Bathtime?

[ghjkl829]

My hedgehog has been scrathing alot does this mean i need to give her a bath ?

[beehivehedgie]

That depends. How old is your hedgehog?

They tend to scratch themselves more when they are quilling. (there is a whole section on quilling to help you understand more on that. Just look under Personality and Behavior)

Or if it is scratching a ton and its skin looks badly it might not like the bedding it is on. What kind of bedding do you have? Bedding like Pine will irritate the skin and it is unhealthy for a hedgehog to breath ..... so if that is the case....throw away the pine and buy some aspen. OR a lot of us like to use fleece. I buy fleece discounted at Walmart. It is in a bucket.

My little baby hedgehog started scratching a lot because she had walked through her baby food and got it on her tummy. Once I took it off she scratched less.

And the last thing I can think of would be mites. I don't know if there is any universal way to tell if your hedgehog has mites other than by taking it to the vet. If your hedgehog is loosing its quills and not growing them back ...and it has flaky skin.....there is more info under the health section.

If its skin is just dry a lot of people use flax seed oil on their food.

So - maybe it does need a bath...but maybe it is something else

[ghjkl829]

Thank you soo much. I use flecce so its probly not that. Shes only about 7 months old so i guess it could be quilling. Its only her 2nd night, so would I freak her out to much if i gave her a bath?

[CritterHeaven]

Can you look at his skin? If it is dry and flaky that may be why he is scratching. A bath may not be a great idea as it can dry him out further. If you decide to bath him you can give him an oatmeal bath to sooth. Don't use normal shampoo or even a cat or dog shampoo. Aveeno oatmeal bath can be used. If you search on bath you will find suggestions.

He may also have mites and if the skin is bad, flaky and he is losing ally of quills, he will need to go to a vet that knows a lot about hedgehogs. Revolution is the medicine of choice for mites.