Chewing Towels?

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hannahrj

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
5
Location
Connecticut
I got a young hedgehog (just over a year old) about six weeks ago. Elliot is well mannered, she's curious and relatively calm. Her eating, bathroom, exercise, and sleeping habits seem very normal and healthy. But she has one habit that confuses me. Elliot likes to chew on towels. I will give her a bath and wrap her in a warm towel or give her a small towel to hide under and after a few minutes I'll notice that she's chowing down on it. She has never bitten anyone before and, with the exception of towels, she seems to only chew food. Any explanations why my hedgie likes to bite towels?
 
It's possible that the towel has a scent that she finds attractive. Maybe your detergent or fabric softener is pleasing to her. Hedgies will also take fabric into their mouths to adjust it into the right position so they're all comfy. That's extremely common.

I'm divided on allowing her to keep chewing on it - my concern is that she may unravel a thread, get that wrapped around a tooth, and then she'll have dental/health issues. You may want to aim for unscented detergent/softener/dryer sheets if you haven't already. And you can swap out regular towels (with the threads and loops and such) for fleece - there aren't any strings in fleece.

In the meanwhile, I bet it's extremely cute when she does that. Make sure to get pictures.
 
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