# I think my hedgehog hates me- biting



## naughty_hedgie (Nov 30, 2012)

Hi, looking for advise please. Have little boy Zorro for apx 4 weeks now and he is 12 weeks old. I wake him up around 8pm every night. When i go near the cage or make a movement he puts head down and spikes up and makes a hissing noise. I know he will be nervous but i thought after 4 weeks he should show some improvement. When i pick him up i started with my hands, but he would curl into ball and then whip his head round and bite my little finger very hard! I have to use a blanket to pick him up now as he too spiky to handle. I then put him on sofa with towels down and give him toilet tubes and balls to play with. Every time i move to put something near him or go to pick him up he spikes up and hisses. He usually just sits still and glares at me. If i put my hand near him so he can smell me he will try to bite me. I wash my hands and do not touch his food so he seems to bite from being nasty not because i am food. He tries to bite everday. I shout No at him and blow in face but he only cowers a little from it then ignores me. I thought he may be grumpy from quilling but at 12 weeks i have been told he has stopped quilling and he is as horrible as ever. He was losing apx 7 quills a day and now it is 1 or 2 a day. I tried cuddling in a blanket but he doesn't keep still long and hisses and spikes if i move at all. Any ideas if he is just a naughty hedgehog and will never get used to me? Is it possible he is too cold and that would make him grumpy? Any ideas if quilling lasts longer for some hogs? Please help as i love him but he hates me. Thanks. x :|


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Quilling can go well past 12 weeks, so that's likely most or all of what's going on. Keep handling him regardless. I recommend a carrying bag - tote him around the house with you and take him out on trips to the store, running errands, etc. It's an excellent method of socialization, no matter how grumpy he is.


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

I also think that another method of training a hedgie is with food. Do you free feed him or do you feed him at a certain time of the day? I free fed my first hedgie, but this time around I am just feeding Daisy in the evenings. She wakes up when it gets dark and comes to the cage bars looking for a treat. I personally think that you can train any animal with food, hedgehogs included. Anyway, the point I am getting at is that if he starts thinking of you as the "hand that feeds him", it might help. You can give him meal worms when he is out on the couch with you. Get some tweezers and you can feed them to him that way so he does not bite your fingers. It might help, just a thought. Also, my Daisy was very huffy when she was going through quilling....I got her when she was supposedly 6 months old, although I think she was a bit younger than that, and she went through a quilling, so I don't know when the age for quilling to start and stop actually is. Good luck with him, have patience and hopefully eventually it will pay off.
-Susan H.


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## naughty_hedgie (Nov 30, 2012)

Hi guys, thanks for reply. I can try bonding bag but not mcuh time for him to go in it- i get home from work 5pm, then go running til 6pm. I can put him in it then whilst i make dinner but get him out at 7 or 8pm anyway.

I do give him 2 mealworms when i get him out. I do leave food in his cage but he does not get up until i wake him at 8pm. When i put him back in cage 9pm he eats a little bit but as soon as i put house back in cage he goes straight to sleep again and eats a bit at night when i'm in bed. Thanks.


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## Shell (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm sorry, but I had to giggle because I so know that "glare" you are talking about. Percy did that glare to me and I know we can't tell what they're thinking, but I honestly can say it was the glare of death. It sent shudder's down my spine! I had just given him a bath and had him upside down in a ball with his face looking at me.I was trying to rub his tummy, but it wasn't going to happen. He was ticked, but it's not hate. They are moody little thing's but they do come around. Just like the previous suggestions, keep handling him in his pouch or a blanket, let him crawl all over you, talk to him softly, make sure you use the same soap or handcream everytime you handle him (that really helped me) and he'll get more friendly.


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