# How much water do your hedgies drink?



## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Hi everyone.

Nico has dramatically decreased her water intake over the last few days. She's still peeing like normal, but it got me to wondering how much water a hedgehog should be consuming each night.

She has a small water bowl (I can't for the life of me think of the dimensions and I'm just not interested in finding the tape measure) and typically she'll drink a fairly noticeable amount and is pretty consistent about how much she drinks. But like I said, she's not drinking nearly as much now. 

Could it be an age issue? Do younger hedgies drink more? Nico turns 6 months old soon. I did add a kibble to her mix, so that could be throwing her off. She does drink in front of me while she's out for play time, so I know she's drinking at least a little. I'm just not sure how concerned I should be yet.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

They drink enough for me to notice. I go by eyesight and I don't measure. (I already count their kibbles out :grin 

I have noticed that my young male drinks A LOT of water. Penny drinks a decent amount. My older girls drink enough to notice but not nearly as much as the younger ones. I am a bad example right now though because I am syringe feeding the older girls and getting more water from that right now.


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## lilsurfergrlsp (Dec 13, 2013)

Same as Desiree, my Tansy drinks enough to have a significant water level change in her bowl each morning. She is very active though, an avid runner and explorer. 

It could be a decrease in activity, or because of the kibble change. If you're worried, you can always do the dehydration test - gently pinch a bit of her skin; when you let go, if it keeps the pinched shape, she is dehydrated and you probably need to syringe feed her to get fluids into her system. Prolonged dehydration is a serious issue - but, as picky and weird that hedgie behavior is, it could be just a temporary thing. I would keep an eye on her water level though (maybe even measure it out if you can). Good luck!


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## Teddi4211 (Apr 30, 2014)

Both of my girls near finish the bowl every night. I house them together, so they share from a larger water dish instead of two smaller ones. They don't seem to care. Most mornings there's a noticeable emptiness in the bowl.


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## gracefulchaos01 (Mar 19, 2014)

I am actually on the other end of the spectrum. I rarely see any significant change in water levels in their water bowls. But, that said, I moisten their kibble slightly and also feed moist or raw food every night or some combination of the two. Except Gayle. She drinks her water because she will only eat dry kibble.


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## NewHedgieOwner100 (May 31, 2014)

I am in the same boat at the post above. My baby Hazel doesn't drink enough to really make a big difference in the water level. But Hazel spits little crumbs of chewed up food into the water when she drinks so I at least know she's drinking.


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## Melanie G. (May 29, 2014)

I don't notice a significant difference in the water level either. My hedgies usually leave crumbs or some type of evidence in the water bowl so I know they've had something to drink.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Ok, glad I'm getting responses from both ends. Nico leaves crumbs and what not in her water dish as well. As long as she doesn't show signs of being dehydrated I guess we're ok. She did recently decide that she likes chicken baby food, so I may give her that a little more often for the moisture. Unless someone has a good suggestion?

Thank you for your input everyone!


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

Sophie's water consumption has been variable - and for different reasons at different points in time. I picked her up on her six week birthday and she was drinking up to 1/4 cup per night. Consumption soon dropped considerably and I bought a plastic, laboratory graduated cylinder so that water could be reliably measured in 1 ml increments.

When she was sick with diet induced cystitis (essentially a dry kibble only diet), water consumption dropped quite a bit at that time - despite a desperate need for more hydration. Her blood work confirmed dehydration was an exacerbating factor with the severity of her cystitis - despite the availability of plenty of fresh water.

We eventually switched her to a 100% wet-food/ natural-food diet. Water consumption did go back up, but has since plummeted as she has adapted to the healthier diet.

In many animals, drinking water - and water consumption via diet - are often inversely proportional. Many animals actually 'drink' very little water if allowed to eat a 'natural' diet. Sophie currently averages a mere 6 ml per night; not quite 1 teaspoon - but she pees more than ever. I even had to change her litter area to account for the additional pee. Her hydration comes from the wet-food diet and she simply has little need to drink water.

Nightly water consumption data:
http://www.serenebreezes.com/misc-files/water-consumption.docx

.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Oh wow, thank you Erizo. That was a very informative post! I try to vary Nico's diet by adding veggies, mealworms and now the occasional bit of baby food in addition to her kibble. I may try wet food. Just worried about how quickly it might go bad.


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## Charlie's mommy (May 16, 2014)

I liked to give Charlie watermelon to help when she wasn't drinking as much as I wanted, if that helps at all !


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Ooh, that's something to try! I wonder if she'll like it.


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## gracefulchaos01 (Mar 19, 2014)

SD, as far as wet food and going bad go... I feed my kids wet food and/or raw food every single night and have since they were separated at 8 weeks. All my boys eat their wet food so fast it has never had a chance to go bad. Sebastian will eat sometimes and not others. Gayle will usually not eat it at all, or she will eat the raw and go around the canned/wet food. Some mornings I am so rushed I don't have time to remove those specific bowls from the cages. Neither of the girls has ever eaten the stale or dried out wet food. I always have kibble available for them so if they are hungry during the day they eat that.


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

Mine can finish up a small ceramic bowlful of water within 24 hours.


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## infinitepi314 (Aug 28, 2014)

Waffles drinks enough just to see a very slight difference, I almost sometimes wonder if its just what evaporated overnight lol. So last night I put a mason jar lid with water in there also, to see if maybe hes not drinking because its too high (its only 1"), well he drank a ton more water from the small lid with food crumbs in there. I've seen him get up on his water bowl, and sounds like hes licking his lips, but hes just above the water, and doesnt look like hes getting any of the water. I wonder what thats about. So experimenting again tonight, see how much water he drinks out of both.


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## coffeebean (Aug 27, 2014)

I can never see a difference and often worry about water consumption


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Are you using a water bottle or bowl? I could never see the difference in the water bottle but can definitely see the difference now that I am using a bowl.


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## coffeebean (Aug 27, 2014)

i started with a water bottle because that is what she was used to. i NEVER saw the water level move. i put a small bowl in her playpen daily when she is in there and i have seen her lick it maybe twice. 
I started putting a bowl in her cage as well, still dont see a difference. she did spill it completely one night.

can someone show me examples of the bowls they use for water with something for size reference?http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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