My Hedgehog Hates me.

[daddylongleg]

I Got this hedgehog back in February and we've been chilling since then, but he's been attacking me ever since I got him. I try to give him affection but he's always been pouting at me and rolling in my arms and stabbing me. he hisses at me and makes evil noises and I just want to hug him. He's really aggressive

He ****s where he eats and he doesn't even care!
He's craaazzzyyyy. :wacko:

I would really like to know what i'm doing wrong, my room is warm 70~78 F
I feed him cat food all the time.. I try to bathe him, but he still stabs me...

Honestly, I don't have any problems with that, I just want to pick him up and have him acknowledge i'm his MASTER.

<3 Adam/Jontan/Elijah

By the way his name is Kunta.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Honestly, I don't have any problems with that, I just want to pick him up and have him acknowledge i'm his MASTER.

...meanwhile, Kunta is thinking, "I just want that human to acknowledge *I'M* his master."

I think a large part of owning a hedgehog is to decide which battles are really important (like giving medicine) and only fighting those. The rest... it seems better to work with your hedgie instead of against.

The first thing I think of when a hedgie is huffy and hissy is that he is scared. Very scared. You could try changing the environment when you have him out. Make sure it's quiet, you can turn the lights low, and you can provide him a place to hide when he's out with you -- something simple like a piece of fleece that will fully cover him. And, should it turn out that it really is aggression for aggression's sake (unlikely, but possible), if you have that piece of fleece, it'll be a bit of a barrier between you and Mr. Stabbyquill.

Another possibility is that you smell "wrong" to your hedgie. For example, one hedgie I had was very calm and chill - a snugglebug. But if I had been swimming and I didn't wash up with the special anti-chlorine shampoo (used as shampoo & body soap), she would bite... hard... and with no warning whatsoever. Or you might smell very "right" - for a few months after she came home, she used to lick and try to chomp on her human hedgiedaddy. I joked that he must secretly work at a meat packing plant. He'd wash his hands up to his elbows a couple times each time he came home, then she was fine with him.

As far as pooping where he's eating, I'd try and see if you can get that to change. Many hedgies poop on their wheels. Does he have a wheel? And is it far from his food dishes? Or do you get the sense that he's pooping elsewhere, then running through it, getting poop stuck on his feet, then tracking it into his dining area? Another thing they'll do if their food and water dishes are too close together is sit in one while eating/drinking out of the other - easily solved by placing them a bit further apart.

 

[chik_lets0715]

I've had mine since September, she hates me. Everything is a battle except feeding from syringes (which she doesn't always want but her pushing back can be helpful) She will sleep on my lap with the quills down until I move and than I get huffed and popped at. I think it's just her personality, yours could be the same. I wish she would let me cut her nails!!!!!!!!

 

[tacotac]

My little Moonflower would always use the bathroom where she ate, or on her wheel. Didn't have much of an issue any place else. She was young when she did this. I said fine, I got those cheap, yet solid rectangular baking sheets you can find at Walmart or the dollar store, that are only like 1/4-1/2 inch deep, not the to foil ones. I filled that with litter & it was big enough to put her food & water dish to the middle front of the tray against the side of the cage, with the tray being in that front corner of the cage. There she was able to eat & use the bathroom, & it would be in the litter tray. Eventually she didn't like going where she ate & she would end up going a couple inches behind the litter tray, so I put her litter box butt up against this litter tray which has her food. Sure enough after awhile she started only going in this litter box, & eventually I moved the litter box a bit further away until it was in the other corner of the cage behind her food area. I don't have the litter tray under her dishes anymore since she doesn't go there anymore. She has been pretty good about using her litter box most of the time now. She is currently 6 1/2 months old now.

This may sound like a bit of work, but I am that kind of person to go out of my way to get results, lol! Worth the try, maybe?

 

[ACohan]

I had a tough run with my last hedgie too, seemed like he didn't like anything I did. it took lots of patience but he came around. Good luck