Water bottle obsession!

[FrancescaKate]

Hi guys. I was hoping to get some advice on my new hamster as you have helped me out in the past.

I posted in 2015 about my bar chewing hamster and was recommended a zoozone 2 which I bought and was the best thing I've done. I had another year and a half with my ham before she unfortunately passed.

Last month me and my partner decided to get another hamster. We've got her in the zoozone with several inches of sawdust, hanging toys, a very large wheel etc. and lots of chew toys.

She's unfortunately developed an obsession with her water bottle. She chewed the plastic part of the cage for a little while but then moved onto her water bottle. She chews it constantly despite her having so much to do.

We try to handle her every day but she's still quite young and was unfortunately from a pet store so very jumpy. We've had her a month now though and the bottle chewing hasn't stopped.

It's driving me crazy and I can't even be in the same room as her which is quite upsetting for me because I want to enjoy her as much as my previous ham.

Is there anything I can do to prevent this?

[cypher]

I would give her a bowl at least for the time being, chewing the water bottle can become a really bad habit once they begin & apart from getting wet they can end up consuming too much water which isn't good.
Just a small shallow bowl, some reptile bowls are quite good, is usually the best solution.

[FrancescaKate]

I would give her a bowl at least for the time being, chewing the water bottle can become a really bad habit once they begin & apart from getting wet they can end up consuming too much water which isn't good.
Just a small shallow bowl, some reptile bowls are quite good, is usually the best solution.
Thanks for the reply.

We were considering getting her a bowl but we're worried that she might knock it over and we can't really monitor how much she drinks. Would a heavy ceramic kind of bowl be suitable?

Also no doubt if she stops chewing the bottle she'll go back to chewing the cage! I can't help feeling like she's not happy.

[Drago]

Thanks for the reply.

We were considering getting her a bowl but we're worried that she might knock it over and we can't really monitor how much she drinks. Would a heavy ceramic kind of bowl be suitable?

Also no doubt if she stops chewing the bottle she'll go back to chewing the cage! I can't help feeling like she's not happy.

A shallow reptile dish as mentioned, would be very difficult to knock over do to its large surface area and non-tip design. In all honesty it's no easier to monitor how much she's drinking with a bottle either, plus bottles drip which can make it seem like she's drinking a lot more than she actually is. As for dealing with cage chewing, try to add some bendy bridges in the areas where she's prone to chewing. You can also add some dog chews like whimzees to help keep her entertained and to give her something better to chew on. Do you bowl or scatter feed? If you bowl feed, why not consider scattering? It's much more stimulating and can keep your little one busy :)

[FrancescaKate]

We actually had a reptile dish for our beardie which we replaced and ended up throwing the old one out! I'll have a look online and order one.

We scatter feed her which seems to keep her busy for a little while. We're always moving stuff around and burying wood chews in the sawdust to keep her entertained but she's just not bothered!

I like the bendy bridge idea though, definitely will look into getting some. Two of the corners are covered by houses/cardboard boxes so we could use the bridges on the other two.

[cypher]

Any bowl that is reasonably heavy & not too deep will be fine.

Moving things around might be counter productive as it can upset them sometimes, once you have things the way they like them then it's sometimes best to keep things mostly the same & maybe have an area where you can add one or two new things or swap things for a change.

You could try hiding food in little parcels, made from cardboard tubes or boxes, bury some as well as just scattering to keep her even busier.

[souffle]

Yes I would advise a bowl at least for now. You need to cover the hole where the water bottle goes in with something unchewable. You can use a large metal bolt and washer or a wooden block but the smell of air coming through a hole does tend to attract them to it.
After a few weeks with the bowl then you can add the water bottle back during the day only. Use the bowl at night. If all goes well and she doesn;t chew it then you can leave it on.
Don't persevere with the bottle as this can be dangerous as the hamster will overload her system with water as she takes in in when she chews it. Hamsters are desert animals and do not need to drink a lot as their kidneys are not designed to handle a lot of fluids.
You can try moving the bottle higher or lower so she can't stand so easily to chew on it. You can get one with a loop ob the end and actually dangle it from the roof. They can lick a swinging bottle but they can't get a grip on it. For now a small heavy bowl and fresh cucumber is the way to go