Having a nightmare with water bottles!

Fozzy44

Fozzy44

Junior Guinea Pig
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Location
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I don’t know if it’s me doing something wrong or Frodo just has an ability to look at a water bottle and make it leak, but seriously this is getting ridiculous now!
I’ve always used the ‘Classic’ or ‘Rotastak’ brand red and clear water bottles and to be honest I’ve never really had a problem. I had to split the boys so they’ve now got one each. Loki’s one is fine, no bother at all. Frodo’s gets filled up and by next morning the fleece is soaking and he’s shouting for a drink. I’ve bought a new one, swapped it with Loki’s one, tried different brands and literally nothing works! His fleece is always wet and the bottle is empty :(
The glass ‘Living World’ bottles either leak like crazy or just stop working and don’t let any water out at all, Frodo can’t seem to work out the ‘Ferplast Sippy’ bottles, the cheap generic ones I’ve got off amazon/eBay have proved to be pretty rubbish too.
I’m tearing my hair out trying to find a bottle that doesn’t leak (the holy grail for small animal owners) and that he can use easily. Help! :help:
 
Sometimes the backwash from eating nuggets then drinking, seizes the bottle spouts up or makes them leak
 
My Peanut (rip) was the same it wasn't till one day I watched him drinking and realised he was gulping so much down that it was running out his mouth. I had to put a rolled up towel down under the bottles and then the drip pad. Lol
 
Make sure when you fill the bottle up that u fill it completely (with no air in it whatsoever). This creates a vacuum and only way water comes out is when the ball moves .. alot of people complain about non drip water bottles dripping but they don't fill them correctly! Only other thing I can think of, a hamster I used to have would put his mouth on the bottle and pull it back and forth letting the water run down him and onto his sawdust. He literally just wanted to empty his bottle!
 
I used to have a pig that thought it was hilarious to shake her water bottle until it was dry and she was stood in a puddle :doh:. I just used to change the fleece and fill up her bottle, but it was annoying.
 
Adelle said:
Make sure when you fill the bottle up that u fill it completely (with no air in it whatsoever). This creates a vacuum and only way water comes out is when the ball moves .. alot of people complain about non drip water bottles dripping but they don't fill them correctly! Only other thing I can think of, a hamster I used to have would put his mouth on the bottle and pull it back and forth letting the water run down him and onto his sawdust. He literally just wanted to empty his bottle!
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:agr: Definitely make sure it is filled to the brim with not large air bubbles stuck, tip the right way up and I always squeeze a little which I find helps start the vacuum.

I use these Ferplast bottles:

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The strange, one of my glass water bottles has a max fill line, about an inch from the top of the bottle. But it is made by kaytee🤔
 
It’s definitely something that Frodo is doing, because Loki’s is fine. He obviously thinks drenching the fleece is funny :td:
I always fill the bottles up to the top, I’ve scrubbed them out in hot water to clean the nozzles, I just can’t find a brand that doesn’t leak. It’s driving me mad! I’m having to change his fleece pretty much everyday because it’s soaking. I’m starting to think he does it on purpose because he loves a fresh fleece!
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Try some sort of drip tray underneath?
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I tried to put a bowl underneath to catch the drips but the bottom of the cage isn’t flat, there’s a little lip all the way around the edge so it kept tipping and the drips went down the side rather than into the bowl. And then because Frodo is a little monster who likes to tip everything over at the best of times it didn’t really work very well.
 
I think I might be inclined to not give him a full bottle. Put an inch in it, he’s not drinking it so he won’t come to harm. And put a pad to soak it up underneath. Maybe once he learns it’s no fun he will stop...?
 
Fozzy44 said:
It’s definitely something that Frodo is doing, because Loki’s is fine. He obviously thinks drenching the fleece is funny :td:
I always fill the bottles up to the top, I’ve scrubbed them out in hot water to clean the nozzles, I just can’t find a brand that doesn’t leak. It’s driving me mad! I’m having to change his fleece pretty much everyday because it’s soaking. I’m starting to think he does it on purpose because he loves a fresh fleece!
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These piggies will do anything to try us slaves!
 
Tigermoth said:
I think I might be inclined to not give him a full bottle. Put an inch in it, he’s not drinking it so he won’t come to harm. And put a pad to soak it up underneath. Maybe once he learns it’s no fun he will stop...?
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Thing is tho he’s obviously thirsty because when I fill it up again he drinks for ages. I’ve watched him and it’s fine when he’s using it so I don’t know what he does when I’m not there 🙈
 
Try squeezing the bottle a little bit, I've had this problem before, I use the bog standard ones that you can get from Wilko's and such, they do ok but do leak and break from time to time, sometimes giving them a little squeeze so a bit of water comes out the end helps.

Is there anything in the nozzle? One of our previous guinea's used to backwash the bottle and there would be food in the nozzle but we have a bottle brush that comes with a mini brush that you can clean the nozzle with.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Sometimes the backwash from eating nuggets then drinking, seizes the bottle spouts up or makes them leak
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We've had pigs that manage to do this. They somehow spit or force food debris up the spout, causing the ball to not be able to make a seal. We now use the sippy 600ml bottles. But there is still the occasional leaker, Ginger is the current culprit. Try cleaning to spout out with a cotton bud, as Betsy mentioned.
 
Guinea Pig Magazine said:
We've had pigs that manage to do this. They somehow spit or force food debris up the spout, causing the ball to not be able to make a seal. We now use the sippy 600ml bottles. But there is still the occasional leaker, Ginger is the current culprit. Try cleaning to spout out with a cotton bud, as Betsy mentioned.
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Ive had one boar that used to do it, since then nothing
 
I’ve cleaned them out a few times. Now I think about it tho... there has been foody bits floating in his bottle before. He must be sticking hay/food in the spout somehow! 🤦🏼‍♀️ I put the Sippy bottle back in last night and he seems to be getting the hang of it now. A good 100ml was gone and the floor wasn’t wet so he must be drinking it.
He’s an adorable little pig but my god he doesn’t half stress me out sometimes haha!
 
If your using fleece bedding get a ceramic bowl for them to use.

I had same problems with water bottles and used the bowl. Just make sure and clean it regularlybor if poop gets into it.
 
I'm having the same problems with the bottles my piggies use. I sit and watch both bottles constantly dripping and I've tried every bottle on the market from the smallest to the largest and it does get annoying when the puppy pads under the vetbed become soaked and I have to change them daily, (each piggy house has 3 pads lining them) If Fozzy44 finds one that doesn't leek PLEASE PLEASE let me know:rant:
 
Skullblits said:
If your using fleece bedding get a ceramic bowl for them to use.

I had same problems with water bottles and used the bowl. Just make sure and clean it regularlybor if poop gets into it.
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Frodo likes to tip his bowls over (and everything else he can get his nose into) so a water bowl instead of a bottle wouldn’t work I don’t think
 
Fozzy44 said:
Frodo likes to tip his bowls over (and everything else he can get his nose into) so a water bowl instead of a bottle wouldn’t work I don’t think
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Try a heavy one?

Or if your handy make abit of a platform for it so it's impossible to tip over?
 
Currently I have 11 water bottles for my hamsters and guinea pigs. I have 6 hamsters and 2 guinea pigs and they each have their own cages with water bottles.
Also, I have extra water bottles for their playpen, carrying case, and in their extra cage for when I clean their cages where they stay until I am done cleaning.

I keep checking on them and make sure water comes out. If I see that not enough water is coming out, I throw them out and get new ones. So I replenish water bottles for my pets regularly.
 
Fozzy44 said:
I’ve cleaned them out a few times. Now I think about it tho... there has been foody bits floating in his bottle before. He must be sticking hay/food in the spout somehow! 🤦🏼‍♀️ I put the Sippy bottle back in last night and he seems to be getting the hang of it now. A good 100ml was gone and the floor wasn’t wet so he must be drinking it.
He’s an adorable little pig but my god he doesn’t half stress me out sometimes haha!
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Don't they all!
 
Seven7 said:
Currently I have 11 water bottles for my hamsters and guinea pigs. I have 6 hamsters and 2 guinea pigs and they each have their own cages with water bottles.
Also, I have extra water bottles for their playpen, carrying case, and in their extra cage for when I clean their cages where they stay until I am done cleaning.

I keep checking on them and make sure water comes out. If I see that not enough water is coming out, I throw them out and get new ones. So I replenish water bottles for my pets regularly.
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I’ve only had my boys for about 4 months and so far they’ve had 8 or 9 different water bottles. Some replacements of the same brand, some different brands. I just feel like it becoming a bit of a joke now to be honest. Getting fed up with wasting money on bottles that leak and soak the pigs bedding. Worries me that they’ll become sick because of the damp
 
munchmonster said:
I'm having the same problems with the bottles my piggies use. I sit and watch both bottles constantly dripping and I've tried every bottle on the market from the smallest to the largest and it does get annoying when the puppy pads under the vetbed become soaked and I have to change them daily, (each piggy house has 3 pads lining them) If Fozzy44 finds one that doesn't leek PLEASE PLEASE let me know:rant:
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The hunt continues my friend!
 
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