# Completely freaked out... by oil?!



## TheCuriaRegis (Mar 1, 2017)

I think oil really freaks Tema out, but I have no idea why. Whenever I bring it near her she balls up tightly and goes on full defensive. This happens with baby oil, and coconut oil. So far, she's fine with the flaxseed oil in her food.

But whenever I use oil in the bathing water (baby oil or coconut oil) she completely balls up and refuses to move the moment I take her out, which makes her so hard to get dry. When I tried putting some on her dry skin, the same happened. When I bathed Yue and then handled her without washing my hands afterwards, the same thing happened. Yue doesn't seem to have any problem with the oil though.

I know its not the bath itself, because the other day she had the most relaxed bath ever, in which I decided against using oil. I'd never seen a more relaxed Tema, whereas she always balled up tightly after baths.

This evening I put some coconut oil on Yue's skin, and Tema freaked out again when I brought them close to each other, and wouldn't let me touch her. The moment I washed my hands and took her to a different room, she started to relax again. I can't even bring the toothbrush I used near her and she balls up tight.

Does anyone have any idea why this is? It's becoming increasingly annoying to deal with. Once I get her to calm down she's completely fine and acts normal, it's just as if the moment she smells it she feels like her life is in grave danger.

She's otherwise super tame and chilled, as long as nothing with any trace of oil smell comes near her.

Help???


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Hedgehogs have an amazing sense of smell and she obviously doesn't like the smell of those oils.


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## TheCuriaRegis (Mar 1, 2017)

This I gathered. But is there anything I can do? Should I try putting flaxseed oil on her skin as she's okay with eating that? Or should I just up the dosage in her food?
I switched to coconut oil from baby oil cause it's less scented but I'm scared it's all oils that she hates, since it was weird that she hates the smell of both...
She's usually not at all finicky with smells too. The other night, I came home smelling like cat and barbecue and she didn't care in the slightest.


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## ArizonaHazelnut (Nov 16, 2016)

If she has really dry skin, have you tried Aveeno Oatmeal Baby Wash? It's gentle, non-scented, and helps with dry skin. You could also put some oatmeal in a sock and swish it through her bath water. 

If she is that stressed out by the oils, I wouldn't try to keep using them on her.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I would avoid using both of them completely since she's so bothered by them. Lily did the same thing the one time I tried using lanolin on her ears & I threw the bottle away after that fiasco. It's the only smell she ever threw a fit over, but boy, it sure was a fit!!

Does she have very dry skin that she needs oil on her? If you really think she needs something on her, you can try either the flaxseed, vitamin E oil, or olive oil. Those are all much more mild in smell, which might help.


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## TheCuriaRegis (Mar 1, 2017)

I'm looking at an oil free solution overall, since even putting oil on my other hedgie stresses her out.

The other day I tried the oatmeal thing and she was really happy about that. I live in South Africa so we don't have Aveeno here, or at least I haven't seen it around anywhere. The only baby wash any shop stocks is Johnson and Johnson which I'm told is really bad. I also live in a small town, which doesn't help.

Since she's finished quilling her skin hasn't been that dry, but I have an albino girl as well, whose skin gets dry pretty fast.

Also, so this isn't something I should worry about, then? She's just repulsed by the smell and that's it?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Just using the oatmeal is fine, they don't really need soap for a bath, IMO. 

Yup, nothing huge to worry about! Just a hedgie that reeeeally hates the smell. :lol: They do like to scare us though. I wouldn't bother with the oil on her if she doesn't need it, as it is possible to actually cause problems by putting on too much - Lily once got a yeast infection due to too much oil on her skin after a bath just after she'd gotten past a bacterial infection. I'm guessing it was partially due to having been on the antibiotics that killed both good & bad bacteria & opened up the way for the yeast infection, but the oil contributed. But hopefully using one of the other oil options for your other girl should help keep the drama fits from Tema down!


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## TheCuriaRegis (Mar 1, 2017)

Thank you so much for the advice, it's been bothering me for ages! And I'm such a neurotic person about their health too.

(The other day Yue, my albi girl, let me stroke her tum for the first time and instead of enjoying it I thought that she was dying or something ^-^ Nope, turns out she just likes me. Who'd have thought?)

They really do love to scare us!

I'm gonna experiment with some other oils, though at the moment flaxseed in their food seems to be the best way to go! And oatmeal baths! Bless whoever thought to put oatmeal in a sock and bathe a hedgehog with that.


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