aka_meerkat
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Water Containers - 2006/12/09 02:41
Wow, it's been a while! Hi everyone 
I've been using a water dish with Poe. The smallest one that I could find is still pretty tall and I find that he tips it over a lot, even when I keep the bowl filled to the top.
After a lot of debate, I've decided to try using a bottle. My question is: how high off the floor of the habitat do you place the spout? I've read that it should be at shoulder level to the hedgehog, but it'll be a pain to try and measure Poe, so if I can get a reasonable answer without doing so.. well, that's preferable 
Thanks for your help!
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HamorHollow
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/09 20:45
I guess I'd say about 4 inches.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
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clutterbuster
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/10 01:13
from our local pet store I got a very small ceramic food dish, Pippi doesn't tip that over and I just love seeing her little tongue lap up the water. This is my second hedgehog that prefers the bowl over the bottle. And you have to clean the bottles well after a while for bacteria, how do you get into the spiget? Its so much easier to change the water in the cup daily. If you cant get a small ceramic food dish, I have used a glass coaster meant for furniture legs. I also wondered if a heavy weighted shot glass would work.
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clutterbuster
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/10 01:14
from our local pet store I got a very small ceramic food dish, Pippi doesn't tip that over and I just love seeing her little tongue lap up the water. This is my second hedgehog that prefers the bowl over the bottle. And you have to clean the bottles well after a while for bacteria, how do you get into the spiget? Its so much easier to change the water in the cup daily. If you cant get a small ceramic food dish, I have used a glass coaster meant for furniture legs. I also wondered if a heavy weighted shot glass would work.
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aka_meerkat
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/10 02:22
clutterbuster wrote:
I also wondered if a heavy weighted shot glass would work.
I think the bowl he has is probably the depth of a shot glass. I haven't actually been able to see him eat or drink (he's shy about that), so I don't know what difficulties he might actually be having. He always tips the food bowl over, however, and like I said, quite often tips the water bowl. I assume that it's because he can't reach the contents properly, even when they're filled to the rim.
My problem is that he soaks the bedding when he tips the bowl over. There's no way to tell how long he goes with soaked bedding each time before I catch the spill and I'm worried that he'll catch a cold or something :/
I've looked at pet stores and online for dishes, the ones I have are the smallest I've been able to find.
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HamorHollow
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/10 06:39
The best way to clean water bottles is to soak them in hot water and vinager and then scrub them with a baby bottle brush.
I don't like dishes because my hedgehogs tend to fill them with shavings while they are running and playing. Or dump them and get the cage wet.
A shot glass is too tall to make a good water dish, plus it's going to dump over the first time your heedgehogs tries to get at it.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
Hamor Hollow Hedgehogs - a New Hampshire breeder, serving Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and any where else hedgehogs are legal. |
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PogStar
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/10 06:50
Some hedgehogs just seem to ENJOY tipping bowls over. One of the advantages of having a herd is you can pretty quickly gauge whether there is a problem with the item or with an ornery hedgehog, and I have some that will go to amazing lengths to flip any bowl I give them. Kelly is right that bottles can be very effectively cleaned using white vinegar or a mix of white vinegar and very hot water. So can cages, food bowls, wheels and most household surfaces. White vinegar is actually a more effective cleaner/germicide/fungicide than a lot of the chemical ones out there, and you don't have to worry about residue hurting your hedgie or any of your other critters. We use it almost exclusively for cleaning around our home and for our animals. (well, okay, not the animals themselves, but for their stuff) I understand the people who want to use water dishes, but we've just had way too much trouble with them either being knocked over or filled up with bedding, and the bottles have been much less trouble for us and our critters. HTH!!
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CThogs
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/10 12:00
With the water bottles you know they have water available at all times. With it drier in the winter, I've noticed them all drinking more water and the small weighted dishes just don't hold as much.
I have never seen a hedgehog drink a whole water bottle, but I have seen them empty a whole dish, either by drinking it, spilling it, etc. If I have one that really prefers a dish, I will also give them a water bottle so they have some water available to them at all times.
Post edited by: amscpa, at: 2006/12/10 15:55
Ann
Connecticut Hedgehogs
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clutterbuster
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/11 16:06
I FORGOT TO MENTION ABOUT WATER BOWLS - they work for me because I do not use 'bedding'. A rescuer told me they lined their tanks with fleece and changed them daily and washed them in the laundry. I switched and am so glad I did, keeping the tank clean is now so easy! Bedding does tend to end up in water bowls and create bacteria, but the only bedding I use is a little carefresh in the far corner for toileting. I've used water bowls for two hedgies and don't understand why yours keeps spilling, and my little girl is part billy goat as she tries to butt and move everything (last night she tossed a pillow off my couch!). Maybe she does spill but it ends up on that corner of the fleece and probably evaporates quickly. I am also home days and can replenish the water frequently.
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herbiesmom
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Re:Water Containers - 2006/12/14 13:37
I now use water bottles and dishes for my boys. Snow seems to like the dish better and drinks more water that way. Herbie only takes a few sips from the bowl and drinks mostly from the bottle. I have two levels in my cages though and I put the water bowls on the top level which does not have bedding on it. So far, they have kept their water bowls clean and no spilling. We will see how long that lasts.
Cyn and Hedgie Boys |
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