What do you mean by chew water? Are you referring to them drinking from the water bottle pipe? I think they lick the ball at the end of of the pipe more than chewing it. I suspect their tongues are quite short though so they put their lips around the pipe to get it into their mouths so they can lick more easily.
Rather than lap it like a dog or cat? I assume it's something to do with the shape of their mouths. Chewing the water probably helps it get from the front of the mouth to the back as they don't have teeth in between.
I asked this question a year or two ago it seemed no one really knew the answer. The most likely one to me was that they are swilling their mouths. I have noticed mine will go for a pellet and chew that a bit, then go for water chew that then back to get another pellet. There is always a streak of dribbled pellet grains down the side of the cage under the bottles when I clean them out so this would make sense.
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