# Water



## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

How long can a hedgehog go without drinking water?


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

I feel like it would be best if I answer this question with a question: Why do you ask? Has your hedgehog not been drinking?


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

She's drinking normally, my sister is staying over tonight though and she can't sleep when my hedgie makes noises when she drinks and she might have to take her water out. I left a little water dish out in case she does, but I don't want her to have to drink out of that


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Ok, let me ask some more questions to clarify so I can make sure I understand. You're hedgehog drinks from a bottle, but it's too noisy for your sister, but you don't want your hedgehog to drink from a dish?


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

Yes... If she drinks out of the dish though, she has to do what she has to do so I understand. I just prefer the bottle.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Ok, for starters, you should never deny an animal under your care access to food and water. Especially when said animal is primarily awake when you are asleep.

Next, is there a reason you don't want her drinking from a dish? We tend to prefer dishes around here for several reasons. Also, are you changing the water and cleaning the bottle everyday?

And just how noisy is this bottle that it prevents a person from sleeping? Bottles are not exactly known for having sound. At all.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

She has water no matter what, whether the bottle is out or not. I won't allow her to not have some type of source. I use a bottle because the breeder I got her from used bottles and I didn't want to change what she was used to. She hasn't had problems with it so far. The bottle is a regular small animal pet bottle from PetSmart, I don't know about the brand


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

The bottle is clean and changed out regularly as well.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

If regularly doesn't mean daily, it's not enough. Standing water makes stuff gross fast. We had someone on here recently that was having a nasty bacteria growing in her water dish even though it was supposedly being changed out daily and washed every few days. The tubes on water bottles especially get disgusting because they're about near impossible to properly clean.

So long as you're providing her water, you'll be fine. There's honestly fewer risks involved with a dish over a bottle, so don't worry over it. Hedgehogs have lost eyes and parts of tongues to bottles, not to mention all the chipped teeth. Plus, it's a far more natural position to drink from, so it will be more comfortable too.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

I only have a problem with the dish because she doesn't have fleece as her bedding, she has pine shavings, (Again, what her breeder uses). This might be a dumb question, if she gets bedding in her water tonight, (which I'm aware is inevitable), will she not be able to drink from the dish?


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Depends on how thoroughly she fills her dish with shavings really. She may only kick in a couple of small pieces, or she may fill the whole thing up. Some people like to clear away the shavings from where the dish is and leaving a little bit of room around it. But let me ask you, does she fill her food bowl up with shavings? If the food bowl is normally reasonable clear, I wouldn't be too terribly concerned with the water bowl.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

I'm not sure, honestly. I've never used the dish method with her overnight yet. There have been days though where I'll leave her food dish in her cage overnight by accident, and the next morning it is filled with shavings. But the food is all gone since she ate it all. So I'm unsure if all the shavings in her food dish were there because it was empty. Does that make sense? Sorry, I'm extremely nervous for her. She's basically my child.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

I'm not sure I understand. You don't leave her food dish in the cage all night? When exactly does she eat? She should have fresh food and water placed in the cage before you go to bed each night. She'll eat and drink as she gets hungry and thirsty. She should be awake basically all night, and she'll need food and water available to her the entire time.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

She eats at 7 PM every night once a day, my breeder raised her like that as well. I usually take it away by 9:30 and she is fine for the night.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Hedgehogs should be free fed. They aren't like dogs that get fed once or twice a day. These are foraging animals that generally only eat a little at a time. Besides, don't you get hungry several times a day? So does she. You need to have food and water available to her all the time.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

I was just trying to follow what she's used to, I didn't know it would be so detrimental...


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

I will say, her water bottle is always in there.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Sadly, not all breeders give correct information. Anyone can be a breeder regardless of their level of knowledge. I'm sorry your breeder gave you incorrect information. But that's why as pet owners it's our responsibility to do our own research and verify independently any information we're given. But we're here to help and answer any questions you may have.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

Everything I read is almost preference, it seems. I see that some people have your method and some have mine. I get confused so I just end up going with what the supposed expert told me. Thank you for letting me know. And my hedgie is completely normal and healthy so obviously I didnt think it was a huge deal until now. Do you think she'll be okay though for tonight with the water dish, even if shavings do get in there?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

A lot of things are preference. A lot of things are also based on people's experience. Some people don't really consider anyone else's experience except their own. So if they've never had problems with something, like water bottles or silent spinner wheels, they think they're perfectly fine. Others like to learn from other people's experiences, so if someone else has their hedgehog's nails ripped off by a silent spinner wheel, we avoid them and recommend against them to avoid more hedgehogs going through that.

Water bottles are not recommended because it can be harder for the hedgehog to get water out of them, especially if they're thirsty and want water right now. They're also not a natural way to drink. Hedgehogs can chew on the spout out of impatience and break their teeth, which don't grow back if they're adult teeth. With some water bottle designs, it's also possible for the hedgehog to get their tongue or would caught in them. Freak accident type of thing, yes, but also something easily avoided by not using a bottle.

The shavings for bedding have a lesser risk - mites. Mites are easily treated with Revolution, but are also going to be extremely difficult to get rid of if your hedgehog gets them and is still on shavings. That's part of why this forum likes to recommend liners instead of shavings.

Back to your original question, as long as there's a source of water and your hedgehog knows how to use it, it'd be fine to take the bottle out. I wouldn't think hedgie would have a problem with a dish, but occasionally happens. I would just leave the bottle out and find a way to avoid shavings in the water dish - slightly higher dish, clear shavings from around it, glue dish to a small ceramic tile so it sits up off the shavings, etc.

On the food thing, if your hedgehog is continuing to grow and gain weight, it's probably fine. But most hedgies will not overeat and it's fine to free feed them - a benefit of this with young hedgehogs is that the amount they eat can sometimes increase if they're going through a growth spurt. Having food in and available to them is a good idea in case they're a little hungrier than usual one night. Another good reason to leave it in is hedgehogs aren't only awake once for the night, and don't typically eat one big meal all at once. They're small animals with small stomachs and usually will eat small amounts throughout the night. 

So yeah. Different ways of doing things can come down to preference. But there are reasons behind those preferences based on experiences, safety, and what the animal's natural behavior is.

Oh, last comment. I totally understand wanting to listen to the one person with experience that you know. That's what my mom wanted me to do when I got my first hedgie - listen to the breeder. Or listen to the vet. Expert opinions are nice, but keep in mind one person can't know everything and may not necessarily be right about everything. Doesn't mean you can't get their opinion or listen to them on some things. But it also doesn't mean you have to take their word on everything. I really believe it's always a good idea to do your own research and get multiple opinions on things, especially when it comes to keeping animals. Like you said, there are different preferences and trains behind those. It's a good idea to get more info and stories behind why people do things and see what makes sense to you. That's why I really prefer forums, Facebook groups (though I'm not nearly as fond of most of those), and other ways of connecting to multiple owners, breeders, etc. with experience, so it's easy to find out more ways of doing things rather than getting one person's opinion on everything. (Though I know this forum tends to go one way on most things, but I do try to explain the reasons behind that when I have time.)

Okay, rambling over! :lol:


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

To add to the food issue, when you take the food away, he might think he's going to go without any food and that what he might be doing is stuffing as much as he can to survive but be hungry the rat of the nigh. 

Because he leaves food on the dish after 7 doesn't mean that that is the amount he actually needs. 

Ichiro usually eats 0.3 oz a night, I always leave 0.5 and few nights I have found only 3 kibbles left.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

I'll start keeping her food in overnight, thank you both for your inputs.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

I'm very appriciative of the responses from you all. I checked on Pippa right when I woke up, and she is doing just fine. She didn't wheel, but she gets wheel shy sometimes when people are around haha! It's good to know these things, not just for now but for future references. I was planning on buying her a new bottle, and I can put out the dish and see how she responds.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Bindi is pretty wheel shy too, she hides behind it if I come into my room after her lights are off. :lol: I hope she takes well to the water dish and doesn't make a mess of it!


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Did she wind up kicking a bunch of the bedding into the water dish? Did it seem like she drank at all? Sorry, I went to bed after my last response last night, so I missed your question at the time. 

I agree with Lilysmommy, we do tend to be a bit one minded about how to do some things. It's probably something we need to work on, but it does seem like we came to these conclusions fairly logically. There are definitely lots of ways to do things that probably won't cause problems one way or another, but some things are bigger risks than others. I do think we do a pretty good job of explaining why we like certain things over others though.


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## ahart333 (Oct 21, 2015)

She didn't get any bedding in the water, but her wheel was clean as a whistle so she might not have even come out of her hut, she gets too shy at times.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Ya, Nico was that way for a while. But we're not exactly concerned about being quiet when we're home during the day. And we're night owls to boot. So at some point she seemed to get over it. She won't come out until it's at least mostly dark, but once she's out, Nico don't care what's going on. My husband couldn't sleeping one night and came and played video games on his computer...which is right next to her cage. She kept wheeling like he wasn't even there.

I'm glad her water stayed clean for her. Hopefully she drank at least a little bit. I understand the not coming out when there's company. I was a teenager once. I didn't come out when there was company unless I absolutely had to.


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