My hamster doesn't know how to drink.?

Question

she bites the metal pole thing. so i've been squeezing the part were the water is. she doesn't know how to drink! will she finally figure it out?

Answer 1

The same thing happened with mine. They eventually learn. I squeezed the top for a little bit, but they do learn to do it themselves.

Answer 2

how old is the hamster? even when young they learn how to drink, it is an instinct. As others said they drink at night and watch the water level.

Answer 3

If she doesnt know how try putting a little bowl of water somewhere or sometimes they only drink at night, she probally will figureit out but if not use my watre bowl sujjestion, when she can see you tap your finger on the end of the metal thing to show her how it works

hope i helped

-syddles

Answer 4

Don't worry she will learn. The size of the tube may be too big. Go to the pet store and see if they have a smaller tube on a bottle. That might do it.  

Answer 5

This happened to me a week with my new hamster sydney. I had to squeeze it too.

Well this is what i did

I would squeeze it a little and let him l**k it then i would stop and he would continue to l**k.

I would keep doing that til he started biting.

I would keep doing this til he bit and licked and he got water for himself.

Then he learned!!

(this took me 6 days)

Good luck =)

Answer 6

How long have you had her? She is likely drinking, but is also chewing on the metal portion to satisfy her urge to chew. Hamsters are rodents, so their teeth never stop growing. They have to chew to wear them down. Chewing on water bottle nozzles or wire cages is very common (and very annoying).  Try giving her some dog biscuits to chew on. That helps with some hamsters. There are also flavored wooden treats available at pet stores, but mine have never shown much interest in those. Dog biscuits have helped a lot, though.

Answer 7

Check to see if the water level goes down at any time. If it does then she does know how to drink. If she does not know how to drink than i would suggest putting a bowl of water instead of the bottle although she could fall in so make it shallow. You can also try taking the bottle out for a day or so so she gets thirsty and then stick it back in in front of her and if she starts drinking it than she knows how to drink from it!

Answer 8

Your hamster is a bit confused and still getting used to her new cage. This happens to hamsters when introduced to new environment since they are creatures of habit. I am sure she would figure out himselves how to use the bottle in a few days, until then leave a water dish in her cage and make sure that there is always a drop of water hanging from the tip of the hamster bottle so that your hamster gets attracted to it and learns to drink from the bottle.

Answer 9

Aww...bless her...she will soon pick it up.

Answer 10

I have gerbils and they tend to drink at night beacuse i never see them drink but when i wake up and feed them their water bottle is low! So is it the same with yours?

Answer 11

you may want to use a water dish so he/she can drink