# Hedgehog biting another hedgehog



## ifry (May 17, 2016)

I got two hedgehogs about a week ago. Petunia is 2 and is the mother of Poppy who is 1. Everything was okay for the first couple of days, I could tell they were a little bit stressed from the move to my house but that was to be expected. The lady I bought them from had them for about a 9 months but was unable to keep them any longer.

I have noticed Poppy biting the quills close to Petunia's quill skirt. I originally thought that it was just Poppy trying to nurse on her mom still, because their previous owner informed me that she liked to curl up underneath her like she did when she was a baby and basically try to nurse. She said this was harmless and wasn't an issue. It wasn't until today that I realized that it was aggressive behavior. I am currently planning on making another cage out of a large bin type tuperware container for one of them. I'm hoping that I only have to keep them separated temporarily, because they have lived together just fine for so long. I'm hoping that it is the stress of the move that is causing this behavior in Poppy. I am going to try putting one of them in the other cage for a week and keep them separate for the whole time. After a week, I'll try to take them both out of their cage together and let them be around each other during play time before I try to reintroduce them into the same cage again. 


Please let me know if you have any tips or suggestions for my situation. I have no idea what else to do.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Honestly, I vote for keeping them separated. Hedgehogs are solitary animals. They don't need & usually don't want the company of another hedgehog. Having them housed together means there's a pretty decent chance of having aggressive behaviors like what Poppy is showing. While it may only be due to the stress, it would not be smart, IMO, to take the risk of keeping them together. They'll be just fine on their own, with their own space, and you won't have to worry about anyone ending up hurt. It's also easier to monitor health when they're housed on their own since you can see how much they're eating & keep an eye on pee & poop. That all said, supervised shared playtime between females is fine, as long as you're not seeing continued aggression. But I just don't think there are nearly enough potential benefits from shared housing to outweigh the potential risks.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Keeping them together or putting them back together is only risking one of them getting hurt or killed. There have been many cases where two females that have been living together with no problems sudden start fighting. Unfortunately they seem to end up doing it at night when no one is there to stop it. Putting them back together is just asking for trouble now that you have seen aggression between them.


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## haileybugg5703 (5 mo ago)

If the male is biting the female then it could be a sign of them breeding.. when the male hedgehog bites the female he is trying to get her to stay still so he can do his business. I have 4 hedgehogs and i love them!!! Ive had them for almost a year now so ive watched them and learned alot of things about them


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## Mary Lee (6 mo ago)

Lilysmommy said:


> Honestly, I vote for keeping them separated. Hedgehogs are solitary animals. They don't need & usually don't want the company of another hedgehog. Having them housed together means there's a pretty decent chance of having aggressive behaviors like what Poppy is showing. While it may only be due to the stress, it would not be smart, IMO, to take the risk of keeping them together. They'll be just fine on their own, with their own space, and you won't have to worry about anyone ending up hurt. It's also easier to monitor health when they're housed on their own since you can see how much they're eating & keep an eye on pee & poop. That all said, supervised shared playtime between females is fine, as long as you're not seeing continued aggression. But I just don't think there are nearly enough potential benefits from shared housing to outweigh the potential risks.





ifry said:


> I got two hedgehogs about a week ago. Petunia is 2 and is the mother of Poppy who is 1. Everything was okay for the first couple of days, I could tell they were a little bit stressed from the move to my house but that was to be expected. The lady I bought them from had them for about a 9 months but was unable to keep them any longer.
> 
> I have noticed Poppy biting the quills close to Petunia's quill skirt. I originally thought that it was just Poppy trying to nurse on her mom still, because their previous owner informed me that she liked to curl up underneath her like she did when she was a baby and basically try to nurse. She said this was harmless and wasn't an issue. It wasn't until today that I realized that it was aggressive behavior. I am currently planning on making another cage out of a large bin type tuperware container for one of them. I'm hoping that I only have to keep them separated temporarily, because they have lived together just fine for so long. I'm hoping that it is the stress of the move that is causing this behavior in Poppy. I am going to try putting one of them in the other cage for a week and keep them separate for the whole time. After a week, I'll try to take them both out of their cage together and let them be around each other during play time before I try to reintroduce them into the same cage again.
> 
> ...


Hello, I had 3 female hedgehogs that I got at 5he same time. One of them I bought, and was inky 4 months old when I brought her home. The breeder asked me if I was interested in a surrender and I Saif sure why not. Then she asked me if I wanted a rescue. She said she didn't have the room and it was the first day of the pandemic so I said sure why not I love the little creatures. I brought them home together but they had not really been together since before that. But when I got them home I decided to let them run around in the enclosure I built them and they did very well with each other. They weren't picking at the quills or anything like that. They cohabitated for two and a half years and then the surrender and the rescue died of old age and then my maybe she died in the recovery room from Helen a tumor removed. But I know everybody says not the house them together and some of them will not work out it's just a fact and but some of them do work out and I have proof of that. My baby and the surrender were the best of friends. The surrender like smothered baby. They literally did everything together. Now the rescue she was kind of alone wolf but she didn't mind the other two girls at all so I was lucky and had a harmonious living situation amongst my three girls. But if I would have seen signs of any kind of aggression or things like picking at the quills or something I probably would have aired against that.


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