Water bottle or dish

[BennytheSquirrel]

Hi again, Benny is doing great! Gaining weight daily, eating his weight in food, holding his own body tempature and starting to poop on his own! I've upgraded him to a larger container, and was reading. It said I should give him a water bottle soon, I have a bird cage I'm going to put him into once he's a little older. So my question is, should I give him a water bottle or a flat dish he has to lean down to drink from?

[island rehabber]

I always use water bottles. In the wild squirrels get most of their water from the undersides of leaves dripping dew in the morning. So actually a water bottle is more natural to them than drinking out of a bowl.

[Chirps]

A water bottle will be less messy once he learns how to use it.

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hi:
I'm glad Benny is doing well! I use water bottles also but I found out by experience that they are not without risk. I posted some comments and suggestions for using water bottles based upon later gained experience and knowledge that was prompted by what I had thoughtlessly done that inadvertently resulted in one of my my Squirrels developing dehydration when the single water bottle that was in his cage malfunctioned. Fortunately I recognized the problem in time but I do things differently now so hopefully this will never recur!
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?68128-Best-water-bottles&highlight=water+bottles

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[BennytheSquirrel]

Gotcha! How old do you recommend he is before given one?

[Charley Chuckles]

Gotcha! How old do you recommend he is before given one?

I'd like to know that as well.
How old is Benny?

[BennytheSquirrel]

He’s 5 , Turing 6 weeks in two days :) I also meant to ask! Can I add branches for him to chew on? I’ll look up what he can and can’t eat but he’s been very teethy lately and I don’t want to give him veggies quite yet

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

I am not even close to the scale of Rehabbing as are many of the people on TSB. They have far more experience than I! I'll mention what I do just "for the record" but I hope some of the "real" Rehabbers will let us know what they do as I am quite willing and enthusiastic to make any changes that might benefit any baby Squirrel that I may be caring for based upon others proven experience and knowledge. OK, I begin the weaning process at about 6 weeks by introducing blocks but no other solid food. At that time, I also make water bottles available. I heard when I first began Squirreling that weaning should never be forced and to let the Squirrel have formula as long as he might want it. I have continued to do this and have had Squirrels take formula seemingly forever at least as treats while they have transitioned to eating blocks along with water through the water bottles. I add some veggies and fruits along with rare nuts and some other treats when I am convinced the Squirrel is eating the blocks readily. I do make my own blocks in part because I want to free-feed blocks as primary nutrition and not be limited to 2-3 blocks per day as is necessary if utilizing HHBs as primary nutrition.
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[Diggie's Friend]

Over 2 1/2 decade ago, when we raised four closed eyed baby squirrels; about the time they just started to transition from formula to solids;

we provided a water bottle that we hung on the side of their cage within their reach. This was the perfect transition from nursing to drinking water for them.

Do not include a water bottle sooner for nursing young as they can aspirate the water like they can formula.

Best to have more than one water bottle; check the bottles daily to make sure that they are operating properly.

Adult squirrels, on the other hand don't always take to a water bottle. Others take to drinking water from dripping faucets.