# Quilling and biting help



## ashleighn23 (Jun 2, 2009)

Hi there. So I just got my hedgie a week ago. Unfortunately he/she is from a pet store because of my location there are no breeders around here. (I am assuming he is a he from reference from the pet store, but have been unable to confirm yet) At first I thought I had a bit of a tempermental hedgie because he would not allow any sort of movement and if there was he would pop and hiss. Named him Twitch for that reason! I got him settled into a much better environment and I feel we have made progress, he no longer pops when I go to pick him up and he will unroll from his ball within a few seconds now, before was not even an option. This morning however he bit me. After reading some of the forums I am going to assume that perhaps he was tasting my fingers because he licked first, is this a correct assumption, or could it still be his temperment. It was not a nice bite either, he bit and then tore almost, I bled instantly. Again after reading some forums I have learnt that I should not have put him back into his cage as quickly as I did so I will work on more socializing. I was also told by the pet store that he had been there a few months, and they did not give me an exact age so I am assuming he could be from 4-6 months old but he could also be as old as 8 months maybe. I did notice that he had a quill in his water bowl the other day, and that one or two of his quills that look longer may actually be two quills, one still just hasn't let go yet. Is this a sign that he may still be quilling or on the tail end of quilling. Perhaps this is a cause to his mood??? I apologize if these are redundant questions but the quills I feel are in such a small amount, I'm unsure if that is a reasonable conclusion. Thanks in advance for any help!


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## ashleighn23 (Jun 2, 2009)

Alright, guess if no one out there has words of wisdom to offer, i will try it myself. I've had two hedgehogs before but I got them after they were a year old already, I know very little about this quilling thing they go through. It was almost a safe haven to think that there were others out there willing to share their experience. I think perhaps I had high hopes for this forum, but sadly disappointed as no one out there could offer any suggestions.


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## Herisson (Jan 7, 2009)

Hello!,

I'm sorry I didn't answer before. I'm new myself. 

Mine is from a pet shop as well. I took him for a vet check a few days after I got him for the same reason you are describing. I was unsure of if it was quilling or mites. I also had other animals to consider and needed a clean bill of health. It ended up being quilling. I gave him a regular Aveeno Oatmeal bath treatment and it helped a lot.

As far as the biting, the pet store advised me when I got him to put a t-shirt in with him that I had worn so he could bite and annoint with it instead of me directly. It worked beautifully! I never feed him from my hand and do not allow my kids to either.

The picking up issue. I had this problem also and bought a pack of cotton flannel baby receiving blankets. I fold them over a couple times and picked him up with that for quite a while. I would let him lay on my lap and pet him over the material and slowly worked my down a layer at a time until it was just him.

Like I said I'm new, and although these all worked for me I'm sure others will have better ideas.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

This a great forum  your post must have just got lost in the mix  
Don't give up on HHC just yet.
I am new here as well and have alot to learn as well.
Sounds to me like it could be mites or the adult quilling.
What kind of bedding was he own at the petstore and now? 
Most the people on HHC use fleece to line their cages..Fleece don't harbor mites and is alot better for the hedgie since there is no dust to be breathing in 24/7.
Herisson gave some good advice you should get a vet to check him out  if he has mites he should be treated with revolution it is much safer than ivermectin.
I would try what Herisson said about the biting and picking up issues.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

For the gender issue, just put him/her on a clear glass or plastic plate/bowl and look underneath for a "belly button" ^_^

Hedgehogs do lose the odd quill here and there, it's like us losing strands of hair. If there is not excessive loss, and there is no scratching, there shouldn't be mites. Though being from a petstore, you may want to take him to get treated as a precaution. Best way to check thinning quills is to actually get him to ball and hiss. With his quills standing straight up, it makes it quite easy to see if there are sections that are "thinning". 

When he bites, you can blow a bit onto his nose, and very gently push your finger towards him, to get him to let go. Being that he's from the pet store, it's hard right now to determine the actual cause of the biting. Just continue with washing your hands really well, and for now, try to keep and eye on it while bonding. It could just be that he has no idea what fingers even are, and it will take months of bonding time to get him to realize that he really is safe. Never hand feed, just have a treat bowl/plate always handy near you to give him when he unballs in your lap. 

My hedgie bites. I'm just extra careful. But the only time he bites is if I annoy him while he's sleeping in my lap :roll: He does not like to be disturbed while sleeping :lol: I know this, so I'm extra careful when I peek in at him, but at the same time, I'll bug him a bit till he stops hissing and popping, then give him a treat and leave him alone. Just a bit of positive reinforcement. ^_^ I've had him since Nov(7weeks old), and he started doing all that when he was about 3-4 months old, and he's 7 months now and he's still doing that. So you need a lot of patience. For all I know, he will always be a grumpy sleeper and will always try to bite the finger that's trying to wake him up :lol: But that's just how he is, and I find it really cute when he wrinkles his forehead and the rest of his quills are flat. 

Once he has settled in more(unless he's really dirty), you can give him an oatmeal bath. Either aveeno oatmeal, or plain non-instant oatmeal in a sock or fabric and swish in the water until it's cloudy. After the rinse, you can do an "flax seed oil" rinse. You can buy flax seed(linseed) capsules in the pharmacy sections of stores like walmart and target. I usually poke open 1 capsule and empty it into his bathing cup that I use to scoop water. Add water and mix it real well to break up the oil blobs into smaller blobs and drizzle over his back. Then you can have some more cuddle time as he's drying, as he needs your body heat to stay warm as the water dries from his back. ^_^ The oatmeal and the flax will help moisturize and sooth his back if he really is quilling. 

The flax oil can also be given in his food, 1 capsule per week will usually suffice. If his back is very dry, might want to try 1 capsule every 3-4 days.


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## ashleighn23 (Jun 2, 2009)

Thank you very much for all your responses. I will put all of that into effect immediately and see how it turns out, if something works it will stick if not, your right Immortalia I will definetly have to exercise patience. The petstore had him on wood shavings, as I did for the first two days that I brought him home but switched over to fleece. The possiblity that it is mites is there so I will be taking him to the vet to treat him if it happens to be that. If the vet can either confirm that it is quilling then maybe I can get a closer stick on his age. I do have another question about the adult quilling though. Are the quills going to be coming into new spots filling out the back of my hedgehog making it thicker, or are they replacing the original quills that came in those first couple of months or is it both? Again thanks for the responses, I learnt more here in those few moments by reading this then I have spending hours searching.


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## Herisson (Jan 7, 2009)

ashleighn23 said:


> The petstore had him on wood shavings, as I did for the first two days that I brought him home but switched over to fleece. The possiblity that it is mites is there so I will be taking him to the vet to treat him if it happens to be that


Please do not allow the vet to give a Ivermectin injection. Check out these links:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2628

I'm glad you came back and the information helped.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

I think, for the most part, the new quills are replacing the quills that were lost. It's really hard to tell because there are so many quills. One day, you see skin, and the next, you'll see a quill starting to poke out, and have no idea whether there was another quill there originally :lol: But I believe it's just replacing, because my boy's quills haven't gotten much thicker. They may look thicker because the adult quills are bigger and thicker themselves. 

You won't be able to really tell what his age might be. As there's no growth chart because there is such a large range of sizes. As for the quills, baby quills are very small, about the size of a dime or smaller, and they are much thinner. You'll notice that adult quills are longer than a dime and thicker as well. Depending on how much baby quills he still has, and how much adult quills have grown in, the estimate that you made before will probably be as close as you can get.


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