# Water Bottle vs Dish?



## slsteph (Nov 8, 2014)

I have my little girl Penelope for almost two weeks now (though she's already a little over a year old). I have been using a water bottle because that is what her breeder/past owner used, but read up on the pros of water dish over water bottle and tried to introduce her to a small bowl of water. I kept it in with her (in addition to the water bottle) for two days. She went over and smelled it multiple times, and ended up knocking it over the second night, but I never saw her drink from it and the water level never seemed to go down. She would, however, drink from the water bottle while I was in there. I would be more then willing to switch her over to bowl, I'm just concerned she won't use it because she is an older hedgehog and has been used to a water bottle her whole life. 

Is this a valid concern or if I gave her just the bowl, do you think she would go ahead and use it?


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## sc2001 (Oct 12, 2014)

I'm transitioning between bottle and bowl right now. I had the same concern yesterday because My hedgehog is 6 months and has been using a bottle all get life but I was told not to worry. Hedgehogs don't naturally drink from a bottle in the wild. Your hedgie will naturally start drinking out of the dish. The only reason she is drinking about of the bottle instead of the dish is because she is used to it. But if you take out the bottle, she will start drinking out of the dish. I took my bottle out last night and everything went well


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## HedgiePome (Mar 27, 2014)

I got Cookie when he was 5 months. His breeder used a bottle, I stopped him cold turkey and gave him a bowl. He did fine.

Obviously this won't be the case with every hedgehog, but this was my experience.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

I use a bottle and don't really see a reason to switch. I would be worried about her tipping it over at 1am and me not realizing it until 9am! 
But I know alot of people here have good success with a bowl. Let us know how it goes!!


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## Katten (May 10, 2014)

I have hamsters and mice as well as my hedgehog. Water bottles are definitely more convenient and require less attention, but I've found that with our hard water, they end up getting all crusty and hard to clean, and they also seem to develop an odor after a few months, even with daily water changes.

With water bowls, the calcium buildup can be easily scrubbed out of the bottom and they don't develop any odour, but you run the risk of the animal going several hours without clean/usable water if they get bedding or fleece in their dish. 

I've found that I have to choose based on each individual animal. 
My mice absolutely cannot have a dish. They will fill it with bedding and feces in 15 minutes. 

Two of my hamsters cannot have water bottles because they will chew them non-stop, resulting in a wet hammy and wet bedding, which could result in sickness. 

My other two hamsters have water bottles, but they've also used bowls in the past without any trouble. They have water bottles right now because they are easier to refill since they are attached to the outside of their bins. 

My hedgie has a dish because of the way her setup is. Since I don't want her to climb out, anywhere I could attach a bottle is too high up for her to reach. The bowl I use is too heavy for her to tip over, and I solved the problem of her getting fleece in it by moving the bowl further away from her sleeping area. I believe she used a bottle in her old home, but I switched her to a bowl on her first night and she figured it out as soon as she got thirsty. I don't really notice the water level going down, but I've seen her take a drink from it. ^^

It's probably easier to figure out a bowl than a bottle, but if an animal is thirsty, it's going to look for water until it finds it. Thirst is very powerful -- I've been out running and as soon as I got thirsty I started automatically looking around for water. As a human I could just walk into a store and ask for a glass of water or buy a bottle, but instinctively I started searching the "wilderness". AKA the puddles on the side of the road started looking delicious.


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## sc2001 (Oct 12, 2014)

There are tons of reasons to have a dish and not a water bottle. First, bacteria build up happens a lot easier in bottles because people tend to change the water less often/clean the bottles less often. Second, hedgehogs can break their teeth on water bottles. When they bite on the nozzle they usually bite hard enough to chip teeth. Third, there is a risk of their tounge getting caught in the nozzle. These injuries can be so severe that they can be life threatening. Fourth, drinking out of a water bottle is an extremely unnatural position for hedgehogs. Drinking in this position can cause discomfort or injury. Fifth, hedgehogs drink a lot less from a water bottle. This is because it's hard for them to drink out of it in the first place. You will see that your hedgehog will drink a lot more if offered a water dish. 

Hedgehogs are not rodents. Therefore much different from hamsters and mice. So they cannot be compared. 

If you are worried that your hedgehog will to the dish over, get a heavy ceramic dish. That's what I have for both food and water. I've never had any problems with tipping


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## ellisrks01 (Mar 25, 2014)

My girl Nikki likes to flip her water dish for about 3 days straight, after I clean her cage. What I do is Velcro her water dish to the bottom of the cage and haven't had that issue since. I use pine bedding so it's easy to attach it. I don't know how it would work if your using fleece liners but I'm sure it's doable.


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## tony21 (Apr 8, 2014)

I used a water bottle for a while, but it became a pain to clean. I switched to a dish cold turkey, Bell did just fine ( probably preferred it ). As for tipping the dish, I put in a ceramic dish. If your hog can still flip it some how, then do what I have done for one of my snakes, and get a PVC pipe to fit your dish, and cut it it so your bowl is flush with the PVC, or the PVC holds the bowl just off the ground. I bid anyone's hog good luck trying to tip that:grin::lol:

It really works, and if my 7 1/2 boa can't tip it. a ball of spikes wouldn't even be able to move it!:grin:


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## AlexandPersephone (Nov 14, 2014)

My hedgehog loves to play with her water dish so my solution was to get a second one and fill them both only halfway. She had a strange fascination with putting her toys in the one food bowl (it's metal, maybe she liked the noise?) But lately she lost interest in that. Just in case she now has 2 water dishes for 4 feet of space. It might work for you. But then again I have fleece bedding and they're on opposition ends of the cage so I can replace the blanket if she tips a bowl over. 
If that makes sense.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

sc2001 said:


> There are tons of reasons to have a dish and not a water bottle. First, bacteria build up happens a lot easier in bottles because people tend to change the water less often/clean the bottles less often. Second, hedgehogs can break their teeth on water bottles. When they bite on the nozzle they usually bite hard enough to chip teeth. Third, there is a risk of their tounge getting caught in the nozzle. These injuries can be so severe that they can be life threatening. Fourth, drinking out of a water bottle is an extremely unnatural position for hedgehogs. Drinking in this position can cause discomfort or injury. Fifth, hedgehogs drink a lot less from a water bottle. This is because it's hard for them to drink out of it in the first place. You will see that your hedgehog will drink a lot more if offered a water dish.
> 
> Hedgehogs are not rodents. Therefore much different from hamsters and mice. So they cannot be compared.
> 
> If you are worried that your hedgehog will to the dish over, get a heavy ceramic dish. That's what I have for both food and water. I've never had any problems with tipping


All valid points, sure. But my breeder told me to use a bottle and that is what I have. She told me she, and the other breeders she knows, all have used bottles for decades and have never had a problem. She gave me references of other breeders and they all swear by it. 
My girl drinks about 1/4 of her bottle a night. I change the water every few days and thoroughly clean the bottle every time. I don't see how bacteria would be a problem... I use a cleaner that is animal safe.
I have the bottle low enough so she hardly has to lift her head to drink. I watched her do it a few times... she was in a weirder position when she anointed!! :lol:

That is what i'm comfortable using. She has been fine for this long... 
I'm not forcing my opinion on anyone, just expressing it!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Just a note, no matter what you use for water, the water needs to be changed EVERY night. That's one of the main issues with water bottles - people often don't change and clean them out daily like they should be because it's more difficult than emptying & cleaning a bowl. Water quickly gets stale, all animals should get fresh water daily. With water bottles, the added parts also add risk that something will get stuck or stop working correctly (especially if not emptied/cleaned nightly) and the animal won't be able to get water. I've had issues with that working at a pet store even when the bottles were emptied & cleaned daily.


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## SquirtleSquirt (May 9, 2016)

Please check the date of the thread before posting!


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