# Water bottle vs Bowl



## Redefined723 (Feb 19, 2016)

Hello! I've had my hedgehog, Clementine, for two months. She's 14 weeks old. Last week, she started crawling underneath her cage liner constantly, which dumped her water dish. This worried me because it would soak her and the liner, her fleece blankets, etc in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping. So to avoid her getting wet and chilly, I switched it out for a water bottle as my breeder suggested. She is terrified of the bottle! She won't walk near it. When I set her next to it, she refused to uncurl from her ball (which is rare.) It's been in there for four days and she has gotten increasingly more timid. Last night, she had the biggest fit I've ever seen when I tried to handle her. She hissed and jumped and grumbled, very rare for her. Normally, she has no issues with me. 

I have been monitoring her and she has been peeing. I've also been giving her vegetable baby food to help make sure she doesn't get dehydrated. Suggestions? Should I leave the bottle and give it more time? Should I try something different? She is certainly not her normal self, and it's pretty obvious the bottle scares her. I don't want her to become dehydrated, but I also don't want her to become drenched and cold in the middle of the night.


----------



## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I cannot help you with training a hedgehog to use a bottle. I feel they are dangerous (one of my first broke a tooth on one). But if you are interested in using a bowl, we can talk about what you currently use, how your cage is arranged and how we may fix the issue.

Too tall, too light and they will tip them standing on the edge. Typically you want something that is wide, and if you can find something shallow enough that they don't need to stand on the edge, the better. Some people like heavy crocks. Others have glued bowls to ceramic tiles.

Personally, I use cooking ingredient bowls. The ones i have are fairly shallow. I put them in a cage corner, preferably the one furthest from my hedgehog's sleeping area. This helps keep the sleeping area dry should they spill, but a corner also helps keep them out of any running paths. I also turn the edge of the liner under, so the bowl sits on the cage pan instead of the fabric. This raises the area the hedgehog stands a little, so the edge of the bowl is a little lower.


----------



## Redefined723 (Feb 19, 2016)

I got the bottle because it was what my breeder suggested and my friend who has hedgehogs for years has used the bottle as well. It's for cage set up, I have a big plastic tub that is 5 square feet with her wheel/"litter box" on one side and her fleece blankets/food on the other. I had a house for her but she refused to go in it. Never once did she sleep in it. So I took it out to give her more room and just use the blankets and a snuggle safe. I was using a wide shallow cooking ingredient bowl for water before trying the bottle. She never dumped it until she started burrowing underneath the cage liner which just upends everything regardless. Food, water, etc. 

Gluing it to a ceramic tile is something I hadn't thought of. Perhaps I'll give that a try today.


----------



## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Try the tile. Or try the folding the edge of her liner under trick. At the moment I have a very avid burrower. There is no stopping him. I have multiple layers of liners and blankets on one half of his cage. Basically an attempt to encourage his burrowing in that area and not in the area where his food & water are located. It has helped. He sometimes uses a snuggle bag to sleep in, but most the time I find him between liner layers. Took time, but he rarely burrows near his water now. I guess it isn't as fun.


----------



## Redefined723 (Feb 19, 2016)

Thanks for the tips! I'll give it a try.


----------



## MorgansPets (Feb 21, 2016)

Water bottles
Pros:
1. Easy to monitor how much your hedgehog is drinking
2. Less likely to spill 
3. Holds more water than most bowls
Cons:
1. Hard to clean
2. Leakage can occur 
3. Some hedgehogs do not use/do not like them
Water bowls
Pros:
1. Easy to clean
2. Fairly easy to clean
Cons
1. Easy to spill
2. Doesn't hold as much water
3. Not as easy to monitor


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Water bottles are also more unnatural for them to drink from and actually potentially dangerous. And the amount of water held isn't really a difference between the two - there are different sized bowls & bottles, it's very easy for a large bowl to hold more water than a small bottle.


----------



## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Water bottles also give a false sense of security. Less likely to be changed and cleaned. You see water in it, it doesn't need filled again.


----------



## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

twobytwopets said:


> Water bottles also give a false sense of security. Less likely to be changed and cleaned. You see water in it, it doesn't need filled again.


Or checked for mold, which is what I see people often doing. YUCK!


----------



## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

My hedgehog has a bowl. My parrot has a bottle because she would bathe in a bowl and run out of water immediately.  She manages to get food up the tube and inside the bottle regularly, and I can only assume this would rot fast. She's the only pet in my house with a bottle because I insist on cleaning it every day. It's a pain in the butt to get clean, even though it's glass, because the food gets stuck to the lower lip inside the bottle where I can't easily reach. And there's usually bits of things inside the tube as well. If you have a bottle and don't clean it super regularly it can get extremely gross fast, and you won't even notice, especially with anything not completely transparent. I had a plastic one once for a different pet and even though I cleaned it every day it started to smell like mold. I never did find the source, I just threw it out.

So I personally don't recommend bottles for any animal unless they're the only option.


----------



## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I am starting to think your Senegal is part conure.... They make conure soup, and have no problems going for a little swim in the water. Skeeter has 2 water dishes. One that is for soup and playing, the other is maybe an inch and a half wide, that's for drinking.... Yes she tries to fit in it but it doesn't work as well.


----------



## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

My conure was bad for soup but not for going swimming. Pepper likes both. She actually carries her food across the cage to the water bottle, uses her tongue to dribble water onto the food, sets the food in a soggy pile on her perch, and then eats it. She also like to fling her dishes on the floor. They have to be bolted on.

Any time I spray the cresties down (which is twice a day or so) she insists I spray her too. And not a gentle misting from above. She likes it sprayed right in her face. She also likes to stand under the tap in the sink when it's running pretty hard. I realize there are no "normal" parrots but boy did I get a weird one. :lol:

She's behind me right now verbally insisting that she doesn't do any of those things... I think she can read.


----------



## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I'm hiding from skeeter. She is arguing with the washing machine because she hears the water running. 
We used to use the water bottles with the birds... Yup condensed conure soup in the tube. Note.... Used to use them. 
When we first got skeeter she didn't take baths at all. But then the previous owner sold he because she didn't talk. Well she is a green cheek, they aren't known for talking and it's anything but clear. Within 2 days she was talking and within a week taking baths. I was worried because I never met a green cheek that didn't play in the water. 
My Senegal used to take a bath. Then climb over to me without dropping much water then give me a good shake.


----------



## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Rats need water bottles too for the same reasons. They will put their food in bowls, bath in them, and potty in them. It makes it very unsanitary for them to have a bowl even for one night. However, having a "pool" for them to play in if they like it can be nice...just be prepared for puddles.


----------



## Dumble (Feb 22, 2016)

I have a bottle for the time being. I tried switching to a bowl but after 2 days of watching him drink nada and instead drag paper towel and carefresh to the bowl and play in it making the bowl filthy and kinda poopy and stuff I just let him use the bottle. I remain diligent in changing it every single day bottle or not. Seems your guy is fine with a bowl but just needs a sturdy one. I'm hoping eventually I can try to switch to a bowl again and see if he stops using it as a swimming pool


----------

