# Help a new mom-bathing question(s)



## PokeyMom (Dec 12, 2009)

So Waffles has really warmed up to me (insert big smile and a "yay" here) she allows me full reign to handle her, I can pick her up and move her around without blood loss. The other night I was playing with her and realized I had one smelly hedgehog sitting on me. I gave her a few footie baths to clean her feet before, but now she had an "all over" stink (urine smell)

[little rabbit hole here: I was sniffing her to check if it really was her that reeked and my husband walked by and just said "isn't that a little dangerous? I'm not taking you to the emergency room to have a quil removed from your nostril"]

Anyways I decided she needed a full bath, and I am not sure I did it right and would appreciate any help! Here is what I did:
Filled my sink with about 1 1/2in of warm (not hot but not cold) water, enough to touch her belly but she could still stand easily, and added some Earthbath Oatmeal and Aloe Vera. Then I put her in the water and scooped up some of the water and poured it on her quils and just used my fingers to kind of "wash" her quils/feet/belly. Then I ran some regular clean water and rinsed her off. Picked her up with a nice fluffy towel and dried her off.

So, what did I do wrong? and how often should she get "full body" baths, as opposed to little footie rinsing? Also is the Earthbath ok to use? It is all natural with no chemicals, and has both oatmeal and aloe vera for the skin.


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## sunshinequill (Dec 1, 2009)

You did great! You could even put a little more water in if you wanted. Was the water luke warm? That would be the right temp....not cold to make your baby cold, but warm so she is comfortable. I use baby shampoo, but I think what you used is fine, too. If you want, you can use an old tooth brush to scrub the quills a bit. Other than that, I do it exactly like you! Sometimes, I hold hedgie right under the tap to get the soap off quickly and well...the force of the water gets deep into the quills to get out the soap. Great job!


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Earthbath as in Dog shampoo right? I probably would not use it dog shampoos tend to be a bit too intense for hedgehogs. Shampoos meant for cats though are usually safer. Also someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that Aloe is not safe for hedgehogs. At least not our Pet African ones. All of the earthbath shampoos that I know of either have scents or aloe so unless the hypo-allergenic one does not and also has oatmeal then stay away from them.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Baby shampoos are not good for hedgies, they are very drying. As mentioned already dog shampoos aren't good either. Most like to use Aveeno body wash or Aveeno baby wash. Both are very gentle, unscented and have oatmeal in them to prevent itchy skin.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

For the Aloe, only some parts of the plant is toxic. Hedgemom made a really interesting post awhile back, I'll see if I can find it.

But technically, it's "safe". But whether you want to use it or not is up to the individual, as there can be a risk.

*Edit*
I found it.

Here's the thread where Hedgemom posted...
http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2554&p=20535&hilit=aloe+vera#p20535

And then Nancy's view on Aloe as well...
http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3665&p=30014&hilit=aloe+vera#p30014


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

I do bath time very similiar except I use Aveno because of what was mentioned above about shampoos being drying to the skin. I make sure the water is not deeper than his ankles on the shallow end of the tub and put him on a non slip surface. I wash him with my hands now that he trusts me (used a toothbrush gentally for the quills on a few spots his first bath), rinse with a big cup of clean water making sure to keep away from his face, head and ears and snuggle in a cloth towel I made for him until completely dry. Mine falls asleep now so I just switch him to something dry after that lol

Sounds like your little guy had a pretty good first time bath though and I'm sure he loved the spa treatment


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