Review - Glass Drinking Bottle

[DanniDorrito]

Hey everyone,

Thought I should write a quick review about the latest product I purchased for my ham, let you know my experience and thoughts about it. I hope this can help you if you do consider something like this for yourself.

So I purchased the "Glass Drinking Bottle for Hamsters, 50 ml" from a pet store while I was out shopping - I think it cost around $5. It looked nice and I was interested to see how my hamster would get on with a bottle which didn't have a ball.

Here's a link to one similar to what I brought:
Kerbl Glass Drinking Bottle for Hamsters, 50 ml: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

I replaced the current plastic bottle I had with the glass, but kept the plastic in another place in the cage just in case the hamster didnt take to this glass one.



The metal hook which came with it has been good for me, and it would be good for cages with vertical bars. The metal can be rotated to fit any bars, and its long enough to fit normal sized bars or some that are a little wider. I wouldn't be too sure on mesh though, you may need to cut out a bit of space for it. It seems secure enough and I haven't experienced the bottle falling yet, its kept the bottle secure even during the cage being moved.

It also came with 2 plastic suction cups for glass or plastic cages, so this product isn't just limited to cages with bars. I haven't tried the plastic suction cups on the glass bottle, but I have used one on the original bottle I had. Its the smallest size of living world plastic bottles, the plastic on the suction cup fits around it nicely so I was able to attach my old bottle to the lower part of my hamsters cage.



The glass bottle is nice, although it can be a little tricky to fill. You have to make sure when you fill the bottle that the drinking tube is also filled too. So far I've found the best trick is to fill the glass bottle right to the brim, and slowly put the stopper on so that the water will go through the tube. Definitely a little more fiddling required than a typical water bottle.

I've seen some bad reviews on amazon about people breaking the glass when placing the stopper on it, putting too much pressure will cause this to break. I wouldn't recommend this for kids.



Its not been a massive problem, but its been a problem a handful of times when I first got it. If the hamster drinks from it too fast or its not filled properly the bubbles group up and stay stuck in the drinking tube, specifically at the top of the tube and at the bend. I've had it where the hamster has drank all of the water in the tube and the bubbles have stayed so he was not able to get access to more water.

Over the past week I have had no problems with it, my hamster drinks from it daily and I also keep his original bottle in the lower part of the cage so he always has access to some water. I think he can gain access to water from this bottle a little easier than one with a ball, and I have never seen this new bottle drip!



So overall I personally I wouldn't recommend this product as the only source of water for your hamster, its best as a secondary bottle or something. It is a nice product but definitely more problematic and fiddly than a typical plastic + ball water bottle.

[greysome]

ah, good to know! I was considering purchasing these but have been holding off while I tried to learn more about it. I'm not big on fiddling with water bottles til I get it just right every day or two though, so I think I'll stick with the more typical bottles. But those pictures are so cute!

[DanniDorrito]

Thanks grey! I'm glad I could help you a bit more with your decision.

Marbles hasn't had any preferences between the bottles, none that I've noticed anyway. If he's hanging about the top section of the cage he will use the glass bottle, if he's in the bottom section he'll use the plastic. So it looks like it doesn't bother my ham which bottle he uses haha :P

[Nancy's Hamsters]

LOL glad your little guy has not learned the naughty habit of emptying out the bottle by sticking his little toes in the sipper tube and letting the water flow out like a rushing wind LOL. These bottles have been around for years and I actually remember having them in with my very first Hamster Snowball and how many cage clean outs we had to do each time the snotty thing drained out the water one glub at a time. Also it gets really fun if in a tank where a spunky Hamster can enjoy a chew fest on the rubber stopper. I have one here which is actually designed for birds which has a rubber stopper that has been chewed so you have to pull it out via the sipper tube.

Out side the cage it works very well, but not if the Hamster discovers how fun it is to let all the water out.

[Teddy001]

I bought a few similar water bottles.. I did like them, however just a word of caution- they can break at the opening when taking the spout off. Both of mine broke, days apart, when I took the spout off. If you pull the spout off, in an angle the black rubber thingy appears to crack the top with the pressure of it being pulled to the side of the top. With the second one I tried to pull the spout off without pulling it at an angle and the glass spout came out of the rubber thing, then must have pulled the rubber thing slightly to the side, and the bottle broke. Maybe the bottles I had were made differently than yours:/.

[flowerfairy]

One of my syrains (Pearl) has a glass water bottle. It looks a lot fatter than your one. It has been just great. I always fill it right up to help prevent leaks.

Pearl loves it and didnt use a water bowl at all (unlike my other two, who both have bowls).