# Chewing Body parts?



## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

Hi this is probably my first post here but anyway. Ive had my little hedghog for about a year now and ive noticed for the the last month or two he has been chewing on his belly area mostly.. So i chalked it up to dry skin so i started giving him some light bath's in olive oil and oatmeal and such. Well jsut a few moments ago i heard him raising all sorts of **** in his cage so i look over like hey WTH and i pick him up. I look at his face and he had all sorts of blood all over his face so i quick get him out of his ball his whole belly was covered in blood and he had blood dripping out of his "penis" i guess now thats what you call it now it looks like a mass of chewed up tissue. I finally got the blood to stop but he did some pretty serious looking damage to himself. I dont know if he has some ideas of becoming a girl or what. He still keeps trying to chew on himself down there as im writing this but is there anything that i can do to get himself to stop this? Tommorow im going to give the vet a call and try to get him in as soon as possible. This doesnt really look too good for him because he chewed a pretty **** big chunk off and if i push part of it aside i can pretty much see a good portion of his urethra.


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## Leonora (May 13, 2009)

Oh my gosh, can you ring an out of hours - emergency vets? It sounds serious!
I hope he is ok!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I'd get him to a vet asap. See if there are any emergency vets. Poor little guy.


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## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

Well i finally found a vet that would take him. I got him there at around 3 30pm They were pretty busy and by the time they got around to Mr.Spike i think it was 6pm? They had him knocked out with some anesthetic. They should be his penile region and he pretty much had chewed his penis to about 3 pieces. They tried to trim the shreads a little bit so that when it heals hopefully it wont heal completly over and block his urinary passages. The urethra part that i had noted in the prior post was actually his penis.. so i guess i should clear that up. I do have some pretty crummy pictures if anyone wants to see i will post them. They gave me some antibiotic for the wound and some painkillers and another antibiotic that he will take oraly. The doctor told me right out that My little spike probably isnt going to make it.. and what makes it worse is that he still tries to chew on that area. Does anyone have any idea on how to keep him from chewing on himself? The Vet had tried all sorts of collars and harnesses but really nothing had worked, because he would just HULK his way out of them like they were just toys.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Poor little guy. Sending lots of prayers and healing thoughts that he will pull through this and stop chewing himself.

Did they give any thoughts as to why he might be chewing himself? I wonder if there is an underlying condition such as a tumour that is causing him to chew? What type of bedding is he on? Could it be an allergy and he is chewing the spot that is most exposed. 

I'd like to see the pictures. If they are really bad we can put a warning in the title for those with squeamish stomachs. 

Hugs


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

I would also like to see the pictures. I also have a male and although I've never heard of this happening before it's always good to be prepared. 

I'm so sorry that the vet thinks Spike will not make it. I hope that he is wrong. On top of what Nancy said as to probably causes of the chewing. The only time I've ever had an animal chew on body parts till bloody was when my cat chewed his tail due to a food allergy. I've also heard of horses chewing their feet and legs because of allergies. 

If Spike's food changed or he ate something different as a treat he could have reacted to it. If it's a mild allergy it could take a while for him to react, and animals can develop allergies to food that didn't cause a problem in the past (never heard of this happening with hedgehogs but something to consider). So even if he was on same food for months before the incident I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I've had boys that chewed their chest area because they got little boy stuff on the fur and it irritated the skin. I've had fluffy boys and girls chew in areas where the skin had folds and it got irritated. They can also chew because of allergies. Once they start to chew it can be difficult to get them to stop because when the area starts to heal, it gets itchy and that makes them chew even more. 

I've also heard of boys chewing their penis when they had a piece of bedding or litter stuck in it.


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## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ ... 19_001.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ ... 19_002.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ ... 20_001.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ ... 20_002.jpg

Yeah i just posted the links to his pictures. I really didnt feel like resizing them all. The pictures may not be all that great i had taken them with my cellphone. The first two pictures is about when it happened. I had cleaned most of the blood off.. i mean he was covered from head to toe.. it was pretty crazy. I thought he had eaten another hedgehog or something like that. The third picture is the aftermath of the Vet visit. The trimmed some of the skin away from his penis to hopefully keep the urinary passages from being blocked. I think spike is starting to like his shaved male area.. haha. The last picture is basically his current bedding situation as of now. Some white t-shirts and a little hood for him to sleep in. I also see a little yellow pee stain in one of the t-shirts and that made me kind of happy.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

To get a little paranoid now...

Nancy, what did you do to stop them from chewing? For a situation where it was caught on early(not yet ripped open bleeding), and it's a lesser threatening body part(like the skin folds), what would you do and what would you put on it? Or would you just have to keep it moisturized with something like vaseline so that it itches less? 

For my dogs and cat, I'd just stick the satellite dish on their heads, but kind of limited on what you can do with hedgehogs. 

@ Bt6776
Awwww, poor boy. I hope he gets better soon! And it looks like the vet did a pretty good job. It will be good to keep him on white for awhile, so you can easily see his pee spots.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

i'm really glad to see he's still showing an interest in his food...that's a promising sign.


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## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

Yeah.. when i was giving him his pain meds. he did his silly little butt dance thing all hopped up on his painkiller. It was rather amusing. He's still ignoring his water but this morning i gave him a little out of a syringe.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I used to put vasaline to help them stop bugging at a scab BUT, Vaseline can't be used if there is any possibility of infection. The only reason I use Vaseline is because it has no smell and I found that most hedgehog would ignore it. Polysporin always seemed to be interesting to them and they would lick and chew it off. Whatever is used needs to be something that hedgehogs don't find interesting or it will make the problem worse because they will chew at it. 

White t-shirt are great to use or pillow cases. I wouldn't use fleece as it is too fuzzy. The vet might be able to give you something that will keep the area from being itchy. The pain killers will probably help with that. 

Sending lots of hugs and prayers for a full recovery.


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## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

Well i guess this is some good news. He peed all over me. wasnt bloody either. and he started taking water on his own now. He is actually quite hyper right now. But i think im going to go re apply the topical ointment to him again. he hasnt chewed on himself either so thats a plus .


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## Shelbys Mom (Mar 27, 2009)

The poor little feller  

It's good that you were nearby when it happened.

And I'm glad to hear he's improving.

*lots of hedgie hugs*


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

Looks like it's improving, I hope it will get better everyday.


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## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

Yeah thanks everybody for the support  im sure spike appreciates it too.. if he could read. umm for meds im giving him Clavamox,Meloxicam, and Silvadene ointment. That ointment is pretty nice because ever since i put that on him he hasnt even touched himself since the hospital. Ill try to keep updates about his status on here until he has recovered.

anyway ill post some videos\pics of spike that i have taken over the year to keep things positive :

http://www.facebook.com/v/55900625972
he loves that turtle ^^
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak- ... 1_7121.jpg
him and his snidley whiplash like whiskers
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak ... 1705_n.jpg
Sleepy Spike
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak ... 4108_n.jpg
Spike drying off in the sun.
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak ... 7013_n.jpg
Pre-butt dance warmups
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak- ... 6_6184.jpg
Spike the First Day i got him. Back when he used to try to kill your hands.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak- ... 6_4884.jpg
annointing yummm
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak- ... 7_5444.jpg
I think i had a break dancing hedgehog
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak- ... 3_2194.jpg
Ruuun


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Aww, those are great pictures. He looks very loved.  I wish him a speedy recovery!


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## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

Well i think i have found something here. He urinated again and i noticed that it was rather mucusy stringy goopy material came out.. it was white in color. So this may have caused the actualy chewing of him self.Im curoious if the antibiotics hes on will help him with this?

The other thing i had noticed too that his urine had the consistancy of water... as in clear in color and no smell. Does that really mean anything?
His poop is pretty green yet but i have a feeling that is due to all the antibiotic & painkiller hes on


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## Pipkin (Aug 26, 2009)

Oh my god the poor little thing. I hope he's doing good. I haven't looked at the pics because i think they'd upset me (i hate to see animals in pain) but i really hope hes making a little bit of a recovery day by day. Well done for looking after him! They should make those little neck brace things for hedgies, like they do for cats and dogs to stop them chewing on stitches hehe. It'd be cute.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

In people clear urine means you are fully hydrated. I don't know if it is the same for hedgehogs. 

I looked at the pictures, poor thing. It looks like he bit the shaft right down. I'm glad he seems to be on the mend. Hopefully there will be no infection or further chewing. 

Good luck


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## Bt6776 (Nov 15, 2008)

Hah well they tried to put him in like a little harness and a ferret neckbrace thing. He tore right out of that thing like it was nothing. It was rather amusing to watch that. I'll be giving a vet a call tommorow in between classes to see if i can get him in for a check up and mostly get a urinalyisis done.


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