hedgie wont drink on his own

[jto5001]

My new hedgie (recently named pepper) has not been drinking much at all. He has been eating fine and is offered both a water dish and bottle (seems to prefer the bottle). I have the bottle secured to the outside of my rubermaid cage with a whole for the spout. the water level has not been dropping at night but if i hold the water bottle near him he drinks a decent amount. i was wondering if anyone else had any experiances like this or advice. the bottle is in the middle of the long side of the cage and im thinking he might not be secure enough to drink from it there so i am going to try and move it to a corner. i am not sure if hand feeding him the water everynight will just reinforce this behavior? thanks for your help

[paris26]

That's a good question. I would make sure the water bottle and bowl are clean and then move it where he can see the whole bottle- like the corner you suggested. Maybe he needs to see where his water is coming from??

[HedgePigLove]

I would literally "walk" your hedgie to the spout and "show" him (use your finger to push the ball to get water out and then let him sniff/taste your finger) where the spout is and how to use it - I had to teach this to a rescue before I was able to get a low-level dish for her to drink from.