# Foot injury from wheel or something more serious?



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

I was attempting (not very successfully) Puff's nail trim, which I do every few months and I noticed some blood coming off one of her back feet. I thought at first maybe I cut a quick by accident but then I realized I hadn't trimmed her back feet yet.

It was coming from one of her toes and it looks like she either cut it, or maybe ripped the nail a bit causing it to bleed. The blood stopped right away on its own, and I applied some corn starch just in case, but it's really hard to tell what exactly she did to the toe because she wouldn't let me near it again after that. It almost looked swollen...if that makes sense, but there was no traces of string or anything like that so I know she didn't get something wrapped around it, so I'm thinking maybe she just injured the toe a little bit.

Is this just a wheel injury? 

I can't get to my regular clinic tomorrow during its hours because I go to univeristy and have midterms during those hours, so if I do go to the vet it'll have to be the emergency...which I don't want to spend my emergency money on unless it's an actual emergency....plus I have never been there with my hedgehogs and don't know if they know anything about hedgehogs or not.

Does this sound like something that can be monitored and treated with polysporin for a few days until I can get to the regular vet and get some antibiotics (if needed for infection) ?


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Since it stopped bleeding I'm guessing it's not an emergency. However I'm not very experienced and this is just my judgment. If it were Quigley I would probably wait and possibly take the wheel out. Also to moniter it you should be using white liners so that if it starts bleeding again you will be able to see it. 

Seems to me since hedgehogs are covered with sharp quills it's possible that they may poke themselves or step on shed quills and injure themselves that way. 

I'm sure Puff is probably fine. And maybe you'll be able to get a look at it once she has forgotten about the nail clipping.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

To add...

I would also put very shallow water, with a piece of fleece on the bottom of the sink and let her walk around in the water, so that her foot is clean, and you can actually see whether there is a cut or not. And if so, where the blood is coming from. 

Once you have found the injury, just use polysporin and monitor it. And as said above, take out the wheel for a night or two to let the cut close. Also, keep in mind that some do not like the scent of polysporin, and you might just have to use something like vaseline, just to keep the germs out.


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Thanks for your advice  

I did everything mentioned and it looks less swollen today. I got a pretty good look at the toe and from what I can tell she's just torn the nail a little bit and probably banged the toe up as well, causing the swelling. It does look much better today though, so I'll monitor a little longer and go from there.


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