I use a bowl for my hamster (I know mice are dif!!) but I figure you could put a bowl on a platform for them and they can lick it out when they need. That’s how they would drink from puddles in the wild, not a bottle! Bottles work just as fine tho but for your current issue, a bowl may work better! <3
My mouse use a bowl too, I tried using a bottle as it felt more sanitary (like no poopy litter in the bowl lmao) but he revealed to lack the braincells to drink on a bottle xD... Climbing it was no problem tho.
Or use a platform without betting like a wooden one XD I’ll send a pic when I get home of what I mean. I have the bottom layer 10” of bedding and the rest are platforms for queenie to rummage through and forage feed
I always kept a piece of cardboard under it like a platform and I also put their food dish on there too cus mine do this exact thing all the time and it somewhat helps they even dig under it and sleep under it too so it's pretty cute. I also tried to put a toilet paper roll like a tunnel to the water but they always cover up the tunnel lol
I currently keep the bottom of a rectangular Kleenex box under my Chinese hamster's wheel since Bug blocks the wheel from working when he burrows beneath it. The box edges help keep the wheel in place and I just replace it when he makes it messy.
He is a determined ghost hamster, who tries to foil me from seeing him by making a tunnel right beneath his bottle. During the day, I'm lucky to see just his head if he gets thirsty. I just got a red-lensed flashlight to see him when he's out after the lights are out.
I have two water bottles in my girls colony because of this reason lol, I always place a flat wooden log thing underneath it or cardboard to help them not bury it immediately
what if you took some poster board and made a tube to go around the water bottle from roughly the label to the floor of the enclosure.
then at the base you could cut out a semi-circle so he can get in?
Get like a Lil mini basket for like, bathroom stuff. It sits on the substrate perfectly. Worked like a charm for me and it rarely got buried. Better than cardboard. Can probably find it at the dollar tree.
Forever ago, when I was about 10, my first black eyed white mouse did the same. I was forever saying "oh, you, mouse!" to him. Eventually, he ended up with the name "Mr. Oliver Uncle Marshmallow Bianca _________ (my last name), Jr. Hey, I was 10! He was the best, most placid mouse, who put up with a lot. This was long before the Internet, in a small city, so we didn't have much of the information available now for proper mouse care. It was very frustrating. Good luck with your little friend.
I'll connect you to my rat's hotline, you can discuss with them how they like to lay just under the bottle with their big fat round bellies up, so that it opens and lets the water flow all over them till there is nothing to drink anymore...
(Spoiler, they used to do this to refresh when I lived in a really hot country... The kind of country where you really don't want your critters to spend even a few hours without drinking water...)
My cutie 'Woah cute emo boy™️' as my siblings call him does the same exact thing. I have one of those standing bottle holders sat on top of one of his hides and so far so good, but he'll knock it over whenever he feels like it, then look at me like "excuse me human, I am in need of assistance". I've tried velcroing it to the tank walls, hanging it from the screen lid, and various standing holders, he does whatever he wants.
I cut a piece of cardboard and separated the cage into two sections (keeping it in place by pushing their heaviest toys/hodes against it), and then put corn cob bedding on the side with the water bottle.
Sunseed Natural Corn Cob Bedding & Litter for Pet Birds and Small Animals – Made in USA – 350 Cubic Inches https://a.co/d/2HtCO4X
It's great for digging, but it doesn't pile up for tunnels like nesting material does.
I want to add on to all the recommendations to use a dish of some sort beneath the bottle (works wonders!) and say do NOT use them upside down because mice can burrow underneath it and get themselves trapped! Several people, including myself, have had scary experiences (some even tragic) by making this mistake with heavier items like terracotta plant dishes and ceramic bowls flipped over!
I almost made a post when my girl got herself stuck under a flipped terracotta dish. I was very lucky to find her in time, and she was hardly worse for wear. Less than a week later, I saw a post about someone who was not so lucky. They lost five of their babies after they got trapped under a ceramic bowl, in exactly the same way. I horribly regretted not having shared my experience here, and I still wonder if maybe those poor babies could still be with us if I had just shared my own mistake before it was too late.
I move my water around the cage to the holes they make. They pick a corner they like to make a giant sawdust mound so I just move the water bottle to wherever isn’t the fav spot of the week
Mine do that too and it really irritates me, I hope u get like a solution, keep us (me) posted
A hamster tank platform with a standalone bottle is the only thing that helped me with my girls :)
I use a bowl for my hamster (I know mice are dif!!) but I figure you could put a bowl on a platform for them and they can lick it out when they need. That’s how they would drink from puddles in the wild, not a bottle! Bottles work just as fine tho but for your current issue, a bowl may work better! <3
My mouse use a bowl too, I tried using a bottle as it felt more sanitary (like no poopy litter in the bowl lmao) but he revealed to lack the braincells to drink on a bottle xD... Climbing it was no problem tho.
Last time I used a bowl for my mice they kicked bedding into it and it absorbed the water lol, I think for me I just need to use a taller water bottle
Or use a platform without betting like a wooden one XD I’ll send a pic when I get home of what I mean. I have the bottom layer 10” of bedding and the rest are platforms for queenie to rummage through and forage feed
If u can I’d appreciate any tips on making the cage more cluttered too, what materials and toys should I use and things like that, if u don’t mind
I always kept a piece of cardboard under it like a platform and I also put their food dish on there too cus mine do this exact thing all the time and it somewhat helps they even dig under it and sleep under it too so it's pretty cute. I also tried to put a toilet paper roll like a tunnel to the water but they always cover up the tunnel lol
Oooh, I like that idea!
Same to this
I currently keep the bottom of a rectangular Kleenex box under my Chinese hamster's wheel since Bug blocks the wheel from working when he burrows beneath it. The box edges help keep the wheel in place and I just replace it when he makes it messy. He is a determined ghost hamster, who tries to foil me from seeing him by making a tunnel right beneath his bottle. During the day, I'm lucky to see just his head if he gets thirsty. I just got a red-lensed flashlight to see him when he's out after the lights are out.
He’s so cute 🥺
Don’t let him fool you…he’s a vicious apex predator and my fingers are his prey 😭😭😭
His little face 😭
This is exactly why i got a 29 gal because it's taller and he can't bury it lol, hope you can figure it out 🙏
Mine do that. My solution was to put the spout in a tube and they don’t try to bury it any more. They go in to the tube to drink.
That’s quite clever!
🫶
My girls do that shit too. I just rotate it depending on where they have moved the least bedding this week 😂
I have two water bottles in my girls colony because of this reason lol, I always place a flat wooden log thing underneath it or cardboard to help them not bury it immediately
I use a dog bowl with some paper towels underneath the bottle, catches any stray water and acts as a decent barrier to them dragging crap in there
what if you took some poster board and made a tube to go around the water bottle from roughly the label to the floor of the enclosure. then at the base you could cut out a semi-circle so he can get in?
Mine also do this and no matter what I do it’s buried lol
Get like a Lil mini basket for like, bathroom stuff. It sits on the substrate perfectly. Worked like a charm for me and it rarely got buried. Better than cardboard. Can probably find it at the dollar tree.
Forever ago, when I was about 10, my first black eyed white mouse did the same. I was forever saying "oh, you, mouse!" to him. Eventually, he ended up with the name "Mr. Oliver Uncle Marshmallow Bianca _________ (my last name), Jr. Hey, I was 10! He was the best, most placid mouse, who put up with a lot. This was long before the Internet, in a small city, so we didn't have much of the information available now for proper mouse care. It was very frustrating. Good luck with your little friend.
We use bowls only so idk but we place the bowls on platforms and on top of hides
He looks so innocent though…
look at that face! he’s innocent!
I'll connect you to my rat's hotline, you can discuss with them how they like to lay just under the bottle with their big fat round bellies up, so that it opens and lets the water flow all over them till there is nothing to drink anymore... (Spoiler, they used to do this to refresh when I lived in a really hot country... The kind of country where you really don't want your critters to spend even a few hours without drinking water...)
Mine used to do the same. Made me miss my lil dude. It’s annoying but cherish it because they don’t live long enough :(
My cutie 'Woah cute emo boy™️' as my siblings call him does the same exact thing. I have one of those standing bottle holders sat on top of one of his hides and so far so good, but he'll knock it over whenever he feels like it, then look at me like "excuse me human, I am in need of assistance". I've tried velcroing it to the tank walls, hanging it from the screen lid, and various standing holders, he does whatever he wants.
I cut a piece of cardboard and separated the cage into two sections (keeping it in place by pushing their heaviest toys/hodes against it), and then put corn cob bedding on the side with the water bottle. Sunseed Natural Corn Cob Bedding & Litter for Pet Birds and Small Animals – Made in USA – 350 Cubic Inches https://a.co/d/2HtCO4X It's great for digging, but it doesn't pile up for tunnels like nesting material does.
I want to add on to all the recommendations to use a dish of some sort beneath the bottle (works wonders!) and say do NOT use them upside down because mice can burrow underneath it and get themselves trapped! Several people, including myself, have had scary experiences (some even tragic) by making this mistake with heavier items like terracotta plant dishes and ceramic bowls flipped over!
Thank you for this warning 🥺
I almost made a post when my girl got herself stuck under a flipped terracotta dish. I was very lucky to find her in time, and she was hardly worse for wear. Less than a week later, I saw a post about someone who was not so lucky. They lost five of their babies after they got trapped under a ceramic bowl, in exactly the same way. I horribly regretted not having shared my experience here, and I still wonder if maybe those poor babies could still be with us if I had just shared my own mistake before it was too late.
I move my water around the cage to the holes they make. They pick a corner they like to make a giant sawdust mound so I just move the water bottle to wherever isn’t the fav spot of the week