# First bath caused stress! How to re-introduce?



## Mommatobe (Apr 5, 2012)

Hi everyone, 

So Emma is doing well so far. I have only had her for 9 days and she was settling in very well but is quilling so had very dry skin and was slightly aggitated so since she was doing very well I gave her a very quick first bath about 5 days ago. Apparently I have a very sensitive girl cause the stress from the bath caused her to almost stop eating completely ( was eating on own but very little ). So needless to say I started force feeding her and she continued to eat small amounts on her own. Brought her to the vet yesterday and she checks out fine. Last night added some RC babycat to her mix and she ate a ton! So hoping we are over the hump and she will continue to eat well and gain some weight back. My big concern is that she is 10 weeks today and will be going through her 12 week quilling soon and I need to re-introduce / desensitize her to the sink before I have to bath her again to keep her comfy when she does start to quill again. Has anyone experineced this before and can offer some tips for re-introduction to the sink. Also my vet mentioned I could look into clicker training her as well since she is so sensitive to help introduce her to new things without her getting stressed out. Has anyone tried to clicker train a hedgie before and if so, how did it go and where did you get your information from to do so? I have been to the Karen Pryor website and she has a section on clicker training "critters" just wondering if there are other resources out there. Thank you everyone for taking time to read and any help would be greatly appreciated especially with re-introduction to sink.


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## Mommatobe (Apr 5, 2012)

Any feedback would be great! Even examples of different ways to bathe a hedgie!


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## bmaditz (Jun 11, 2012)

When I bath Briar I just fill the bathtub with a few inches of water. I let him run around and explore while I splash a little bit of water on his back and his sides. He has a favorite corner he always goes too. When he's in the corner I just put some oatmeal puppy shampoo on a toothbrush and scrub his back and sides. I splash lots of water to make sure I get all the soap off so his skin doesn't get irritated. Then we cuddle in his towl while he dries off.


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## Mommatobe (Apr 5, 2012)

That is pretty much what I did with Emma but she was in a sink so I am wondering if it was too small of an area and she felt trapped. I am going to place her in the sink once a day and give a mealie I think so she associates it with something she loves or maybe we will try the tub cause she loves to run around her play pen and cage, I just think she is extra sensitive. She is a big love bug and has yet to ball up or hiss or anything with myself and my boyfriend. All my other pets are a little quirky too so I guess I should not have expected anything less from her! :lol:


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## bmaditz (Jun 11, 2012)

:lol: well every pet has something that makes them special. Whatever yo find works for you. Maybe you could try the bathtub next time and see if anything improves? Let us know how it works out!


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

majority of hedgies hate baths, probably nothing you can do to make the little one not get mad at you.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

As Mike said, sometimes there's nothing you can do about upsetting them from a bath. There are a few things that others have tried that might help with the stress level though - the bathtub might work better, to give her more space, and a choice between shallower water and deeper water. I've seen other people try dimming the bathroom lights so it's not as bright, too. If you think she's super stressed out about the water, you could try doing "showers" instead of baths - just have her sitting in the sink/bathtub/basin, and fill something else with warm water. Then you can use a cloth or cup to gently pour water over her instead of having her in the water.

As far as clicker training, I've never tried it and not sure that I would, but I know there's been some discussions on the idea on here. Here's a few different threads where it's discussed - 
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16866&p=146182&hilit=clicker#p146182
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13972&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=clicker&start=10
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=15932&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=10
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17790&p=153517&hilit=clicker#p153517


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## Mommatobe (Apr 5, 2012)

Thanks everyone for input...will probably give the tub/shower thing a try after letting her play in the tub a few times first but only after she is completely eating well and gaining weight steady again. And thank you for the thread links regarding clicker training, will read them and see if it is realistic to try or not.


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## newfie_nurse (Apr 28, 2011)

Chloe still hates baths more than ever! its been a year  

But One thing I did that helped a little was put a few mealies in a small plastic jar top (or what ever their favorite treat is) . And then started with just a little bit of water, so that it floated as she neared it, to get her used to walking thru water. she would chase the floating mealie dish for a few minutes before she realized she was even in water. she caught on quick though so then we went back in to hedgie in water panic mode :lol: 

but I guess the idea could work for someone else to get hedgie used to bath water.


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## Mommatobe (Apr 5, 2012)

The floating mealie trick sounds like a good idea. Will give it a try, she loves her mealies.


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