# Broken, bloody nail - What to do?



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I got home from work tonight and checked on Milly like normal... Her front paw was covered in blood! I of course freaked out. I checked out her whole cage and everything in it. There was a small track of blood leading from her wheel to the hiding place she was sleeping in when I peeked in there, so I'm assuming something happened when she was running in her CSBW. 

There was blood, both dry and fresh, all over her paw so I took her out to get a better look at it. I ended up putting her in a foot bath so I could get the area cleaned up. One of her nails looks like it was snapped off, way up in the quick. I'd say there's about half of the nail left. I put some flour on it and it's stopped bleeding now (it's just very red), but I can tell it's sensitive. She wasn't scrabbling around in the foot bath nearly as much as normal and she was putting most of her weight on her other front foot. She is walking on it, just avoids it.

Now that the bleeding has stopped and I can see it's only the nail and not a ripped off toe or something worse, I'm not sure what to do. My gut instinct tells me to cuddle her for a little bit and make sure the bleeding doesn't start again, and to take her wheel out for at least tonight and see how she looks tomorrow.

Any thoughts?


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## HedgieQuills (Apr 11, 2012)

When my hedgie's nail starts bleeding, I put corn starch on it to stop the bleeding  There are other brand name things that will stop the bleeding 
I would just cuddle with her , check up on her once in a while , and be on the lookout for loose threads , sharp edges , wires , holes , etc.. anything that could have caused this  If it doesn't get better, or it keeps bleeding, take her to the vet.

Nails grow back, and accidents happen ~ 

Good luck!


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## pickles17 (Feb 18, 2012)

I would just try to keep it clean and maybe remove the wheel until it's heeled. Hedgehogs poop and pee on their wheel, and I don't think running a broken nail through that would be a good idea, may cause infection. As suggested, I would also look through the cage to try and determine what might of caused this. Do you trim your hedgehogs nails frequently? Then only thing I can think of is maybe they were too long and more prone to snapping on something??


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Lawsuit against larry? (Joking)
Hope your prickly feels better


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I figured my plan of action was the right one. Good to know that I know what Im doing!

There's nothing in her cage that could hurt her... and it definitely wasn't the wheel's fault.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

How bad is the nail? Is there any evidence of a nail left or did she break it off at the skin or rip it out? If it is just a broken nail and the nail is still visible, it shouldn't take her long to heal up and she can have her wheel back. If it is completely ripped out, you'll need to monitor the toe for a bit to ensure it isn't getting infected. 

Foot wounds, in my experience, heal pretty quickly. I'd keep an eye on the toe, and watch her other nails. Nails break. I've had them break nails for no apparent reason. Tylda has broken a couple already. Not to the point of bleeding badly yet But I have no idea how she does it other than she does it when she's digging. I had another who ripped one of his completely out, and kept breaking nails frequently. We think his issue was due to a poor diet for most of his life, his got stronger the longer he was on a good diet. 

I'd just keep an eye on it, if you feel her nails are fragile or see them breaking often, you may want to discuss the situation with your veterinarian. Otherwise, just watch it and move on. You'll drive yourself nuts trying to figure out how she did it... I know I have before.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks for the info Kalandra! 

There is definitely still a nail there so I'm going to keep a close eye on it, but not worry myself sick lol. It looked much better this morning already but I'm keeping the wheel out again tonight.

As far as I know, her diet is fine and there is nothing in her C&C that could cause her to break a nail so for now I'm assuming she just marathon ran all evening and her little nail couldn't take it!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Quite possibly. If she still has some nail left, she can have her wheel back pretty quickly. The quick in those nails tends to seal off and be OK very quickly (no pun intended). If she gets too panicked by the wheel being gone, you may try giving it to her for a little while and then check to see how the nail is doing or give it to her for a few hours then remove it.


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## hedgehoggirl (May 5, 2012)

Corn starch is what I use on my pets if they start to bleed on the nail, I have even used it on a birds feather and it worked great to stop the bleeding.
Make sure its kept clean in case it could get infected.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Kalandra, I ended up putting her wheel back in her cage last night because she was NOT a happy camper without it. I checked her toe after 20 or so minutes of wheeling and it was bleeding again.  I put her in another foot bath (no soap) today to rinse the crusty blood off, and took her wheel out for tonight again. *Sigh* 

I've read over and over that toes tend to heal quickly - shouldn't it be scabbing up by now? I don't know how much longer she will stay sane without her wheel. I kind of doubt it's hurting her much because she just wants to go go go, but I don't ever want to see that bloody scene again and I definitely don't want it to get infected.


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## hedgehoggirl (May 5, 2012)

Please don't put her wheel back in for a good 2 days so it heals. I know she won't be too happy about it but its for her own good.
The more she runs on it the worse its going to get and the risk of an infection even gets higher.
Your hedgehog will thank you for it in the long run, trust me!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Usually they heal quickly, but if they keep getting ripped back open its going to make this a bit rough. Any chance you can get an image? It will give me a better idea of how bad this really is and maybe I can give you a better idea of what I would do.

When Cooper ripped his out it bled for a couple of nights. Nothing like that first night though. Looking back at my photos, by day three it was finally scabbed over. Cooper was in love with his wheel. If I didn't give him a wheel he tried to dig out of his cage, which reopened the wound, and if I gave him the wheel, it reopened the wound. It was really a rock meet hard place type of situation. With him, all I could do was give him a wheel for short periods of time during the night and check frequently to remove poop from the wheel so he didn't run through it. He actually kept his feet pretty clean, but boy did I not get any sleep for several nights.

In an attempt to get him to sleep more those first few nights, I tried turning on a night light, sadly I learned that Cooper didn't care about lights. He was a marathoner too, putting in 7 hrs of running a night. 

Do you have any ointment you can put on the toe? I started dabbing a bit of antibiotic ointment on Cooper's nail to help it heal faster. It helped a lot.

Feet bleed a lot. Cooper's wheel was completely red, and so were his liners the night he ripped out his nail. I woke up and thought a massacre had happened in his cage. The only time I had seen similar was when a hedgehog had scratched a tumor open, so my heart absolutely stopped that morning.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I'm at work until 8am, but I will try to get a picture tomorrow. Any suggestions for taking pictures of a particularly squirmy hedgie? lol. I do really believe that there is still a nub of nail there, but better safe than sorry. I'll recruit the boyfriend to help hold her while I take a picture in the morning.

I bought the regular polysporin like the emergency first aid kit recommends, but I read a thread recently and someone said that polysporin killed their hedgie or something because they ingested it so I was a bit apprehensive about putting anything on it. If you think it would be fine, I'll go for it.

Oh my gosh, the blood! I thought my cat had somehow gotten into her cage for a second until I realized the top was intact. It was truly terrifying. I seriously expected to find her dead in her igloo and I about cried from relief when I realized she was just fine. Perfect instance of how READING about something is NOTHING like actually experiencing it - I have read lots of posts about foot injuries and how bloody it can get, but never expected anything like what I saw. 

I'm going to call my mom in a few hours to have her check on Milly - my hope is that she doesn't rip it open again in her escape attempts tonight. Fingers crossed. I'll post again in the morning...


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

If you can recruit help, hold her in your hand and see if the BF can snap a pic when the foot is slipped through one of your fingers. If you cannot get help, try sitting her on a solid surface with maybe some treats (apple pieces?). 3rd option… take lots and pray that one of them comes out in focus. Ok option 3 is likely the only one that will work, at least that is my approach!

I’ve never had a problem with polysporin. I do not recommend using it on faces though. I was warned years ago by an ophthalmologist to not use non-ophthalmic ointments near the eyes. But a tiny dab and I do mean TINY on a toe, I wouldn’t worry about it. I have always used it when one has a cut on a foot. My method is to put a tiny dab on a q-tip and quickly brush it against the foot. What little comes off is all I put on.

Quills are crossed here for no more blood. Having one hurt a nail is bad enough, having a marathoner do it… makes it even tougher on us.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I hope these links to the pictures I got work!

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i45 ... snail2.jpg

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i45 ... ysnail.jpg

No more fresh blood this morning, but she did poop everywhere in protest of losing her wheel.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Looks like she ripped everything but the quick off. Poor gal. The skin looks like it is a nice color. I think if she was mine I would likely go another night with minimum wheel access to ensure the quick is healing. Then look again tomorrow and see if it looks like she could have her wheel back. I'd forgo using any ointments as it isn't likely to help at this point and the skin looks like it is fine.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks Kalandra! I'm definitely leaving the wheel out another night. She's walking normally now, but I want to be sure it's scabbed over.


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