Is it normal for my hamster to drink her urine?

CookieBlossomBella · 06-01-2018, 08:19 AM

Sorry for all of these threads but I am just finding this behaviour a bit strange.
So Bella ,my syrian, has been spotted multiple times drinking her own urine. She is not thirsty as she is provided with a water bottle AND bowl 24/7 and i see her drinking from both of them and even if the water bottle stopped working, she has the bowl anyway and i think she prefers it over the bottle.
Overall, i was just wondering if you guys have an idea as to why she is doing this and how to prevent it.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Her water bowl is right next to her nest and so it is easily accessible and she is still a young hamster as i only got her in start-mid april

Amethyst_ice · 06-01-2018, 09:22 AM

Hello

How exactly is she doing this?Does she have a jar she goes in that would allow the wee to pool and not be soaked up by bedding?

CookieBlossomBella · 06-01-2018, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

Hello

How exactly is she doing this?Does she have a jar she goes in that would allow the wee to pool and not be soaked up by bedding?

She pees on her wheel and it pools and she drinks it

dreamtree1234 · 06-01-2018, 12:09 PM

I have never seen or heard of a hammy doing this before. That is really shocking. Hopefully, she will start using her designated toilet instead as this doesn't sound like a very healthy habit. Have you tried potty training her? All of the hams that I have ever had go to the bathroom in their designated areas.

souffle · 06-01-2018, 12:55 PM

I have never seen this behavior in hamsters before either. Does she bite the water spout at all? She may be overdrinking and weeing a lot more than she should. Young syrians produce very concentrated urine in small amounts normally so I would not expect to see it pooling anywhere as you describe.
Sometimes young hamsters will get quite wheel obsessed and not leave to toilet. If they pass the partly processed poo that they must eat again to extract the necessary vitamins for their good health (this is normal) they might lick it up from there. Normally they would bend over and re-eat it as it is passed. It is called coprophagia and is very normal and necessary. Could she be licking that up and not urine?

CookieBlossomBella · 06-02-2018, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souffle

I have never seen this behavior in hamsters before either. Does she bite the water spout at all? She may be overdrinking and weeing a lot more than she should. Young syrians produce very concentrated urine in small amounts normally so I would not expect to see it pooling anywhere as you describe.
Sometimes young hamsters will get quite wheel obsessed and not leave to toilet. If they pass the partly processed poo that they must eat again to extract the necessary vitamins for their good health (this is normal) they might lick it up from there. Normally they would bend over and re-eat it as it is passed. It is called coprophagia and is very normal and necessary. Could she be licking that up and not urine?

Im not sure, maybe. But it does seem like it is urine. She does bite her bottle spout and sometimes tries pouching it. I spot clean every night and she spends most of the night on her wheel and it seems like she lets all of her wee build up and then she drinks it. I have tried litter training her but it just did not work at all.

souffle · 06-02-2018, 04:53 AM

If she is biting the spout that needs to stop because it affects the blood chemistry. Start by removing the bottle and using a bowl only for two weeks. Then you can start putting the bottle back but only during the daytime when she gets up for a quick drink and then back to sleep. It is best to position the bottle in a different area and either higher or lower so she can't get a proper hold on the spout. If that goes well you can gradually leave it longer and longer but if she chews again then take it off. Hopefully she will then stop weeing on the wheel and the licking it will stop. It's not common for syrians to pee on wheels really (Dwarves are really bad for it though) Watch her feet don't get sore running in it too. Is it an enclosed wheel? Maybe she is using it as a toilet? Changing to an open one may help.