i am new the the game of raising a hedgehog, and the first time i tried to get him outta his cage, he sniffed up my hand, and bit me on the palm, and man did it hurt, he drew blood.. a little bit of blood. when i did a shavings change for his kennel, i took him out and put him in a box, then put him on my bed and he bit my pillow really hard, so i have a feeling he dont like me that much LOL..... was wondering if there are any pros out there that can give me a little advice on how to stop this biting behavior, i wanna try to get him out of his kennel at least for a routine changing and i dont wanna have to use leather gloves to take him out either. so any advice would be muchly appreciated
biting, needs to stop
- Thread starter therocc
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Are there any odors that could be on your skin? Hedgehogs are very scent driven and one of their responses is to bite at strong or strange scents to taste it (often followed by anointing). I've had some that bit a little too hard when they did it.
More likely, if he is biting really hard is he is still scared. I had one who was a very aggressive biter. The thing that worked best was just to keep my skin from in front of his mouth. Watch for signs that he is about to bite. If you see a pattern, back off when you see the signs. Respect that he is scared and let him dictate a bit of what happens to him. However, there is a fine line here too. As you don't want to put him back in his cage after he has bitten or stop the interaction completely.. Hedgehogs are very smart and learn quickly. He will learn that if he bites, he gets what he wants back in his cage away from you.
Basically try to move forward slowly, you need to build his trust. He has likely learned that biting gets people to leave him alone. Keep your fingers away from his mouth, and work on bonding/trust.
More likely, if he is biting really hard is he is still scared. I had one who was a very aggressive biter. The thing that worked best was just to keep my skin from in front of his mouth. Watch for signs that he is about to bite. If you see a pattern, back off when you see the signs. Respect that he is scared and let him dictate a bit of what happens to him. However, there is a fine line here too. As you don't want to put him back in his cage after he has bitten or stop the interaction completely.. Hedgehogs are very smart and learn quickly. He will learn that if he bites, he gets what he wants back in his cage away from you.
Basically try to move forward slowly, you need to build his trust. He has likely learned that biting gets people to leave him alone. Keep your fingers away from his mouth, and work on bonding/trust.
Alexis.Avas.mom
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- Jul 14, 2011
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we have only had our hedgie for 3 days ( i have had previous experience with hedgies) this one is a biter! I know it is out of fear, we took him from a home with 4 children who were constantly grabbing him! Unfortunately the mother did not know better thought it was a novelty pet for her kids...anyways he does not trust humans now. he repeatedly tried biting me the first day even through a towel! after only 2 days, he is not biting! this is all we did we would use a towel to pick him up and just set him in our lap in the towel, give him a min to calm down but not let him leave the towel, then all we would do is put an arm beside him and leave it there, he hissed and huffed but we didnt move then if he turned to start sniffing we would just stay still let him check our smell out and if he chomped, side of the arm hurts less than the tip of the finger! so far though he has not bit us again, he has already figured out he can trust us and we arent pushing him too far. I even went as far as to give him a bath last night and not get bit!
