# poor bloody Damien



## Amelia (Nov 27, 2008)

I had a major freakout this morning when I woke up to find a wheel coated in blood and bloody ramps in my wee one's cage. i took him out and examined him and couldnt find any lesions or cuts that could have produced the bleeding. he was pretty active and wanted to explore my bed as usual. he wasnt acting peculiar or like he was in pain while i was examining him. since i couldnt find anything and his feet were coated in a combination of poo, urine and blood i got him washed up and gave him another look over. I still havent been able to find the source of all the blood. since his stools were pretty normal i can rule out intestinal bleeding. 

I suspect that since most of the blood was in his wheel that he got a little over exuberant in his wheel running. Everytime I woke up last night he was in that wheel. in fact he was still in it at 10 am. I think maybe he just got a little carried away and in the process pulled back one of his nails to the nail bed. He does have two on his hind feet that are longer than the others. they have been that way since i got them so i thought they would be okay. 

Can you guys think of anything else that could have caused it? and if it was due to his marathon run last night, how long should I leave the wheel out of his cage to prevent reinjury?


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

What kind of wheel do you have??

My Damian had the same problem-- he was running on a wheel that had grooves on the bottom and would run himself bloody; the grooves hurt his feet!

Make sure you cut his nails. They can get caught (as you've already experienced) and they're probably REALLY uncomfortable. He may be trying to figure out a good way to run with them being so long and in the process hurt himself. 

Marathon running shouldn't be a problem if you have a bucket wheel and give your guy a manicure every time he needs one. Keep in mind the back nails tend to grow A LOT quicker than the front, so you may have to do it 2-3 times a week :shock: 

As long as he's eating/pooping/playing properly, the wheel and the nail thing is the only thing I can think of that could cause this. I wouldn't let him run on that wheel until you get a smooth one, though (assuming that you don't have one already).


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## Amelia (Nov 27, 2008)

i got him one of those comfort wheels because at the time it was all that petsmart had. today i went and got him a flying saucer wheel because i have heard from a lot of people that they are much better than the cheap crappy comfort wheels. Im not going to put it in though right away in case it was his nail i dont want him to get reinjured. 

I'll definitely give him a nail trim before i put a wheel back in his cage.


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Good thinking. 

If the flying saucer thing is still bloody after you trim his feets, then you know it's the grooves on the bottom that are hurting him. Then you're going to have to buy a smooth bottomed wheel, unfortunately. 

That being said, the bucket wheels are virtually silent-- they're just a bit expensive :roll:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

It's quite normal for babies or those fairly new to a wheel to get bloody feet. It can happen regardless of the type of wheel unless you are using mesh or a silent spinner which can catch tiny nails and yank them out. 

For a solid surface bucket wheel, comfort wheel or flying saucer, usually it is because they run so much the run their tender feet raw. Sometimes they can get stress cracks between the two outside toes, usually on the back feet but not always. 

Since there was alot of blood, leave the wheel out for tonight so his feet can heal. Chances are good, it will happen again before his feet toughen up.


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Nancy--

You should start making some hedgie running shoes!! :lol:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

sebian said:


> Nancy--
> 
> You should start making some hedgie running shoes!! :lol:


 :lol: :lol:

Can't say my gang would be to thrilled to be the test subjects. I think they'd all revolt.

Would be cute though wouldn't it. :lol:


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## Amelia (Nov 27, 2008)

hahahah that would be cute!!!! 

maybe i could knit damien a pair... i wonder what he would think!


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## Amelia (Nov 27, 2008)

Btw Nancy gets the prize! she was right. The day it happened it was hard to tell because his feet are so pink anyways. But today i gave his feetsies another look over before i left him with another hogmomma to make sure they were okay and now that they have had a chance to scab over I can see where he ran his lil pads raw. I bought him a flying saucer wheel but its not smooth so I am going to make some fleece liners to put on it to spare his little tootsies.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Don't put fleece on the running tread of any wheel. There is way too much risk of a nail getting caught while it's moving. Craft foam would be a better choice although difficult to conform to the shape.

The little ridges on the flying saucer wheel are very smooth and he should not injure his feet on them. Usually when they run their pads raw, it's not so much the surface but the the length of time they do it for. It's sort of like us when we first walk barefoot each summer. At first our feet are sensitive but after a while they toughen up and it doesn't bother us.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

> The little ridges on the flying saucer wheel are very smooth and he should not injure his feet on them. Usually when they run their pads raw, it's not so much the surface but the the length of time they do it for.


Inky will run on his FS wheel for hours each night, and he's never had a problem. Of course, much of the ridges get covered and caked with poop so that might help! :lol:

I think the liners would probably keep your hedgie from wanting to run on it in the first place. just set it in there, and he'll get the hang of it.


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## Amelia (Nov 27, 2008)

ah okies well I will just give him his new flying saucer wheel and hope his wee tootsies toughen up some. that night was insane. everytime i woke up he was running. after dawn he was still running. by 1pm he was STILL running. only god knows why it was pretty insane how long he ran for.....

P.S. my mom got a camera that does stills and video. and I am getting a similar one in january. awesome photos and vids of damien to come ^.^


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