Zosia is chewing her water bottle.

[Renlikescake]

Please help me I'm so tired with my hamster at this point.
I love her to bits but this is driving me insane.
My Syrian hamster Zosia lives in a Zoozone 2 & used to have a water bottle stand which I've had to remove because she was climbing it and getting to the lid of the cage and chewing the mesh.
I'm using the water bottle hole on the side of my cage now but she's chewing the hole. She's also drinking way too much water because of this and pees so much. Her litter was a solid lump of wet sand yesterday from how much she peed.
I'm worried for her and for myself as I'm not sleeping much because of how loud this is.
Could I put lemon juice or vegetable oil on the hole around the spot to stop her chewing there?
She doesn't purposely chew the spout so once I take away the urge the water issue should resolve itself too.

[cypher]

If there is a suitable area in the cage where a small shallow bowl could go without spilling or filling with substrate then you could try her with that instead of a bottle & see if you could block the hole with a bolt & washer or something.

[velma]

You've probably checked but I just thought I'd ask- her water bottle is working okay, isn't it? I had a day or two of this with Cleo ages and the water bottle wasn't flowing freely so she was pulling at it trying to get water out what was coming out then made a mess. I also found that the ferplast drinky bottles fit the holes on my duna cages better so there's less spout to chew at than the classic nt bottles - may work for a zoozone? Or as cypher said, a small shallow bowl and block the hole off.

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Or you can get a washer big enough for the spout to go through and epoxy the washer over the hole so she can't chew the plastic any more and most don't like the taste of the metal washer and quit attempting to chew the washer.

[Renlikescake]

Originally Posted by velma

You've probably checked but I just thought I'd ask- her water bottle is working okay, isn't it? I had a day or two of this with Cleo ages and the water bottle wasn't flowing freely so she was pulling at it trying to get water out what was coming out then made a mess. I also found that the ferplast drinky bottles fit the holes on my duna cages better so there's less spout to chew at than the classic nt bottles - may work for a zoozone? Or as cypher said, a small shallow bowl and block the hole off.

Yup I check every morning and evening that all the bottles are working, even so I use all the same brand and ive never had an issue with water flow. I will be ordering a bottle similar to the ferplast drinky bottle soon thank you for the suggestion I think its a good idea.

[Renlikescake]

Originally Posted by Nancy's Hamsters

Or you can get a washer big enough for the spout to go through and epoxy the washer over the hole so she can't chew the plastic any more and most don't like the taste of the metal washer and quit attempting to chew the washer.

The best suggestion so far thank you. Ill go to the hardware next week with a spare bottle and try find one. Sadly cant buy epoxy where I am so would hot glue work do you think?

[Renlikescake]

Originally Posted by cypher

If there is a suitable area in the cage where a small shallow bowl could go without spilling or filling with substrate then you could try her with that instead of a bottle & see if you could block the hole with a bolt & washer or something.

Sadly my little Zosia hasn't fared well with bowls, I tried one last week and she didn't drink from it much and just peed or rolled in it and got all wet.
I had the hole taped before and she never bothered with it before its just now that the bottles there.

[AmityvilleHams]

Can you get aquarium sealant instead of epoxy?Zooplus or other pet supply websites would most likely sell it,but it would take time to cure so you'd need a temporary cage for a few days.