# Drying off after bath



## abbys

I rinse off Piglet's feet daily in some shallow water to clean off his "boots." He doesn't mind this and it doesn't take much effort to dry off his feet. However, every 3 weeks or so I shampoo him (and he hates it with a passion), which means his whole body gets wet (except for his head). I wrap him in a hand towel for a minute before transferring him to a dry blanket and warming him in my lap.

The problem is that this only works 50% of the time. Half of the time he wriggles out of my hands and prefers to air-dry by running around the living room shaking off like a dog for 7 minutes or so before he'll go back to his blanket. Every time I pick him up and put him back in the blanket he just runs back out. I don't want him to get chilled, and I know he must be since he's wet and running around a 66 degree apartment. I have the same routine for every bath, so this isn't a reaction to something new. I don't get his head wet, so I know he's not running around trying to get water out of his eyes/ears/nose. I think he's just a spazz and likes to keep me on my toes. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get him to stay put?


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## Avarris

When Pippin gets baths, I burrito roll her up. Which Shea fine with at first. Once she's in a good spot (usually curling up around my hand) I start rubbing her down through the burrito roll. She hates this part and will prickle up or outright ball up. up The ball only makes it easier for me. I rub her down like that for a couple minutes and then let her wander around for about15 minutes. Doing it that way she is about 95% dried off before she's returned to her enclosure. Maybe the burrito roll will help you get him closer to damp and then him run around. Our house is cooler than my room so letting Pippin run around right after a bath bothered me because I didn't want her to catch a chill. Once she's closer to damp than wet I don't worry so much about her air drying the rest of the way.


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## sklock65

I do the same thing! I wrap Henry up nice and tight and let him wriggle around and I rub him down through the towel. He tries his best to escape and run around but I just keep fighting him on it until I feel like he is dry enough. He hates bathtime so it's not surprising he hates the towel drying part as well!


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## Sar-uh

I make a "pocket" with the towel in my lap, set the hedgie in it, then drape part of the towel over her covering her up completely. Both of my girls like to hide, so this makes them feel safe, and they're free to roam around in the pocket on my lap while they dry. Once they've gotten most of the wetness rubbed off, I scoop them up into a hedgie sack and hold them on my lap until I'm sure they're fully dry.


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## abbys

Sar-uh said:


> I make a "pocket" with the towel in my lap, set the hedgie in it, then drape part of the towel over her covering her up completely. Both of my girls like to hide, so this makes them feel safe, and they're free to roam around in the pocket on my lap while they dry. Once they've gotten most of the wetness rubbed off, I scoop them up into a hedgie sack and hold them on my lap until I'm sure they're fully dry.


Piglet likes to hide, too, so I do the same thing you do. It seems like he just picks random days to crawl back out of that little pocket and zoom around the living room. Like he's getting back at me for giving him a bath in the first place.


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## 1Rayne

ok you guys are making wonder if I am doing things right lol 
after bath Tucker goes into a shirt material pouch I rub him down for a few moments transfer him to a new dry pouch and set him in on the warm side where he seems to stay for 30 minutes or more I figure warmth pouch by the time he gets to warm he is dry? should I be rubbing him down longer? I only had him a couple weeks and he is quilling so he got two baths so far with a little oatmeal in the bath water then a few drops of olive oil in the rinse water please correct me if I'm not doing it right


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## sklock65

The main concern I think is just to be just you can get them as dry as possible to avoid them getting cold after bathtime from still bein wet! Seems like everyone has a slightly different method for whatever works for the individual hedgie


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## sklock65

sklock65 said:


> The main concern I think is just to be just you can get them as dry as possible to avoid them getting cold after bathtime from still bein wet! Seems like everyone has a slightly different method for whatever works for the individual hedgie


Not sure what happened there haha...what I meant:

*The main concern I think is just to be sure to get them as dry as possible


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## abbys

1Rayne said:


> ok you guys are making wonder if I am doing things right lol
> after bath Tucker goes into a shirt material pouch I rub him down for a few moments transfer him to a new dry pouch and set him in on the warm side where he seems to stay for 30 minutes or more I figure warmth pouch by the time he gets to warm he is dry? should I be rubbing him down longer? I only had him a couple weeks and he is quilling so he got two baths so far with a little oatmeal in the bath water then a few drops of olive oil in the rinse water please correct me if I'm not doing it right


I think what you're doing is fine. They don't have to be totally dry before transferring them to the new pouch. Just dry off as much excess water as you can (like wrapping your hair in a towel after a shower  ) and keep them warm. I just happen to have a little bugger who seems to enjoy being chased around the house instead of being wrapped up


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## Avarris

abbys said:


> 1Rayne said:
> 
> 
> 
> ok you guys are making wonder if I am doing things right lol
> after bath Tucker goes into a shirt material pouch I rub him down for a few moments transfer him to a new dry pouch and set him in on the warm side where he seems to stay for 30 minutes or more I figure warmth pouch by the time he gets to warm he is dry? should I be rubbing him down longer? I only had him a couple weeks and he is quilling so he got two baths so far with a little oatmeal in the bath water then a few drops of olive oil in the rinse water please correct me if I'm not doing it right
> 
> 
> 
> I think what you're doing is fine. They don't have to be totally dry before transferring them to the new pouch. Just dry off as much excess water as you can (like wrapping your hair in a towel after a shower  ) and keep them warm. I just happen to have a little bugger who seems to enjoy being chased around the house instead of being wrapped up
Click to expand...

I wish there was a like button. I can just picture you running around the house, with a towel in your hands, yelling, "Stop that Hedgehog! Come here you little turkey!" Sorry, thanks for the visual. LOL


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## Sar-uh

abbys, I can't stop giggling at your profile picture! :lol:


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## abbys

Haha, thanks!


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## 1Rayne

Avarris said:


> abbys said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1Rayne said:
> 
> 
> 
> ok you guys are making wonder if I am doing things right lol
> after bath Tucker goes into a shirt material pouch I rub him down for a few moments transfer him to a new dry pouch and set him in on the warm side where he seems to stay for 30 minutes or more I figure warmth pouch by the time he gets to warm he is dry? should I be rubbing him down longer? I only had him a couple weeks and he is quilling so he got two baths so far with a little oatmeal in the bath water then a few drops of olive oil in the rinse water please correct me if I'm not doing it right
> 
> 
> 
> I think what you're doing is fine. They don't have to be totally dry before transferring them to the new pouch. Just dry off as much excess water as you can (like wrapping your hair in a towel after a shower  ) and keep them warm. I just happen to have a little bugger who seems to enjoy being chased around the house instead of being wrapped up
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I wish there was a like button. I can just picture you running around the house, with a towel in your hands, yelling, "Stop that Hedgehog! Come here you little turkey!" Sorry, thanks for the visual. LOL
Click to expand...

hahaha yeah I got that visual also hehe
we haven't got up to the roaming around on the floor yet its only been two weeks almost straight into quilling and I have a boston terrier 
we are still working on him trusting me so we are keeping it to the spare room for playtime but he still doesn't do much in the line of playing its more like hide and seek 
in due time in due time  he does sleep in a shirt I've worn so we are moving forward .. this first quilling it very stressful ... on me not him lol


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## Erizo

Sophie is pretty good about letting me dry her a bit, and she hides out in her hedgie sack afterward. The main thing I think is to use the towel to 'squeegee' the belly fur. That goes pretty quickly. After that, they just need time to dry. Water on the back and quills gets shaken off and you simply can't do much more. She's never completely dry when she goes back to her cage, but is plenty dry enough. Truthfully, once I squeegee her belly fur after the bath there just isn't much else to do, or to worry about either.


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## abbys

Partial success! I've been trying the snug burrito-wrap method right after I pull him out of the sink, and so far we've only had two excape attempts, which is a drastic improvement. Thanks for the suggestions! 

These are some videos of the episode that made me ask for drying help in the first place (sorry for the bad quality). He spent a good 15 minutes running laps around my room (pardon the mess). After each lap I would tuck him back into his snuggle pouch only for him to take off the second I let go. The *best* part was when he sat directly under the middle of my bed just a couple inches out of my reach just staring at me like "Haha, sucker! You can't reach me, neener neener!" I wanted him to settle down so I could get some laundry done and go for a run, but he was having none of it.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egc-oxfQ ... e=youtu.be

After 15 minutes, I finally got him to stay in his pouch, but he still didn't go to sleep for another 5 minutes. He just sat and watched me tidy up my room.

[attachment=0:3qjjjh2o]Untitled.png[/attachment:3qjjjh2o]


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## abbys

And by "excape" I meant "escape"...


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## Dee

Bit late into this, but have you tried a hairdryer on the lowest setting?
Mine hates the rub down and will squirm and squirm til he's away from it, but whip out a hairdryer and he's an angel about it.
Just make sure your hand is between the hedgie and the dryer so there is no risk of overheating.


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## Katis228

Dee said:


> Bit late into this, but have you tried a hairdryer on the lowest setting?
> Mine hates the rub down and will squirm and squirm til he's away from it, but whip out a hairdryer and he's an angel about it.
> Just make sure your hand is between the hedgie and the dryer so there is no risk of overheating.


I did this with Mal the last time I gave her a bath and she LOVED it!  She just laid there and soaked up the warm. :lol:


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## Dee

Katis228 said:


> I did this with Mal the last time I gave her a bath and she LOVED it!  She just laid there and soaked up the warm. :lol:


Haha it's Pindsvins favourite part of bathtime. He loves it on his face, and chases after it. It's totally bizarre :lol:


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