Drinking bowls for a hamster: types, installation and manufacture

If a hamster has settled in the house, it is very important to create the necessary conditions for its full life. One of the highlights is choosing a drinking bowl for your pet. It can be homemade or bought in a specialty store - this is at the discretion of the owner. We will talk about what kind of drinkers are, how to choose them and use them correctly in this article.

Drinking bowls that are used for domestic hamsters can be internal or external. They differ in the way they are attached, that is, they can be located inside or outside the cage. In the second case, it turns out to save space inside the pet's habitat, this is especially true when the dwelling is not too large.

There are many factors to be guided by when selecting. This is, first of all, the size, convenience, reliability, method of fastening.

It is also possible to classify devices by type of construction. They can be suspended or floor-standing.

As for the floor options, they are placed inside the cage. The bowl must be of sufficient weight so that a moving pet cannot turn it over.

Suspended structures can be fixed inside or outside the cage. The container can be open, but the most popular are still closed options.There are vacuum structures, which include a container standing on a wide pallet with high sides, from which water comes. Not everyone likes this option, since the liquid becomes dirty quickly enough and you need to wash the entire device to clean it. Since these drinkers are most often made of soft materials (such as plastic), hamsters often gnaw at them.

Nipple drinkers for pets include a flask from which water flows through a tube that ends with a locking mechanism. The hamster gets fluid by pressing the latch with his tongue, and this animal will have to get used to. There are also ball mechanisms, acting by analogy with the previous one.

Some owners choose bottle drinkers with a reservoir. Water slowly flows out of the container into a small depression. These drinkers are most commonly used by bird owners, but hamsters can also use them. However, with this choice, it must be borne in mind that the water will also be open and the structure will have to be washed and cleaned often.

If it is not possible to purchase a drinker in a store, you can try to make it yourself at home. This process is absolutely not complicated and does not require any special skills.

To make a drinking cup, you will need a knife, a nail or an awl, a plastic bottle. You also need to prepare an ordinary pen, a ball that fits inside it, but will not slip out, a spring from a fountain pen, a wire for fixing the device, electrical tape, glue. The procedure will not take too long. Let's look at 2 options that are especially easy to do on your own.

In order to make a nipple drinker, you need a small plastic bottle, a ballpoint pen, and a ball. The ball must be selected so that it fits freely inside the handle body, but does not roll out of its narrowed part.

You can fix the ball with a spring from a fountain pen, but not too tight.

A small hole is made in the bottle, where the handle is firmly inserted. The place of convergence should be fixed with electrical tape or glue in order to exclude the leakage of liquid. After that, the structure is fixed with a wire on the cage so that the tube is located at the bottom and at a height convenient for the hamster.

The second design requires a plastic bottle and a beverage straw that fits into a hole made in the center of the lid with the corrugation outward. The inner part needs to be trimmed. We protect the structure from water leakage with glue or electrical tape. The bottle is attached to the cage with a straw down, liquid will flow through it.

Buying and making a drinking bowl is not the most difficult task. It is also necessary to properly attach it to the cage so that the playful pet does not splash water and damage the structure. Store copies are usually equipped with special clips, which are very convenient to use in this case.

If the drinker has a hole in the lid for fastening, but there is no lock itself, this is not a problem. It can be made from a small piece of wire, bending along the edges to create a kind of hooks. You can also use tight rope.

You can also fix the drinker with a large plastic cup. To do this, it is turned upside down, and a hole for the drinker is cut out in it.On the side, it is necessary to make a small hole into which the tube is inserted. The structure is quite stably placed inside the cage, it can be placed in any free space.

A floor-mounted drinking bowl should be equipped with a weighting agent, then an active animal will not be able to turn it over. However, it should be borne in mind that the tank will need to be cleaned quite often, so it should not be firmly fixed. It will also be appropriate to place such a structure on a stand. In this case, less dirt will get into the water, as a result of which it will be possible to change it a little less often.

Experts recommend purchasing a cup with a new hamster house. In this case, the pet, examining unusual housing, will definitely notice it and learn to drink on its own. This will save the owners from the learning process.

However, there are times when a drinking bowl is purchased instead of an old one, its type changes and is installed in an already operating animal dwelling. In this case, the hamster may not immediately figure out how to use a device that is new to him.

After several times, the animal will understand the principle of operation and will actively drink water on its own.

Note to the owners: there is another easy way. You just need to coat the spout of the drinker with something tasty and aromatic. A curious hamster will not resist and will definitely come up to try the delicacy, thereby activating the water supply mechanism. After that, instincts will work, and the animal will use the drinker if necessary.

The reasons why a hamster refuses to drink water from a drinker can be varied. If the animal has recently appeared in the family, its stressful condition cannot be ruled out. In this case, there is no need to rush things - let him get used to and get used to the new living conditions.

Another factor is the inability to use the drinker. How to act in this situation, we have already discussed above.

We must not forget that hamsters are nocturnal animals. This means that the peak of their activity may occur at a time when the household is already asleep. Accordingly, the animal, quite possibly, uses the drinker, it just does it when no one sees it.

And finally, you need to take into account that the animal needs fresh water, which is recommended to be changed daily... The hamster will not drink stagnant water. It is also necessary sometimes to check how well the drinker is functioning and whether there are any technical malfunctions.

It should also be noted that newborn animals need to get fresh water just like adults.

In this case, it is best to rinse the saucer several times a day and renew the liquid.

How healthy a pet grows depends entirely on its owners. Therefore, deciding on such an important step as establishing a pet, you need to pay maximum attention to it and provide competent care. Only in this case will the hamster be active, friendly, develop correctly and delight its owners.

For a video review of drinking bowls for rodents, see below.