Water Bottles: Question about water bottle

[Duffinvt]

Please don't think I am dense, but I have never used a water bottle before. I have the the bottles with metal spout that my pigs have used for the past year. I don't see that they are getting water out of it. We bought a second bottle, unfortunately the pet store only had the exact same bottle. Same thing. They go up and seem to chew on the end of the spout but I am not sure they are getting water ! My husband examined the bottle and thought it was air locked. He thinks putting a pin hole in the bottle will help. When I refill the bottle they do seem to be able to drink, but then it seems to become difficult for them to get water. I have a small dish of water in the cage just in case they are not getting water from the bottle. Maybe all is perfectly normal, I am just not sure how these things work.

[Laura_Leigh]

can you post a picture of the water bottle in question? There are several different types and we may be able to work a bit better from that.

[trump_cinnamon]

When you fill the water bottle all the way up, does the water go down in a day? It usually doesn't go down that much, but it should be a noticeable amount, depending on the width of the bottle in question.

The fact that they go up to it and bite it does lead me to believe that they get water from it, as that shows they know water comes from that spout. If they aren't drinking from the bowl, that would also be a sign that the water bottle is fine. What you described your pigs doing with the water bottle sounds like what my pigs do, and they get water, so once again, it is probably fine. Like Laura_Leigh said, if you post a picture or say what brand of water bottle it is, that might help.

I find that the LM Animal farm water bottles do not work well, and neither do the PetCo brand. (But I never buy anything from petco anymore.)

[Duffinvt]

I put some pictures in my personal album in my profile.

The water does not go down at all and I don't really see the piggies at the bottles much at all. They seem to have given up on the. I usually have a bowl in the cage with water (that's the one I picked up and put on the lid for the sake of the picture), but I don't think they have ever drunk from a bowl. They did drink out of the first bottle when I got them- they were in a cage. So perhaps the bottle attached differently when on c&c cage? Can that be?

[JD In Van]

They'd be dead or distressed within a couple days if they weren't getting any water. Are they peeing? If so they're not dehydrated.

Don't worry too much. I got ahuge 32 oz bottle thinking my boys would drink like mad but I don't think they go through more then an oz a day and it's only one of them whom I've seen use it regularly. The other rarely seems to touch it. He seems to prefer to get his water from cucumber and zucchini slices.

I did though just look at your pictures and I think your bottles may be tilted too far back. They should be fairly up right against the side of the cage for the whole system to work.

[Duffinvt]

Thanks so much JD. On a hunch I dug out the old water bottle that the former owner said was "drippy". Within minutes of hanging it, Busy was drinking! The new bottle and the one I bought are both "no drip" so perhaps the pigs were used to the one that was easier to drink from. I will put a fleece over washcloth pad under it and let them drink away. Yes, they were peeing and get lots of water from their veggies, but I just suspected they would drink more if they had a good water bottle. And I suppose, like us, the more water they drink, the healthier they are?

[heartpiggies]

By any chance, are you talking about a Critter Canteen water bottle? I have had repeated issues with that brand. Basically, the no drip mechanism works so well that the animals usually can't get much water. If you're worried about their intake...try another bottle. Adequate hydration is so important and there are so many brands and styles of bottles on the market to experiment with. I've switched bottles multiple times LOL.