# Water bottle



## Bossyxox (Sep 27, 2013)

Right now, I have my hedgie drinking from a water bottle, which I believe she is doing well with, there seems to be water missing from it- but I have also read its better to have water bowls for them. Opinions?
I'm a tad afraid right now to even give her a water dish as she sometimes likes to turn her whole room upside down during the night.:-|


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

If you get a heavy ceramic water bowl and put it in the corner of her cage she likely won't be able to flip it. I have one like this: http://www.petco.com/product/120070...=MM_SmallAnimalSupplies_DishesFeedersWaterers

With bottles the little ball can sometimes get stuck or it can knock their teeth, especially with older hedgies. But if your girl seems do be doing fine with a bottle it's ok to keep her on it. Pig had a water bottle for a while and when I wanted to switch to a bowl I put both the bowl and water bottle in his cage for a couple weeks so he could get used to it and investigate it. That made for an easy transition when I removed the bottle.


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## eicg (Sep 27, 2013)

Yes, i have heard water bowls are better. In fact i use a water bowl here is why.
1) water bottle's cause stress on your hedgies neck
2) They can chip their teeth on them, there teeth are not like rodents they don't keep growing
3)There tonge can get stuck in the straw thing.
And with tipping it over just get a heavy one they cant tip over here are some
1)ceramic dish
2) The ones with the slanted side and flat bottom. 
3) the ones that clip to the side of your cage.


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I use bowls. I've offered both and she clearly prefers the bowl, so I listen to her 

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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

We went to a water dish on her first night home (6 weeks old) and she took right to it. She had been on a bottle. Most breeders prefer bottles because it is a whole lot easier for them. Most owners prefer bowls. With just one animal, bowls are ideal and easy to manage.

We use a drème brûlée dish. It is flat bottomed, straight sided, and short sided. Mine has 1" sides and is 5" in diameter. They come in many sizes. Ours is much larger diameter than needed; it holds 160 ml of water, but I didn't see a need to order a smaller one when I already have these and they work fine for us. If Sophie had a habit of stepping in the dish, then I would have gotten a smaller one. I don't know if it is possible to spill this dish. Sophie does not step into her water dish, so no problem for its being on the large side. It gets washed every day anyway when it is refreshed, so always super clean.

She drinks so little we use a plastic graduated cylinder (like you'd seen in a laboratory) to measure her water. They are cheap and you can get cylinders that measure in just 1 or 2 ml increments. When she was a baby, she drank lots more than she does now averaging ~60 ml a night (= 4 tbl = 12 tsp = 1/4 cup). At almost 21 months he currently drinks only 11 ml - 14 ml a night. (She has also tested as slightly dehydrated, so we are hydrating her food. She simply will not drink enough despite optimum conditions and excellent water.

One of the several downsides of bottles is that they hold ridiculous amounts of water and that can encourage laziness on the part of owners. Water should be fresh daily.

http://serenebreezes.com/Sophies-pictures/water-dish.jpg

Water dishes and measurers for a hedgehog.


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## sklock65 (Jan 9, 2013)

I agree with all the responses. From everything I've read it does seem like breeders more prefer bottles because they are easier to clean when dealing with multiple hogs but I think the majority of owners vote bowl. What scared me the most with bottles was the risk of neck injury and chipping of teeth, as they won't grow back. Lots of owners post about how to make the transition and it appears that most hedgies take to the bowl pretty easy...if they get thirsty they figure it out rather quick!

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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

Water bowls are easier to use with liners rather than loose bedding. If your hedgehog dumps bedding into the bowl and then drinks from it they have a good chance of ingesting bedding which can lead to an obstruction.


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## unforgiven (Apr 26, 2013)

I've been using a bottle from the beginning. I have not had any problems. I make sure the ball isn't stuck when I change the water. She has no problems with it but not sure if she would like a bowl better. She has used a bowl in her playpen and does well either way.


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