My dwarf hamster

My winter white dwarf hamster, PuppethaGhoulaThunderBot (Puppet for short) is either too small or weak to use her water bottle, or she can't figure it out. Can anyone help me with this? I don't want her to die of thirst. ;~;

:3 nya

Hm..... where'd you get her? You should ask the pet store what type of water bowl they used for her.

 

When I first got my hamster she was too small to reach it.. so I just put a pile of bedding there.

It's not a bowl, it's one of those things where they suck the water out of a tube.

:3 nya

Is Puppet used to drinking from a water bowl instead of a water bottle?? If so you might want to just keep her using the water bowl.

How old is your hamster?? If she's very young she might not have the ability to like, get it out of the bottle yet.

But I searched it on google and this is coming from somone who taught hamsters to drink from a water bottle:

Leave a small dish under it and squirt a bit in it when the hamsters are near -- drop by drop, nothing scary. The dish will assure they won't go thirsty, but leave it directly under the bottle so that's the watering spot.

As they wake or finish a run on the wheel (normal drinking times), I let a drop roll from the bottle onto my finger and let the hamster lick it from there. It has taken anywhere from an hour to two days to teach them that way.

Rubbing the tip of the bottle with a carrot or apple slice (or whatever's their favorite) will help them seek it out also.

Good luck!!

My rabbit had the same problem when I first got him. Put a really small bowl of water (since he can't reach into a big one ^_^ ) and let him drink that. It was actually really easy to teach him to drink from a bottle. Take the bottle in your hand and put it near your hamsters face. Press your finger to the end of it, so water comes out, and let him drink some off of your finger. That was what worked for my rabbit. But I don't know if hamsters learn as quickly, so you might need to do it a couple times.

Put a little bowl of water in there.

Puppet will drown if Theres a bowl.

Puppet will drown if Theres a bowl.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Just put a water bottle cap filled with water and keep a close eye on her.

 

My hammie sucks the water out of a tube... maybe you should just tap it.. usually they figure this stuff out on their own.

 

How do you think baby hamsters in pet stores drink?

Puppet will drown if Theres a bowl.

Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is considering a cereal bowl size of water

Usually a very shallow bowl - like the lid of a jam jar for instance...

The other thing you can do is offer your hamster foods with a high liquid content - like celery, lettuce or cucumber / grapes - that will help quench their thirst.

my dwarf hamster Skittles has the same problem but his water bottle is weird n built into the cage i cant even figure out how a hamster would get water out of it so i just put a little bowl in his cage. his food dish is rite next to it so he climbs on the food dish and drinks the water out of the bowl. he hasn't fallen in so i doubt you will need to worry about Puppet drowning.

I don't know if honey is safe for hamsters, but with horses they put honey on the bottles of babies to get them to eat. Maybe it could work for a hamster's water bottle. Don't try this yet I don't know if honey is safe for hamsters.

uhhh prob not especially if it's a dwarf hamster cuz theyre more likely to get diabetes from the little amount of sugar in fruit and honey has wayyy more sugar although i'm pretty sure they would like it.

I agree. And the problem isn't that she doesn't know how, but she's too weak.

:3 nya

Give him/her a water bowl(A hard dish that has walls will do). That's what I do to help my sister's old guy(He's old, but we still have him!), Mitten.

Put a small bowl out~