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Old 01-06-2019, 05:47 AM   #1
Ralphieboy
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Default Drinking loads and not weeing

Afternoon all,My little Harry hamster is about 4 months old, over the past three nights he has drank loads more than normal, about 25ml each night, usually he’d only drinks about 5/10ml. He hasn’t weed anymore than normal. I changed the bottle last night to insure it wasn’t leaking, but the same amount of water had gone, there is no wet under the bottle to suggest it has leaked.
He seems fine in himself but I am concerned about the amount he has started drinking.
Does anyone have any opinions on this and should I take him to the vet?
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Old 01-06-2019, 06:19 AM   #2
cypher
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

That is a lot of water & it's unusual for them to drink that much if they're healthy, he should be peeing more too if he is drinking that much, have you checked around the cage to see if he's peeing somewhere he doesn't normally.
If he seems fine in himself then you could just keep an eye on him for a few more days & see how he goes but it is a bit of a concern, there are various things that can make them drink more but without any other symptoms it's hard to guess, if it continues it might well be worth having your vet check him out.
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Old 01-06-2019, 06:41 AM   #3
Ralphieboy
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

He has only one wee corner (he also stores some food in it, gross I know) there doesn’t seem to be wee in any other corner.
I’ll see how he is mid week and if he continues to drink so much I’ll take him to get checked out.
Thank you.
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Old 01-07-2019, 08:32 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

Sometimes they burrow down to the bottom of the cage to pee and you don’t find it for a while.

It sounds like a lot of water. I suspect if he seems fine in himself that he is peeing and the bottle may be leaking. It could dry out overnight where it’s leaked. Have you actually seen him drinking a lot? It will be a process of elimination - try another bottle as well as this one (ie two bottles in the cage) - bottles are notorious for emptying themselves or jamming up. I use the mouse sized ferplast drinky bottles - best ones I’ve used.

Also maybe add another litter tray with chinchilla sand in and see if he uses it. If he’s hoarding in his pee corner he may have decided to pee somewhere else. Incidentally they tend to pee on their hoard to deter people stealing it. Then you have to remove it because it’s pee soaked which will make him pee on it more It can become an itch scratch cycle. Suggest removing the per soaked hoard (leave anything that is dry) and replacing it with the same amount of new hamster food next to his pee area. Eventually that gets the message through sometimes! Also don’t clean out too often - just spot clean.

If you see any signs of swelling or him not being himself though, take him to the vet.
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Old 01-12-2019, 08:15 AM   #5
Ralphieboy
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

So booked Harry an appointment at the vets on Friday, as the drinking loads had continued, on Thursday evening I went to bed a bit later than usual so was downstairs until quite late, that’s when I realised why Harry’s water bottle had been emptying so quickly, Harry was tugging and biting on the bottle making it jump about all over the place and making the water come out all over him and the cage. I quickly ordered a Ferplast mouse size drinking bottle as recommended by Serendipity7000 and in the morning cancelled the vet appointment.
The Ferplast bottle has come today, I have attached it to the wire cage and I will see how he gets on with it, but can anyone explain an easy way to empty the bottle and put fresh water in every night? You can fill it from the top to top it up, but from what I can work out there is no way of emptying the bottle to get rid of the old water without disconnecting it from the cage and to do that the metal part that he drinks from needs to be removed as it doesn’t fit through the bars, in disconnecting this it will mean the water that’s inside will pour out into the cage, I just don’t get it?!
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Old 01-12-2019, 08:56 AM   #6
cypher
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

I think I had one of those bottles years ago & you have to detach the whole thing to change the water, might be wrong but Serendipity would be able to tell you, I always used the classic water bottles as I found them the easiest & most reliable but I use bowls now.
It sounds as though he may have got into the water bottle chewing habit which some hams do, although I would have expected you to be finding wet patches before now if he was doing that. If he does it with the new bottle you would be better off trying him with a small bowl (you do need a firm flat surface like a shelf or the top of a house or something to . put it on though) all my hams seem to prefer bowls over bottles.
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Old 01-12-2019, 09:16 AM   #7
souffle
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

I was just about to suggest he is spout chewing!
You need to take the bottle off and just use a bowl for now. He will be taking in too much water spout chewing. You could try to dangle the bottle from the roof to try as they can't get a grip to chew it that way but can still lick to drink usually. You can loop an elastic band round the bottle then attach by a string to the roof.
Moving the bottle higher or lower or to a different spot sometimes works too. What we do is use a bowl only for at least 4 weeks. Next add the bottle back but only during the day when they just get up for a quick drink. If that goes well leave it in till you go to bed then off overnight. (you still keep the bowl during these times of course) Eventually hopefully the bottle can move back permanently. Try clipping a wooden clothes peg for him to chew on. Easy to replace and safe to chew! It's really important to stop this as the extra water will strain the kidneys and also change the blood chemistry washing out the good stuff and he could become ill.
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Old 01-12-2019, 02:07 PM   #8
Ralphieboy
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

So the Ferplast drinking bottle leaked as soon as I put it in so I have taken it out and put the old bottle back in but have put two wires round it to hold it in place. Although he bites the nozzle he doesn’t tend to bite the end of it, just the side, so he doesn’t drink the water it just goes on him and soaks into the sawdust.
I’ll see how he gets in now I’ve secured the bottle better, but may have to try him with a bowl if it continues.
Thanks all.
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Last edited by Ralphieboy; 01-12-2019 at 02:10 PM. Reason: Typo
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Old 01-12-2019, 02:32 PM   #9
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

It sounds like you got the Ferplast “sippy” rather than the Ferplast “Drinky” ? . Glad you solved it. Our last Syrian used to chew and tug at his bottle but sometimes it was because it wasn’t letting the water out very well. Maybe the water bowl and a bottle and see how it goes? Be careful with a water dish though so the water is only very shallow so they cam’t Fall in and drown or get soaked. Eg a saucer - the water spreads out rather than needing to be deep.

This is the bottle I meant - I usually get two at a time to save on postage and to have a spare. Linked below
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Old 01-12-2019, 02:34 PM   #10
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Drinking loads and not weeing

https://www.portonaquapet.co.uk/shop...rinky-B-M42882
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