Drinking bottle problems

Question
Hi there! I bought two little dwarf hamsters yesterday. The cage that they were kept in the Petshop had water bowls, and not bottles. I, however, having read how bad these can be, bought them water bottles instead. They are about 4 weeks old and seem to be completely confused about the water bottles. They sniff, lick, gnaw, try to climb up onto them but go nowhere close to the bottle's spout! Will they be able to figure out how it works before dehydration occurs, or should I buy them bowls instead?

Thanks for the help!

~An

Answer
Dear An,
thank you for your question.
I would buy a water bowl just to be of the safe side. I actually prefer water bowls for all my rodents because they are easier to clean and a brick under the water bowl usually takes care of the buried under bedding-problem. But usually hamsters get used to water bottles fast, they may just not drink very much.

You may run into problems with the hamster themselves, though. Dwarf hamsters (except Chinese, who aren't true dwarfs) are social in the wild, but they live as pairs with their current litter and have huge territories where they can avoid each other or choose a new partner. In captivity, even breeding pairs often fight eventually and pairs of the same sex will fight almost certainly. They may live together apparently peacefully for months and then may fight seriously without warning. I would definitely recommend having a second cage ready. If you don't want to separate them right away, watch them for even the smallest signs of aggression and stress so that you don't end up with hurt or even dead hamsters.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennnifer