Hamster insists on gnawing water bottle

[OrkyBetta]

She wont stop! hour after hour she bangs the nozzle of the water bottle against the bars, sloshing water down herself and all over the cage. It is a real nuissance. I try giving her other things to chew, aper towel rolls, wood chews, to no avail. What I have been doing lately is just removing the water bottle from the cage entirely, and only give it to her for small ammounts of time, and remove it when she stops drinking and starts the clashing again.

Anyone have better suggestions? Eventually she ends up either soaking herself, the cage, or both. it is frusterating!

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I have never tried this, but have you thought about using a bowl of water instead? She might just like the sound the bottle makes. I have heard of people using bowls of water instead of the water bottle.

 

[OohFeeshy]

One of my hamsters is a relentless gnawer. TBH I'm so used to it I can sleep just as well as if she didn't. You can buy a product called Better Bitter' or something. Its a spray that tastes horrid.... It might not work, but it doesn't taste nice. Although you could try something horrible thats safe, eg, rubbing the bars with a lemon.

 

[Opcn]

Is there a reason that hampsters gnaw relentlessly, could you perhaps toss in a coarse grinding wheel or something?

 

[Bloo]

Orky, does she have a good wheel to run in ? I've had hamsters like yours before. The one in particular was like a crazed hyper little thing. From the moment she woke till them moment she went to sleep, she ran around her cage and "attacked" things at random. She would gnaw the water bottle until her whole body was completely drenched and her mouth completely red and raw sometimes. She would sometimes run in her wheel as possessed and then become so exhausted that she keeled over and fell asleep right there !
I had to do the same as you and take the water bottle away for certain periods of time too. A bowl didn't help, as she'd only attack that too - tip the water out and fling the dish all over the cage
I tried tons of things - she had a huge cage with plenty of room and toys to play with etc. etc.
Some hamsters are just like that though and there's little you can do I'm afraid

Just try various things out......

 

[OrkyBetta]

She had a nice solid plastic wheel but it was so noisy my whole house complained so I had to take it out. The cage has enough room so I don't worry so much, but I just wish I could do something about it.

 

[GuppyDude]

well, hamsters gnaw on stuff, its what they do, theres not much u can do to keep them form doing it. all i can suggest is tieing the bottle tight to the cage so that its not able to move much.

 

[Bloo]

Orky I seriously suggest you get your hamster another wheel. You will slowly drive her insane without one There are many different brand of wheels on the market - just try another....for the sake of her sanity and your peace of mind.

 

[OrkyBetta]

she was only without a wheel for like less than a day before I slapped myself and put it back in, at night I just tape it to the top of the cage so my family can still sleep. The gnawing persists, though. It is SO annoying!

 

[Bloo]

get used to it that's what hamsters do !

 

[chris allsop]

mine does the same and we keep it in the bed room with the reef tank!!
Hard to get to sleep somtimes especially when im on earlys and 4:30 am get up!!

 

[abstract]

before my last dwarf hamster died she used to shake the gate on the cage (it was the type that you lift up and it latches when its closed)...well it would move about 1/2 inch when latched so whenever she wanted attention would lift it with her teeth and let it fall over and over and over and over again.....alllll day and alllll night until i fed her...usually that would shut her up for an hour but then it started alllll over again... nothing stopped her from shaking/lifting/chewing things that made the metal sound (i seriously think she LIKED that sound as someone has mentioned above)

 

[Bloo]

They are really funny little creatures like that
Lovely them dearly but sometimes it's like

 

[b.c.f.c]

u will never stop hamsters biting on the bars of a cage unless u get a glass tank which in my case was great.i have 2 10 gal tanks for my hamsters and a 5 gal for my babys which will be on there way to the pet shop and new homes which ive found for them in 1 week.about the water bottle problem i would get a bowl for it not to deep not to shallow just the right size u think is good for ur hammy.as for the wheel i dont have a wheel for my hamsters and they seem fine with it.i take them out for walks in my garden and put them in there balls for half an hour each day.i would think about getting a small tank for your hamster with plenty of things in it to ammuse him / her. well it worked great for me. ps the hamster lead is great and very cheap.

 

[Skylar]

You can try getting a tub, like a giant 64 quart Sterilite plastic storage tub from K-Mart or Wal-mart or somewhere that sells such things. Hamsters cannot gnaw on them, and you can make a DIY stand to put the food on and also try a water bowl.




Skylar