Bottle Chewing problem

shazzy · 03-16-2009, 03:20 AM

Hi Guys,

Since moving my Syrian Little Mo from a barred cage into a ferplast duna, she has developed the common habit of chewing the spout of her bottle. She used to be a chronic bar chewer, but since being in plastic cage the bottle spout has been the substitute - the water bottle is often half empty after a night...

Anyway, the thing is, I looked in her sand bath (which she also uses as a toilet on occasion) and I noticed the sand was dark and soaking wet... First thing i thought was that she has wee'd loads because of all the water she was taking in from chewing her bottle.... but then when I sniffed it, it didnt really smell strongly of urine.

I wanted to ask, can Hamsters 'pouch' water? As I have a suspiscion that she is not drinking the water, but instead is storing it and then emptying it in the sand bath....might this be a possibility?

I'm worried about her taking in all that water, but she doesnt seem to get the idea of water bowl, and when i take the bottle away she looks a little lost (even though her cage is loaded with toys and things to chew on!)

souffle · 03-16-2009, 04:17 AM

This is quite a common problem and though they dont pouch the water when they chew the spout they inadverantly take in and swallow water which has to be got rid of in the dilute wee you have found. It is not really good for them as it is a strain on the kidneys so there are several things you can try.
1. Give the water bottle during the day only and replace with a bowl of water at night when they are awake and likely to chew. Normally during daytme they will just get up and have a quick drink then go back to bed.
2. Change to a different type of bottle such as a Sippy. Some hammies have trouble using these and they can leak and be hard to clean too though.
3. Arrange the bottle so only the very tip of the spout pokes through into the cage. It has to be firmly attached so the hammy cannot push it out though. If only the spout is through they cannot get a good grip on it.
4. Dangle the water bottle. We have never needed to try this but many people dangle the bottle on an elastic cord so that is swings. The hamster can lick the water but it is harder for them to chew on a moving spout.
5. Go over to a bowl permanantly for a few weeks then retry the bottle. Push a dog biscuit in the bottle spot and hope they chew that instead. When you put the bottle back keep the biscuit there and they may have gotten out the habit of chewing spouts. Sometimes changing the position of the bottle to a corner/lower/ higher etc can make it less 'chew friendly'.
Hope that helps

shazzy · 03-18-2009, 06:11 AM

Thanks for the advice

I'm giving her a water bowl at night now and the bottle during the day. I plug the hole with a bonio but that only lasts a few minutes and then its been demolished!!

Also, I still dont know if she is actually drinking water from the bowl...she goes nowhere near it when i put it in, and it only seems to go down about 2 mm max during the night.

Oh well, I'm sure she'll get the message some time!!

souffle · 03-18-2009, 06:52 AM

Don't worry. If she is thirsty she will drink from the bowl. They really only drink a small amount normally so she should be fine. Is she weeing less now? If she still wees a lot on the new routine you should check for diabetes though I am pretty sure she was just swallowing the water when chewing. You can also give a bit of cucumber to provide moisture.

shazzy · 03-18-2009, 07:05 AM

That's what I keep telling myself, that if she's thirsty she'll drink from whatever is there!

She is weeing as normal now, just the usual amount like before - her sand in her bath is no longer soaked!

She is also using her wheel more again now as when she was chewing the bottle that was all she would do...

I haven't had a hamster in a while, and I forgot how much even the smallest pet can worry you! I must gets some pics of her and post up an introdution - I've been a bit slack!

IndigoElectron · 04-05-2009, 10:44 AM

Myfanwy has started doing this too! Honestly, she has plenty to chew in her cage (wooden chews etc) but nope, she ignores these and chews the water bottle spout.

I tried dangling it but that didn't work, so she now has a water bowl and I've plugged the spout hole with the remains of a treat stick (which has a 'core' of wood). I think she was a bit annoyed at first because she dropped one of her dog treats in the bowl the first night but it seems to be working ok now.

suga · 04-07-2009, 09:46 AM

Just recently Lilbear has been chewing the spout of her bottle too. I tried to wedge cardboard between the spout and the cage bars, but she just destroys the cardboard and stills chews the spout. I have now had to replace the spout with a new one as she had chewed the plastic/rubber seal and it was on the verge of leaking.
She seems to be leaving the new spout alone at the moment. I was thinking i may have to try the bowl thing, but hopefully she's calmed down now.

IndigoElectron · 04-07-2009, 03:03 PM

Do you think they do it just to annoy us?

Myfanwy is getting on fine with her bowl (she looks really cute drinking from it!) but is determined to remove the piece of wood that's blocking up the hole where the spout used to get - and she gets really annoyed when I stop her playing with it!