Water bottles

[ladybugga]

I have tried but not been able to find a water bottle that does not leak. Any suggestions on a brand that won't leak, or what I can do to the one I have to fix it? I know my two like to play with it from time to time but at anytime I go up to it I can see it leaking and it just makes such a mess. Thanks.

Jess

[Fay]

Well you can use your regular water bottle but I personally use Ferplast Sippy which from my experience is a lot better:



http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos...o/6845/cat/534

[SoCalCavies]

Unfortunately, I had to buy mine from Petsmart, but they provided a great product for water-bottles at the time. If I had to do it over, I would definitely search for this product online though, just so I don't support petstores in any way...

Mine are no-drip and although pigs can tend to be a little messy with them, they seem to work much better than the others. I used to use the same manufacturer for my bunnies water bottles, but it had a ball in it & it made a LOT of noise. This one is almost silent. I love it.

I hope the pictures help! It's made my "All Living Things", and it's 16oz:



Here's a picture of what the spout looks like:



Good luck!

[TheQueen]

I use a few different kinds, one is a Critter Canteen from Superpet, but personally I wouln't recommend it. My pigs always drink out of the other ones unless for some reason they are empty. I also have a Farnam Pet one that works very well. And then I have one other one that came with a pet store cage I bought way back in the day. Surprisingly, they like that one best!

If you still can't find a bottle that works for you, or even if you do and your pigs still make a mess and spill water all over, you can always put a brick under their bottles. Some pigs think it's funny to push the nozzle and spill water all over the place. If you a have a brick under their bottles it will absorb the water so it won't get your bedding all wet. It can also help keep the pigs' nails trimmed a little bit.

[SoCalCavies]

The Queen: That's neat about the brick!

Hey, while we are on the subject, do you use anything in their cage when it's hot in the summer? I have so much fleece for them now, that I wonder if it will get too hot once the summer comes. Since you were so ingenious with the brick, I thought you might have some ideas for me on how to keep them naturally cool.

I tried getting a floor tile once, but they hated it.

Thanks!

[TheQueen]

Hey, while we are on the subject, do you use anything in their cage when it's hot in the summer? I have so much fleece for them now, that I wonder if it will get too hot once the summer comes. Since you were so ingenious with the brick, I thought you might have some ideas for me on how to keep them naturally cool.

You can definitely keep the fleece in there in the summer; that's what's great about it! It stays warm in the winter, and it's cool in the summer, and not itchy like shavings. Mine love to lay on tiles, but you can also wrap a frozen water bottle in a towel and set it in the cage (or an ice pack) and they can lay against it. Just make sure they can't get to it and chew it. If you have a fan in the room where the pigs are, you can turn it on, even have it facing the cage if you like. Just don't have it too close and don't have it blowing directly into the cage.

You can also give them ice cubes or ice shavings to gnaw on. Smaller pieces are better so that they melt easily in their mouths and don't pose any choking hazards. But they will also lick large cubes they can't break pieces out of. You can also give them bits of frozen or thawed fruit. Mine especially love thawed watermelon and cantaloupe.

I guess it all kind of depends on your own personal temperature, but those are some basic ideas. Hope they help!

[SoCalCavies]

That's fantastic! Thank you so much for the ideas. I love them!

[honeypanda]

My water bottle doesn't leak, but sometimes one of my pigs drops a lot of water when she drinks, so my solution was to buy one of those small kidney-shaped green ceramic dishes - like they sell for anoles and lizards, and put that under the water bottle. It catches any water, which I can mop up with a paper towel, and it's small enough that they don't tip it over if they stand on it.