# Advice on switching to a water bowl



## DexterTheHog (May 22, 2011)

So, I know I'm supposed to put the bowl of water near the bottle and fade out the bottle. Did it. I watched him and he tried the bowl, but stuck his nose in and got all upset! He put his quills up haha. He did it a few times and gave up. I don't think he knows it's water... I'm so worried about his little teeth and tongue so I want him to use a bowl...


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## elise5211 (Jun 2, 2011)

:lol: Maybe the water bowl you are using is too deep and narrow. Shallow and wide would work best so they can fit their snout without dipping too much.


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## DexterTheHog (May 22, 2011)

elise5211 said:


> :lol: Maybe the water bowl you are using is too deep and narrow. Shallow and wide would work best so they can fit their snout without dipping too much.


True... its just a normal small animal food bowl from petco
http://www.petco.com/product/8826/PETCO ... 0Bowl-8826


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

It could be that the bowl is just too deep for him to comfortably use. I use a reptile waterer for Norman. It's nice and low to the floor, shallow enough where he can't get his whole face in there or go for a swim, nothing to tip over and spill, and fills from a bottle so there's no need to worry about evaporation or running out of water. It's a nice low angle he just puts his mouth over it and drinks, he's never had a problem with shoving his snout in it by mistake. 

http://www.petco.com/product/14584/Fluk ... SiteSearch


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## Tishy Tasha (May 30, 2011)

I had the same fear with Nyx. She came with a water bottle and you could tell it was uncomfortable. Someone on here (Hedgieonboard) told me to place a small bowl below the water bottle tap and that way she has both just incase she doesn't like the other. I bought a very low cat dish http://www.petco.com/product/112055...bazaarvoice-_-RLP-_-112055-_-description_link like that but ceramic and lower to the ground. The first night she wanted nothing to do with it but since she had to walk through it to get to the water bottle, she tried it and the second night wanted nothing to do with the bottle.

Good luck and I hope your lil one makes the change because I know how scary that thought is when you hear them clacking away at the metal tip.


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## Ljustice (Jun 21, 2011)

I had the same problem with my Umi. It took her a couple days to get used to her water dish. She would often stick her nose right in the water for the first day or two. I would just give him/her some time. Another note though, I have to clean out the dish far more often than I did the water bottle because for some reason she loved to pick things up and put them in her dish.


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## DexterTheHog (May 22, 2011)

Should I just take the water bottle away? He's just too good at getting to it. he doesn't need to step in his bowl! His little neck is so flexible


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## Tishy Tasha (May 30, 2011)

I honestly took it away for a night put it back for a night.. But once I seen her investigate the bowl (I was in stealth mode lol with the light off watching her) I just took it out and sure enough she just went straight to the bowl without a second thought.. What you could do is put water in it and mark down the level it was at and check it before going to bed or upon waking up to see if he is drinking out of it and make your decision based on that.. I hope he gets the hang of it because I know how worry some it can be with the bottle..


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## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I have another related question. 

I'm adopting a hedgie in about a month and his current owner has been using a water bottle. I would really like to switch to a dish for safety reasons and I'm wondering when I should do this. Should I try to make the switch right after bringing him home or give him a week or so to adjust to his new surroundings first? I am also going to be weaning him off some pretty terrible food, so I'm concerned that too much change all at once might stress the little guy out too much. He is a few months old, so I'm assuming he is very used to his bottle by now. 

Any suggestions from people who also had to make the bottle-bowl switch with hedgie?


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## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

*With their hedgie?

I really need to stop attempting to post on here from my iPhone. So many typos...


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I had to switch Milly over from a bottle to a bowl.

The day I got her, I introduced her to her cage, she figured out where her water bottle was and everything. Then a little later that night I added the water bowl right underneath the bottle. The only thing I did was dip my finger in the water and put it up to her mouth, then I left her alone. It took her a couple days to figure it out (she also did the thing where she put her whole nose in the water, then sneezed and huffed and got mad), but she did figure it out.

As far as when to do it, you might as well just put the bowl in with the bottle right away. Another bowl in the hedgie's cage isn't going to upset it, especially if the bottle is in there too.

Also, a lot of people mark the bottle when they are weaning them onto the bowl to see if they stop drinking out of the bottle. This is a good idea, but before you do the marking idea, make sure the bottle doesn't drip. Milly's bottle leaked a little and I thought her water bottle level was going down when it really was just the bottle dripping, so I left the bottle in there a lot longer than I should have, thinking she was still using it. :lol:


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## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

Thanks hanhan27!

I feel like I've been blowing up the forums with questions lately and I really appreciate everyone's answers.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

:lol: I did the same thing. Some days I would make 2 or 3 different topics. And that was BEFORE I brought Milly home!  

Questions are good! Better than wondering about it and doing the wrong thing. It's great when new or to-be hedgie owners come and ask questions. It's nice meeting people and thinking, "This person will be a wonderful hedgehog owner!"


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## DexterTheHog (May 22, 2011)

I dunno about the food but I know you're supposed ot just mix half and half for a while to make the switch easier
Let the new baby just drink from the bottle for a week and try to switch the food during that time.
With the water bottle (when you do decide its time to switch), what ended up working for me was for like a week, I had the bottle and the bowl in there and when he'd start drinking out of the bottle, I'd submerse the tip of it into the bowl so he'd realize it was water in there and drink from it. Then after doing that like 2 times, I just left the bottle in for the night in its normal place with the bowl under it. Then the next week, I just put the top to the water bottle in the bowl (I think there's a pic of it in my thread "Dexter's Photo Thread" in the "fun stuff" section. He just drinks out of the bowl now with the top as a guide. He's 3 months old, and he wasn't too old to figure it out
It worked great! So he's like that for now... Maybe tonight I'll try taking the top to the bottle away and see what happens

I guess the key to switching everything is little gradual baby steps! Dexter was a very adaptable hog and adjusted really quickly to his new home. Just gauge how your baby is doing and work from there. I'd give him/her at least 5 days before trying to switch anything, but if your baby seems upset, wait longer


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## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

DexterTheHog said:


> I guess the key to switching everything is little gradual baby steps!


I figured the key for making changes would be to do so gradually and slowly. Getting him on a better diet is probably the biggest issue, so chances are I will focus on that first. Right now he's eating a commercial hedgehog food (I believe it's Pretty Pets) and the first few ingredients are absolute junk. I just don't want to overwhelm the little guy with too many changes all at once. I think I will put a water bowl in addition to his bottle just to gauge his interest in it, but won't really force the issue until the food problems are settled.


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