[Gigglingshay]

I have had my baby hedgehog for 3 months now, she is about 5 months old. I have bonded with her and she is very sweet and social. I thought I was lucky to have such a loving hedgie, but lately she's being more grumpy and biting everything. She was quilling but has recently stopped. She started biting at her blankets and bedding about a week ago. She was biting aggressively and huffing in the process. Just within the last couple days she's started to bite my fingers and knuckles. Even while sitting here with in my lap she has been biting the inside of my thigh and refusing to let go. I have had to physically open her mouth to have her release. She has been biting angrily and and latching on, along with huffs. This is the first time she has bitten and drawn blood. I have tried blowing on her face, which doesnt really stop her. I have tried making loud noises to make her aware that what she is doing is hurting me, which only slightly works. I normally have to pry her off of my finger. I attempted to do the push in instead of pulling but that only made her bite more. I always wash my hands before handling her and make sure I don't have any smelly stuff on. I also try to keep her in a quiet area. I don't know what to do anymore, I don't want this behavior to progress. It makes me really upset that she bites me, she was very kind, sweet and cuddly only a month ago. Please help

 

[nikki]

A sudden change in personality is often a sign of pain or illness. The first thing I would do is take her to the vet to be checked out to make sure that nothing is wrong healthwise.

 

[twobytwopets]

Biting fabric, that's possibly a game of tug. Blowing in her face doesn't work. There is a sticky about how to deal with a biter, it should help a good bit.

 

[Phoebster13]

My hedgie was biting everything (including me) and we contacted the breeder because apparently she was friendly and they said she was never like that. We brought her to a vet recently and the doctor said she was really sick. I don't mean to scare you but your hedgie might be sick if there was a sudden change, take her to a vet as soon as you can just in case if there is something going on. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Gigglingshay]

Thanks everyone, I am trying to feed her a bit more. I noticed that she was more grumpy around feeding so maybe she wasn't getting enough food and just not in a good mood because of that. (I feed her about 3 teaspoons. She weighs about 8.2 oz) she's still pretty small so I don't want to over feed her.. I have also thought that I could get her more toys, like something she could take out some energy on. (She has a wheel and some pipes to run through). She often rearanges her cage at night so I'm thinking she's needing more stimulation. I don't want to jump to conclusions about her needing to see the vet, I read that if it was health related that her eating habits would change, and they seem to be normal. (All food is being eaten). Do you think these solutions will help? If it does not, I will definitely take her to a vet

 

[Kalandra]

Free feed her. If you are feeding a good diet in the right proportions there really is no need to restrict food. Especially if she's a baby.