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Hedgehog Hygiene
Part of ensuring that your hedgehog remains healthy throughout his life is with proper hedgehog hygiene. Poor hygiene, in animals and humans, creates a breeding ground for disease, and this must be avoided. The first step to good hedgehog hygiene is regular bathing.
Bathing a hedgehog really isn’t difficult or time consuming. In fact, many hedgehogs enjoy a good bath, once they are certain that you are not attempting to drown them. It is important, no matter how much your hedgehog enjoys his bath that you never leave him unattended in the water. Furthermore, the room where the hedgehog is bathed and dried must be warm, and you should not bath baby hedgehogs too often.
Once you are prepared for your hedgehog’s bath, from a safety perspective, the next order of business is to ensure that you have everything that you need within arms reach. You need some type of basin for the bath. Remember that hedgehogs are very small, and a tub would probably be too big. A plastic wash tub or kitchen sink will do. It should not be so full of water that the hedgehog cannot stand on the bottom of the basin without his head above water, and the water should be warm, but not overly hot.
You need a good shampoo. While there are many great pet shampoos on the market, for hedgehog’s without skin conditions, a nice, gentle baby shampoo is recommended, and you should make sure that you get the no-tears formula. Experts recommend have a bit of olive oil on hand, which will be used when you rinse the hedgehog, but not when you are soaping him up. Finally, you need a soft toothbrush, as well as a toothbrush used for brushing pet teeth. Do not purchase pet toothpaste, however. You also need a couple of fluffy towels.
Now, you are ready to bath your hedgehog, just like you would bath any pet. Get the hedgehog wet, and lather him up, but avoid getting water in his eyes. Now, using the soft toothbrush, scrub between his quills. Once you feel like he is clean enough, Give him a good rinse, preferably with a gentle sprayer, making sure that you get down to his skin.
Drain the water and refill the basin with clean water, and add just a teaspoon of olive oil to the water. Make sure that the oil gets mixed in good, and give the hedgehog another rinse. This will help to keep his skin moisturized, and will make his quills very soft.
Finally, get your hedgehog out of the water, and rub him gently with the towel. This is the best possible time to trim your hedgehog’s nails. You can use the pet toothbrush to gently brush his teeth as well, but just use water, and not toothpaste. Many hedgehogs won’t actually let you do this, and will most likely roll into a ball instead, making tooth brushing impossible.
When you bath and dry your hedgehog, make sure that you are on the lookout for any problems, such as dry skin, parasite infestations, sores, cuts, or anything else that seems abnormal. These issues should be discussed with your veterinarian as soon as possible.
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