# On fur stains and cleaning ears



## zukushikimimemo (Oct 28, 2012)

Just want to ask if bleach is ok to use on hedgehogs? I tried whitening dog and cat shampoos but they just dont work on my hedgies belly stains. And please help how do i clean his ears. Its getting dirty and i cant stick cotton buds because he always roll and hide his head everytime i attempt to touch it


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Do not use bleach on him. I wouldn't use it on any live animal - the stains won't hurt him, bleach will. What are the stains from? I doubt they're really that big of a deal other than aesthetic purposes...they'll probably wear off eventually or disappear as he sheds fur a little at a time naturally.

Are the ears dirty down inside them, or around the edges? Around the edges is the most common thing and people rub a little bit of oil or vaseline to keep them hydrated and clean and keep the "tatters" away. If it's down inside...I'm not really sure. I never had to clean Lily's ears at all, so I'm not sure if there's a good way to do so without hurting hedgie. Hopefully someone else can help on that one.


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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

Unless your hedgie is showing signs of ear infection or hearing loss due to blocked ears, I wouldn't stick anything in there. Ears are super sensitive, and even doctors for humans recommend against sticking qtips in there. Your hedgie might have gunkier ears than you prefer, but if it's not hurting them, don't mess with it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Wax performs a variety of important functions, including keeping our ears clean and clear of infection.

What kind of a fur stains are you talking about? Don't bleach your hedgie either way, I'm just curious about what you're talking about.


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## GoodandPlenty (Feb 4, 2012)

Good gosh, don't get bleach anywhere near your hedgehog. Even highly diluted bleach is a wicked, nasty chemical.

If the belly fur is dirty just give your hedgie a foot-and-belly bath more frequently and it should take care of itself. If you must use soap, I suggest Aveeno Body Wash, one that has oatmeal in it. Water alone should be adequate most of the time. Sophie gets three foot-and-belly baths a week with water. She only gets a full bath with Aveeno every six weeks.

The outside of the ears you can just lightly rub a bit during bath time if they seem dirty, but take care not to get water in the ears. Sophie's ears have always looked great to me. I do give them a kind of 'pinch and tweak' with my fingers during her bath so that I can get a look behind the ears. She doesn't mind and everything always looks fine.

Don't go anywhere near the inside of the ears!

At her big exam the vet said that the inside of her ears needed cleaning. That was a real surprise. It wasn't something that I got to see when they did it. They found that the cleaning was needed while Sophie was knocked out and took care of it as part of the exam. It was part of the full checkup and notable enough that the vet specifically told me about it. It isn't something that you should do.

(It would have been nice to see everything that the vet was doing - for them to live-stream it so I could at least watch - but I doubt that they would ever do that. (Despite its being a really good idea!)


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