# Biting?



## RioV1 (Sep 19, 2012)

So my girlfriends now 10 week old, quilling little hedgie bit me the other day, not once, but three times.

We took him out of his cage, and let him walk around for a little bit, and I had my hand in front of him, and he started sniffing it, then he bit me. A little while after, he did the same thing again. Assuming he was hungry/thirsty, I gave him some food and gave him his water bowl as he walked around on her bed. He kept walking around, and eventually he came up to me and started just sniffing my hands, then bit down on my finger a second time. A little later, he was walking around some more still, and crawled up on my leg, sniffing around as he usually did. He was walking around and on me before and never seemed bothered, but then as I was watching him, he bit down on my shirt and started pulling backwards.

Is this kind of behaviour.. normal? I know it's not often for a hedgehog to bite, and according to my girlfriend, Fix likes to play tug of war with things. I'm just curious, since about 2 weeks ago he would let me pick him up and play with him without making a chew toy out of my fingers and clothes.

Thanks!
-Rio


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

Is it like a curiosity nibble "Hmm what do you taste like" bite, or full on "I dont like you, get away from me, you scare me" bite? If something smells really interesting, hedgies will sometimes nibble on things to anoint or just sate their curiosity. You'll know the difference between them if he does decide to take a chomp out of you. If its like tug of war, then hes just being playful, hedgehogs are just whimsical like that


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## artistshrugged (Sep 5, 2012)

It is possible that he smells something on your hands and is trying to eat that. I know some hedgehogs are very scent sensitive and will bite at scented soaps or detergents. This would make sense for the shirt/hand biting since these are places where the scent of soaps would be quite obvious. I would consider switching to unscented products, if you haven't already, and see if that makes a difference.

He might also just be a bit mouthier than other hedgehogs, I know some are more prone to explore with chewing and others stick to their noses.


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## RioV1 (Sep 19, 2012)

Well it did hurt a little bit, the first one was a curiosity nibble for sure since it wasn't really painful, but I did feel it on the tip of my finger. The second one though was a little painful and he bit and held on for a bit until I pulled my hand away. I'll try the unscented products thing next time and see what happens I suppose. Thanks! I'll tell you guys what happens


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## TzusnHedgies (Sep 25, 2012)

One of my hedgehogs was a BITER times ten. He only bit me once (and it broke the skin and bled quite a lot). After that I didn't let him too close to my hands. I tried the air puff method several times and the rubbing alcohol method. After that I just always used a blanket to hold him. He was nippy when I picked him up as a baby, and all the other ones were too. Years later I talked to another breeder and found out that it's not like puppies; baby hedgehogs shouldn't constantly (and I mean constantly) be nipping at your hands. Then I found out that the particular breeder that I got him from is known for selling biters. When he got hold of something, he would lock on. He would grab the blanket and you could lift it off the ground with him hanging on. He would also bite things and try to thrash them apart.

Anyway.... what you have sounds nothing like that! Hedgehogs are known to "taste" certain things. Soap and lotion are big ones. Food of course would be the biggest and they have an extremely good sense of smell. My new baby has nipped me one time and it was when I just put lotion on. He did the- lick, lick, bite. And there was almost no pressure, definitely no broken skin. From now on when he gets near my hand, I'm simply going to move it. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pounds of cure!


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

Biting should be immediately discouraged - not punished - discouraged. If a hedgehog associates certain results or actions with biting (such as being put down, returned to cage, . . . ), then it could begin a habit that may be nearly impossible to break. The hedgie may interpret a 'punishment' as a 'reward', which is a bad situation for you.

If you have eaten and not washed up, there is a very good chance of encouraging biting. They will note this new scent / flavor and and investigate. This is owner error and best dealt with by prevention. Some hedgies will naturally lick / bite anything that comes around their face. It isn't meanness, or in any way bad, except that the opportunity should be removed from the equation. Again, a hedgie that bites in this way is a victim of owner error and prevention keeps the problem from starting and then becoming entrenched. If the hedgie shows a propensity to bite a finger near its mouth or face, then don't do that.

Some hedgies, mine included, have a propensity to bite 'loose appendages' - right out of the blue, and for no reason. If I am barefoot, my girl WILL run up and bite a toe; just a question of when, so I always wear socks now; problem solved. She likes to sleep in my shirt, which is fine, but WILL bite a nipple given the opportunity, without fail. So I don't give the opportunity. (Yes, that's a bite that #^(^^(#%& hurts.)


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

I completely agree with Erizo, our hedgehog only bit a few times before we overhauled our handling and washing routines. Everything became unscented, we stopped feeding by hand, we had food out in his playpen, handled him with his fleece blanket and never put our fingers under his mouth, stroking the top of his snout was always ok though. If he sniffed or licked our hands we moved them away or repositioned him in our hands so he couldn't reach our fingers with his mouth. Letting them get in the habit of biting is the worst thing you can do. I also started wearing a double layer of clothing when I handled him, the worst bite I ever had was an armpit bite, which would not have happened if I was wearing thicker clothing (that is also when I switched to unscented deodorant). I also have sensitive skin so I could not let him be directly on my skin except for my hands, that meant if he was going to climb under my shirt I needed another shirt underneath that he couldn't get under.


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