can make her even more scared. Basically a hedgehog is a creature that you can't say no to. There's no way to properly scold them. Be glad its not a skunk, if you were for some strange reason hit a pet skunk, they remember, and they will seek vengence (had pet skunks at one time).

Edit PS - And no, I never had hit them (or any animal), just through research on them as a pet, many many sites told you never to hit them as a scold or for any reason, due to that fact.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

I have a biter. The best thing to do is keep your fingers (and any other part she wants to bite) out of her mouth's reach. Lulu bit me so hard a couple of times that somehow her teeth came out and were embedded in my skin. I was horrified when that first happened, and almost rehomed her because I was so upset, not because she had hurt me but because she was hurt. She used to bite through my clothes too...she actually bit pieces out of a couple of my shirts. Every time she bit, she drew blood, and even with careful cleaning, most of the bites got infected. I had to see my doctor for it once and she urged me to get rid of the hedgehog. I didn't...and now Lulu has few enough teeth that she can't do much damage when she bites. I still keep my hands away from her mouth, and I've learned to recognize the signs in her posture that she's about to lunge and snap. 

I'm sorry that I don't have a more encouraging experience to share. I hope your little one is just going through a phase.


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## zorropirate (Aug 13, 2010)

Judi said:


> I have a biter. The best thing to do is keep your fingers (and any other part she wants to bite) out of her mouth's reach. Lulu bit me so hard a couple of times that somehow her teeth came out and were embedded in my skin. I was horrified when that first happened, and almost rehomed her because I was so upset, not because she had hurt me but because she was hurt. She used to bite through my clothes too...she actually bit pieces out of a couple of my shirts. Every time she bit, she drew blood, and even with careful cleaning, most of the bites got infected. I had to see my doctor for it once and she urged me to get rid of the hedgehog. I didn't...and now Lulu has few enough teeth that she can't do much damage when she bites. I still keep my hands away from her mouth, and I've learned to recognize the signs in her posture that she's about to lunge and snap.
> 
> I'm sorry that I don't have a more encouraging experience to share. I hope your little one is just going through a phase.


Perhaps she was biting because her teeth were loose and causing her pain and she knew that she could possibly dislodge them that way. Has a vet looked at her teeth?


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## chalula88 (Aug 26, 2010)

Just an update about how my hedgehog is doing. 

We tried setting out a dish of food during playtime and that seems to have eliminated most of the biting. She did not try to bite people, however she did still try to bite my shirt, but when I shook her loose she went off to get some food from the dish and didn't try to bite it again for nearly an hour and again she went off to get food once I shook her loose. 

I thought this might help some other people with biting hedgehogs.


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## Jaimie (Sep 27, 2009)

my hedgies bite my shirt when they want to annaint themselves with the scent. Dose it seem like that kind of bite on your shirt? they kinda gnaw on it and tug a bit then annoint. Cause I'm wondering if thats what she's doing with your shirt. Or is it a full out attack on it?


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## chalula88 (Aug 26, 2010)

She has anointed twice, but neither time was with my shirt. She anointed with the blanket on our bed and with a paper towel.

The other things she bites ferociously like she's trying to kill them. She bit a chain and pulled on it, but I took it away because I thought she would hurt her teeth. She found a quarter on our bed and bit that too, trying to pull it into her prickly ball.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

I'm wondering if she maybe has a stronger hunting instinct that manifests itself in biting and attacking moving/shiny objects. Sounds like she might enjoy hunting crickets. You could get some live crickets and put them in the tub (empty but with the plug in). That way she can chase them around in the tub eat them.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

My boy has a thing for shiny things as well. For a cuddler, non-explorer and non toy player, he will actively run after a metal clip off the end of my dog leashes. He bit it once, and I decided to see how much he really wanted it, and dragged it around...He actually ran after it and actively tried to bite it.


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