# Biting hedgehog



## pedroissexy (Mar 7, 2015)

Oli is always good when I first take him out of his cage, he just sleeps that is until he gets bored and decides he wants to run everywhere. I have two cats and a lot of small spaces in my house so I can't just let him go. I've tried setting up play pens and he just sees those as a trap and attempts to climb out of them frantically nearly hurting himself. Any time I try to keep him from jumping off the side of a ledge or anything he bites. He never holds on just a bite to say hey im mad at you. But Ive tried all the tricks to discipline biting and none work. I tried cutting his nails but no, no way that was happening because he tried to bite me and thankfully I was wearing gloves. His behaviour has been one unmanageable and he was just treated for his mites which I thought would really change his attitude and all. I am not one of those people expecting my hedgehog to cuddle them by I don't think its normal to feel like I'm bugging every time I take him out of his cage. I have only had him for a week and am mostly wondering if this was a good idea for a pet for me or if maybe this particular hedgehog has been messed up so much by his previous owner that he is beyond help. If anyone has any advice it'd be much appreciated.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

How old is Oli? That's a really cute name btw  If he's younger he might be quilling which will make him grumpy. But either way, if he just got treated for mites, his skin might be dry, which also will make them grumpy. If you're done with the mite treatment I'd go ahead and put a drop or two of vitamin e oil directly on his skin to see if that soothes it. That should help a little bit.

Now, I feel like a broken record, but in the style of Edna Mode (please someone get the reference) NO GLOVES! Gloves mask you scent and frankly probably freaks your little guy out. I completely understand the desire to protect your hands, so instead get yourself some pieces of fleece that you can use to handle him with. Fleece won't mask your scent. Also, you have the added benefit of making the fleece smell like you! 

Also, avoid disciplining him when he bites. Likely you're just scaring him and he doesn't understand why. Just wait until he lets go and the second he does you can pull away. I think most people have a vocal reaction, and that's ok to do that. Scream if you have to. It might startle him into letting go faster. But otherwise do your best to limit your reaction. Try not jerk (wound up with a flying hedgehog once because someone jerked ), don't push back, don't blow on his face. It's not constructive and may be sabotaging your efforts.

I know you mentioned a play pen not working, but have you tried making the play pen more interesting? There's lots of things you can do! Personally, I actually sit in the pen with my baby and she crawls on me and around me. You can also set up a maze, or put tunnels in it that he can crawl through. You can also put a dig box in there to keep him occupied. Make it fun! Be sure to bribe him with treats while he's in there too. If he associates the play pen with yummy treats he may not try to escape it.

All that being said though, you've only had him a week. This sort of thing takes time. Especially if he came from another home that wasn't treating properly. This likely will takes months of daily handling before he really trusts you. It may take longer. But if you're willing to stick it out you'll find that it's incredibly rewarding.


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## David147 (Mar 6, 2015)

There can be several reasons that a hedgehog would bite you. You may have been bugging him or doing something that scared him, so he bit to protect himself. You might have had something on your fingers that smelled like food, so he was taking a nip to see if it tasted nice, too. Or he may have learned that biting gets him put back in his cage. 
For the first one, if your hedgehog's new to you, he might be scared because he doesn't know you and doesn't know that you're a friend. You may be going too fast with the bonding process. Try just holding him in your lap on a blanket, maybe with part of the blanket over him. Don't try touching him, just let him sit quietly and fall asleep if he wants to. He will slowly get to know your scent this way and start to relax around you. If you have a younger hedgehog, he may be quilling, which is painful. If you're trying to pet him, he may have bitten you because it hurts when you press down on his sore skin. Also, try to keep your fingers away from his nose/mouth while you're handling him so that he doesn't see something strange coming towards his face. 
For the second scenario, make sure that you wash your hands before you take your hedgehog out. If you're handfeeding treats, you may want to just put the treat down in front of the hedgehog instead of letting him take it from your fingers. They can't see well and he may mistake your finger for another treat. 
For the last one, make sure that you don't put your hedgehog back into his cage right after he's bitten you. If he does bite you again, blow gently into his face to discourage the behavior. Hopefully, he'll learn to stop biting soon.


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