Bathing your Hedgehog

Assemble the following items at your sink before bathing your hedgie:

Aveeno Baby Wash (unscented or lightly scented) or Tear free baby or Small animal shampoo

a small cup
a toothbrush
a towel (for drying off and snuggling your hedgie after the bath)
Spectrum organic coconut oil
nail clippers
corn starch or qwik stop

We prefer to bath our hedgehogs in a sink but you can bath them in a bathtub too. The main reason I prefer the sink is they do tend to relieve themselves when bathing, in a sink it is easier to wash the poop down and keep the water clean.

Please test the water before putting your hedgie in the sink. It should be warm water but not hot. I start with about an inch of water in the sink. Hedgehogs are reactive and may ball up in the bath, only having an inch or so of water in the sink lessens the chance your hedgehog will inhale its bath water.

If you do bathe your hedgie in a Tub please do not leave your hedgie unattended. They can swim (some like to swim more than others however) but they can tire out, injure themselves or drown. Parental Supervision is a MUST!

To wash your hedgie I use Aveeno Baby Wash and pour about a dime size amount in my hand lather it up with a toothbrush( please make sure you have a designated toothbrush for your hedgie.) And gently scrub your hedgie, I usually start with their back, rinse them off with a cup or gently under the faucet (make sure first the water is warm) then repeat on their belly, feet and legs. AVOID getting water into their ears!

After the bath is done we put a tiny amount of the Organic Coconut oil on our hands and rub it over our hedgehog.

Check your hedgie's nails they should be trimmed every 10 to 14 days but some grow faster than others. Some people will trim the nails under the water when they are bathing. For our technic, you need 2 people. One person holds the hedgie so their legs can fall through the fingers and the hedgies back is against their chest, the other person clips the nails. We keep cornstarch right on hand in case we cut the kwik. We usually take the tips of the nails off and try not to trim too much.