# Bizarre behavior after first bath



## michymarie (Sep 6, 2010)

I am a new hedgie parent to a 9 week old hoglet named Jeffrey. Jeffrey has been with me for approximately a month. Over the past week he has dirtied himself alot and last night I decided to take him his first bath. Why did I do this? :? Now his behavior has completely changed and over the remainder of the night I've become worried as to wether or not this is something that a vet will have to address. 

After removing him from his bath I curled him in his towel for a long while. Over the course of a few minutes he had become unusually hyper. He's been almost unable to stay completely still at any given point. It almost seems as if he's experiencing a bundle of twitches at once or possibly baby spasms. I also noticed some itching and shaking off behaviors. 

In placing him back in his cage he has continued to do his normal behaviors such as eating, drinking water, running on his wheel, and going into his hiding place but, I continue hearing him unable to stay still. As his if he's irritable or agitated. For example, once he's inside his hiding place he will begin moving around so much inside his igloo that the igloo will move from side to side. He's never acted like this before. Though he is active at night, the amount of clattering noises I hear coming from his cage is a first for me.

In preparing his bath I used warm temperature water in the bathroom sink. I placed half a pack of the Aveeno tear-free in the water. I used a small toothbrush to stroke the quills that had been dirtied. He was in the bath for a max of about five minutes. I removed him from the bath and refilled the sink with just warm water and placed him inside that for another five minutes. 

Though his irriablity has reduced itself a bit he is still exhibiting these bizarre symptoms and I'm worried. Please help


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

He is probably fine. Perhaps the bath woke him up and he started acting the way he would normally act i the middle of the night.

I do suggest a shorter bath. Unless he really likes the water, that is too long. Also water cools off quickly so unless you are constantly adding some warm, it could get too cool for him.


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## Hedgehog Grove (Jul 21, 2010)

Our rescue, Jahzara did something similar to this after her first bath and her second bath.






After consult from here and the vet we concluded she had mites and was treated for them with revolution over a course of 6 weeks(every 2 weeks). She has 2 more doses to go and then she will be on precautionary dose every month.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I am curious where you got him from? If the place you bought him told you he was only 5 weeks old. That is too young to be weaned and moved to a new home... if you got him from a pet store, he is most likely older than that. Just thought I'd mention it as most babies go to their new homes around 7-8 weeks old.


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## michymarie (Sep 6, 2010)

Jeff’s behavior was very similar to Jahzara’s in the video. The only difference seemed to be that Jeff’s behavior was a bit more intense. His erratic behavior subsided the next day but, I am still a bit worried. With that said he’ll be taking his first visit to the vet this week just to double check that everything is ok :? Did Jahzara act like that only after her bath? Or did her behavior persist on to the next day?

I bought Jeffrey from a USDA certified breeder. At time of pick up, he told me that Jeff was about 5 weeks old. I did question that after bringing him home because he seemed to be bigger in size then what I thought 5 weeks would look like. I weighed him for the first time yesterday, at 253 g. A bit heavy for a supposed 9 week old hedgie huh :?: 

Attached are some piks of Jeff the first week I had gotten him...


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Jeff sure is cute!
Every once in a while, my Zoey will freak out & get super hyper. Don't know why, but she usually settles down after a bit, so I don't think too much of it. Wish I could be more helpful - mostly just wanted to comment on adorable Jeff.


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## Hedgehog Grove (Jul 21, 2010)

The first bath by morning time (10am) she was fine. I had the video camera set up and watched the recording from her cage and she was like she was in the posted video most of the night. She had a had time sleeping or settling down. In the morning she was still awake but fairly calm. I had to wrap her up in her blanket and let her sit with me for awhile under she fell asleep then i put her back in her cage.

She did this again after her second bath but calmed down by the time I went to bed at about 2am.

These 2 baths were prior to her mite treatment. She had a bath last night and did NOT act like she had before.

And also I'll add she loves her baths she sprawls out and lover the water, nearly falls asleep in the bath. Ever since her first bath she has been loving them.

Get the vet to do a skin scraping to check for mites when you take him in for his wellness check. This is done there and you will know straight away also. If he has mites, have him treated with revolution kitten/cat.



Nancy said:


> The correct dosage for Cat and kitten Revolution is .01 ml per 400g.
> 
> The location can be either between the shoulder blades, or behind the ear. Rarely does Revolution cause side effects and if so, it is usually a bit of skin irritation. I put the drop between the shoulder blades because if it does cause irritation, it is more difficult for them to reach that area to scratch. Make sure the drop goes on bare skin.
> 
> .01 (point, zero, one) ml is the first small line on a 1 ml/cc needle.


The .01ml is fine for hedgies under 400g also.


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## zorropirate (Aug 13, 2010)

Daisy has had 2 baths, I know I shouldn't give her so many... she's been home only 2 weeks, but her feet were so icky and I'm still trying to clip those back toenails, but she seems to love the baths, she splashes about and seems quite happy.

But she has done that super hyper thing too after each bath! She snuggles for a bit to dry off then does laps around her house until she pops on the wheel and runs for a bit. Then she shakes her quills about... she eventually settles down and crawls back into her crinkle tube and snoozes.


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