Whats Better?

[mitsykitty]

Is a water bottle or water dish better? My little guy Indy has a water bottle it is the smallest size I could find at the pet store at that time but seems to big for him.

So that leads me to which is better or is their a better water bottle I got the super pet bottle and its the smallest size but still seems to big.

[Hekomi]

I prefer water bottles personally. My dwarfs could probably both fit in their bottle with room to spare, but they have two, lol. I don't mind the size, but I change the water frequently because no one likes stale water.

[CPalmer]

definately a bottle is best. I have one thats way too big, but as long as you change water often you know they have as much as they want. I think water bowls are a potential problem as they can tip them over lol lol. They only good if a bottle stops working until you get a new one, or your hammy chews through the bottle regularly.

[Esmy]

I prefer water bottles too. Beanie is really tiny and he does well. Otherwise dishes can get bedding and contaminates in them.

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

I use bowls for my dwarfs and bottles for my Syrians, but I prefer bowls.

It's more natural. Instead of sipping from a water bottle and taking ages to get a lot of water if they are thirsty, they can drink easily and get more water faster. Also, I wouldn't want to crane my neck up to get a drink of water really.

I just set the bowl up on a rock and I have no problems.

That said, I totally understand bottles, but to me they seem like something made to help the owner, not the pet.

[xStephC]

I prefer water bottles for my syrian only because I'm a paranoid hamster mommy and worry she might prefer to roll around in the water rather than drink from it. Daisy is quite the little trouble maker and I wouldn't want her to get wet tail or drink from contaminated water, so a water bottle works for me. I bought the "regular" size, it holds about 8 oz. Honestly I only got it because it was purple and that's my favorite color, haha! But she never finishes it all in one night, I'd be worried if she did. I even put a rock underneath the water bottle so that when she takes a drink, it files her nails down a bit at the same time. I refill the water bottle every other day, it's okay if it's too big. As long as your hammy can drink from it it's fine. I've only had 2 issues with my water bottle. One that I used velcro to attach it to her bin cage and it kept falling, so I made a water bottle holder to get rid of that problem. Second, one day I had noticed that when I tapped the spout, no water would come out because the little ball was stuck. I realized that Daisy must have accidentally trapped a seed in the spout and couldn't get water! Thankfully I check every night so she must have only been without water for a couple of hours at most.

Apologies for the long response, it seems as if I'm more passionate about water bottles than I thought!

[Esmy]

I try and tap my water bottles twice a day for the same reason. I also have a water bottle holder velcroed to the tank or bin so the bottle slides in and out without having to detach the Velcro.

[mitsykitty]

Maybe I should reword this, by to big I didn't mean the size I meant the nozzle the whole bottom of his mouth goes in the hole, I'm also kind of worry with that happening that if he tries to drink a lot he is going to end up wearing it instead of drinking it or choking on the water or something.

[BrainGirl]

I wonder if a water bottle meant for birds would be a good idea for him then? They have a different kind of valve.

[xStephC]

Daisy tends to shove the entire spout in her mouth as shes drinking, it might just be some weird thing they do? I'm not too sure! That I know of bottles are just the overall safer bet, I've never heard of hamsters choking on water but then again I guess it could happen!

Here's a photo of her drinking:



EDIT: I just reread your post - I somehow read spout instead of in the hole. Oh dear. Maybe a bowl would be best..