# Biting?



## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

Getting slightly discouraged.  It seems every other time I let Dexter explore on me at all, he ends up biting me. I've been letting him sit with me in a fleece blanket and let him crawl around it, but it's almost as if he seeks out my hand in order to take a bite. The first time he bit me on the pinky at the fingertip, the next time on the base of my hand just under the index finger, and yesterday on the base of my hand under the pinky finger. I tried taking him out just now, but had to put him back because I was too afraid he was just gonna bite me again. :/

Also, he's seemed to have a behavioral downgrade after I switched to fleece lining. Where before he would let his quills down and just sit on my chest, now he wont put the quills down at all and is constantly jumpy.

Any suggestions?


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

Is it after you cook? A lotion or perfume you have on? Maybe try washing your hands with a nonscented soap if your not already. If not then the best thing to do is just to keep your hands aways from his face and keep bonding like you are. Hopefully he will come around in his own time. Has anything changed lately? Is he quilling? How is his eating, drinking, bowels, wheeling, etc? If all else is normal and its just a new home then patience and consistency is probably going to be your next best bet after keeping your hands away from his face.


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## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

No, everythings normal, regular soap, no lotion/perfume. :/

It's just so quick when he bites that I'm nervous he'll try biting through my shirt or pants if I let him walk on me.


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

One thing to remember is that hedgies can sense your emotions, and if you're nervous, it's making him nervous too. So whenever you pick him up try to keep calm, and if he does bite, try not to react and just wait patiently til he lets go. Don't let him get to thinking that biting will get him whatever he wants. Keep a close eye on him when hes wandering around on you, and be careful to keep your hands away from his face.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

How old is he? Is he quilling?

Some hedgies go through behaviour changes when they are quilling(I would too if I have a bunch of needles poking through my skin). 

Is he an explorer? Does he bite you when you try to stop him from running around? If yes, then it's actually relatively normal. Some hedgies do not like being told to stay still. You'd just have to adjust your plan of socializing(get a large pen and sit on the floor with him, rather than try keeping him in one location with your hand). At least one or two people here can tell you how their hedgie will always bite if they try to stop them from doing something like getting off their lap.


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## Daleo (Jun 1, 2011)

Everyone made good points so far but I felt that it was important to say, do not put your hedgie back in his cage after he bites you. He will learn that this behavior will get him what he wants. You should handle him a little more then put him away.


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## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

He is about two years old and not quiling. It looks like I made a few mistakes~ one being putting him back in the cage after a bite, and the other being to try to stop him from running around.  I get scared he;ll fall off my bed/couch so I try to keep him on or around me. Though, if I let him play on the floor in my room, he just sits still. :s


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

try a play pen (or something hedgie safe like a kiddie swimming pool, but under careful watch cuz some can escape easily) with lots of toys and toilet paper rolls to try to stimulate him into playing and hide meal worms in there to further stimulate play. sounds to me like he is scared though which is why he is frantically trying to get away and then will sit real still when on the floor, but i could be wrong and it could also be a sign that he is in pain (maybe a tooth problem, ingrown quill, too long of nails, or something else). maybe even putting him in a snuggle bag or fleece blanket will help to comfort him and let him know he is safe and will calm him down a bit so he can get to know your scent, sounds, and movements and promote bonding a bit until he can get used to you before really worrying too much about play outside of his cage. since you said before he would lay his quills down and this is a sudden change a vet visit may not be a bad idea just to rule out anything that may be causing pain? i know this post is kinda all over lol, but it really could be anything.


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## amberkinn (Oct 9, 2011)

I'm a pretty new hedgehog owner myself, but last night I had my hedgie running around my bed under my blankets when I felt him nip my foot (I was sitting criss cross at the top of my bed.) So I got off of my bed, got his food bowl, and let him sneak out from under the blankets to eat. Most times he's nipped me, it's because he's hungry. I haven't had a full on bite yet, but he will nip to let me know if he's hungry -- but that might be because I've gotten into the habit of feeding him out of my hand, which I shouldn't be doing anymore, lol. Maybe he associates your presence with food like my Sandshrew does? Is it a bite to make you bleed or just a nip? Because again I've never been bit hard, only soft nips. It's probably different if it seems he's angry when he bites you, my nibbling doesn't scare me.


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