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Glass Water Bottles

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Laura-CCC4

Laura-CCC4

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Are glass water bottles less likely to get algae growing in them?

I ask because I replaced all my pigs Savic Biba bottles earlier in the year, and they are at the stage of needing replacing again as no amount of scrubbing or disinfecting is reaching all parts of greenified bottle. I clean them regularly, twice a week, but I just can't get the whole thing clean and I'm not happy about my pigs drinking from a water bottle with green patches in!

I am very happy with the Savic Biba bottles aside from this, have used them for years, but would be willing to try glass water bottles if it meant being able to get rid of this algae a lot easier.

I could always try the EziFilla bottles again if there is little difference in cost between those and glass bottles, they would be easier to clean than the Savic ones.
 
i read somewhere (I think it was on LisaJazz's website) that glass bottles are proven to be better for piggies, but I'm not entirely sure why, I hadn't heard that before.

I have the Biba ones that you kindly bought for us and I think they get less green than the normal red topped Classic ones, and I find them easier to clean as the neck is wider, so I just soak them in Milton once a week and scrub with a bottle brush, it does the trick, and they are the cleanest of my bottles.

I have one glass bottle here, which came in with a piggy - perhaps I will conduct an experiment!

Sophie
x
 
Glass water bottles are definitely better for keeping the water fresher. But, so far I've not found one that doesn't leak terribly - the one they sell in Pets at Home I found to be totally useless, otherwise I'd never use plastic.

Have you tried rice in the bottles? I've always found that better than a brush to scrub them out.
 
I have only tried it once before Sarah, forgot about that trick, I will give it a go today and let you know how I get on. If I can find a good way to get the bottle totally clean I will, I am happy with the bottles overall and if I can avoid buying a shedload of new bottles I will, it's just getting these ones clean enough that bugs me. The bottle brush doesn't quite get into every part of the bottle, it's great for the bits if does, so maybe a combination of scrubbing and 'rice shakes' will work.
 
The most important thing with the rice trick is to only have a tiny amount of water with it - seems make the rice more abrasive. :)
 
or you could try coarse rock salt, Laura? It doesn't stick to the bottle and clog your drans because it dissolves. Use cold water though, because it dissolves too quicky otherwise.

I wonder what makes your bottles green, though... I never had a problem with it!
 
I always use a tea strainer to pick up the rice - avoids it going down the plug hole. :)
 
Although I have only had GPs since April 1st, I have used water bottles for years for hamsters (and bunny more recently) and have never had anything green in the bottles but mine are not in the sunlight. Maybe you could try strilising the bottles with baby bottle solution (buy tablets from boots or mothercare) to kill off the algae and then keep them out of the sun? I would guess that the solution is safe for guinea pigs as it has been tested on babies (for a change). You rinse it off afterwards anyway.

We have had both glass and plastic bottles. I would recommend plastic rather than glass as they are lighter and cheaper. My daughter has broken the glass ones as they are heavy and slippy when wet and full although the little ducks that come in some of the bottles to show the level are cute. We only bought a glass one initially because we had a hamster that used to chew holes in his water bottles.
 
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I use both glass -for water and plastic- for probiotics, to give the girls a choice. The only time I have algae growing is if the bottles are left in the sun or if I don't clean the plastic properly, I presume it is to do with the probiotic.
 
The rice worked a treat, can't believe I didn't remember it before. Bottles are now as good as new!

A lot of it is dirt, whether the green is also dirt I'm not 100% sure, but it's definitely green. The pigs manage to get particles of food in the bottles which makes the bottles dirty inside. How they get the bottles so dirty, I don't know, not quite figured out the logic of how the food goes up the spout! :{ No direct sunlight either.

I have tried sterilising them in Milton, and with fresh boiled water, but neither lifted the dirt or the green off; now I've nailed the rice trick, I can scrub and shake the bottles, and sterilise routinely.

Phew, glad I don't have to stock up again. Thanks for the help.
 
I swear by the glass bottles. I used plastic and found they grew algae much faster and easier than the glass, as I am pretty sure plastic is an easier surface for it to grow. The plastic ones always leaked for me too. The only time the glass one leaked was when I dropped the bottle and it split the seal on the plastic lid.

I LOVE the fact that I can put the glass bottles in the dishwasher!

I think the opinions are completely mixed!

You can however buy bottle snugs from Pet at Home which stops the algea from growing!

-Carma
 
glad you got it sorted:))

I have glass (the cute one with a duck lol) but now the girls are outside they have a bottle snug onto! I have to put a heavy bowl under though as it does tend to drip{:|
 
I have to use water bowls (slighty raised so they can't wee in them!) as Ronnie can get a bottle out and on the floor no matter how securly it is attached, however when I used to use plastic ones, the sun made them green until I put a sock on them and it stopped it (and stops it freezing in the cold :) ) so maybe you could try that? x
 
Glass is so much better for you than plastic - ditto human beings. Plastic has compounds that leech into the water - glass doesn't.

Glass bottles can go through the dishwasher whereas plastic ones melt.

Guinea pigs I have found drink more water from glass bottles than from plastic ones and that's really good for them and to help prevent the formation of stones. I think to their palate which is more sensitive than ours it tastes better too.

As for algae formation - don't know. Sorry laura.
 
Very interesting thread.

Where can you get glass water bottles and which are the best for not leaking?
 
I have the ones from pets at home and I don't find they leak at all actually. They are fidly and the spout can move around as they can be sited outside or inside the cage so you DO need to make sure the spout is in tight. When I didn't have it in right one day it leaked everywhere. But that's only happened once with one bottle.

They aren't cheap though!
 
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