I have been using a water bowl (bird bowl attached to the bars off the ground) as well as bottles in my cage for the past few weeks. However after reading a few posts I am unsure I am doing the right thing. I understand the fouling issues which is why the water is off the ground and I have never seen the my 2 boys run across it and have never found poops in it.
This is the post that worries me the most.
Is this true?? I do find it hard to believe. Please HELP!Originally Posted by Haley0489
Hello
I posted the idea of the water bowl,
I have only ever used a bowl my girls can not use a bottle no matter how hard i try.
All I can say is that if they lived in the wild the water they drink would not come from a bottle.
My step father has had g'pigs all his life and has never herd of this.
Yes i no about the issues with the poo and depree in the bowl I change the water 3 timea a day and it works best for me
Thats what I thought. But I thought I'd better check I wasn't inadvertently putting my pigs at risik.
Some pigs do have a hard time drinking without inhaling it into their lungs. Bottles are a safer, healthier option. Is there a reason you feel you need a bowl in addition to the bottles?
About the comment of pigs in the wild. You really can't compare the domestic cavy to their wild ancestors, they are so bred and domesticated by humans. Pigs in the wild wouldn't have fancy hair types and colours, look, or act like the pigs we know. They'd also live outside, forage for whatever grasses they could find, and be hunted by predators, none of which are appropriate in terms of pet care. They also wouldn't drink out of a plastic bowl or live in a cage.
[quote=PixieStix;380045]Some pigs do have a hard time drinking without inhaling it into their lungs. Bottles are a safer, healthier option. Is there a reason you feel you need a bowl in addition to the bottles?
I am assuming that my pigs are the pigs that have no problem. I keep both as I am hoping that they will get the idea of the bottles. Every lap time I get the bottle out and show them how to use it and the kind of lick at it but thats it. Even when I leave to bowl out of the cage, they do not use it independently even if I position it so that it is dripping (into a bowl which I then empty frequently so they can't use it). So I am concerned about their water intake.
On a warm day (the majority of houses in New Zealand do not have air conditioning) even with cooling devises I feel that wet veges twice a day is not enough water intake. Especially as they drink a lot from their bowls.
As for comparing wild to domesticated animals. Domesticated animals keep the majority of thier basic insitincts. Which include prey drive in animals such as cats etc, drinking, eating and prey instincts (like how guinea pigs run away from 'scary' things). I feel that my Guinea Pigs are finding it hard to learn how to use the bottle and are relying on their natural instinct to drink from a pool of water (aka the bowl which is simulating this).
I feel it is all based on the individual pigs needs. I myself use bottles for pigs that are babies or that come to me young. However I have had pigs that came to me from bad conditions that would not drink from a bottle. I went bonkers thinking I did something wrong because they wouldnt drinnk from the bottle. I always to this day place 4 bottles in the cage all over the place, but they do not touch it and drink from the bowl.
I understand that a bottle is more hygenic, however I dont see what is bad about a bowl, only if you are there to change the water frequently. My piggies have the occasional hay in there and a long time ago they had a poo in there. But they are piggies so I cant blame them for that. And even if they had a poopie in thier water bowl for lets say ten minutes till I found it, The bowl is cleaned out and scrubbed and freshend with new water.
I never heard of a piggy inhaling the water into their lungs. I asked my vet who personally said, "Yes, Im not going to say it can not happen, But that can happen to any cavy when they are getting syringe fed, or to a baby nursing. Now I agree a bit with my vet.
I would keep trying the bottle, but it can all be because that is how the cavy feels it wants to drink. I treat my piggies like humans and allow them to show me what they like. I never had a problem with a bowl. However I do not have all my piggies using them. But there is 3 that do.
I know of a woman in NY that uses only water bowls. She hasnt had any problems and is older. So I think it's all in each person views and also piggy preference. So maybe get in touch with someone that uses bowls alot and they can give you thier opinion as well.
Every person has their own values and care preferences. Of course we will disagree alot on most things, but that is what makes us all human beings.
If I ever read that there is deaths or fatalities due to bowl uses in guinea pigs I will be the first person to start syringe feeding the piggies their water to ensure proper water intake until they got onto the bottle thing, which would take a long time.
Thank you I feel a lot better. I just spent the day in the room with the pigs and took out the bowl for most of the day. Smudge sniffed at one of the bottles once but didn't drink anything. I am just about to refill the bowl and put it back in. This will tell me if they need more to drink than just their veges.
Edit: Both boys drank from the bowl within 1 minute of me putting it in. For now I will be sticking to the bowl.
Last edited by sammy_kaye; 08-26-08 at 09:24 pm. Reason: adding
After weeks of perserverence both piggies are consistantly drinking from their water bottle. They seem to prefer one over the other so I will be getting another couple like the one they like. I am pleased that I will be able to take the bowl out as over the past few days, since the weather has been warmer, they have been playing with the water.
Abby came from a man who bred Guinea Pigs for snake food. Apparently she's used to drinking from a bowl. I was upset yesterday because I noticed her water bottle went untouched (I used water bottles only when I had my two boars, with great success). I didn't want her to dehydrate, so I took a very shallow, ceramic kitten food dish and put some filtered water in it. She came running out of her Pigloo and took a big drink.
She didn't seem to have any problems with it, although I want to ween her off of the bowl and switch to the bottle. So, what I'm doing is every so often I am scooting her dish closer and closer to her water bottle in hopes of her getting used to the idea of, "oh, this is where I go when I'm thirsty."
I had my boys water dish under the water bottles to catch the drips. I think what got them to drink I think was showing them what to do. I took the bottle out of the cage and held it in front of them. I also pushed it very gently just above their nose so that they would feel the ball depress and water come out. It took several tries but they have got it now and I have no water dish.
I keep hoping Abby will get to that point. I tried that tonight. I had placed her water bowl underneath the bottle's spout hoping it would entice her to go to that general vicinity to get a drink. But, alas, she acted intimidated by it and when I went to place my finger under the spout to show her the water she made a hasty retreat to her pigloo.
But I'm being patient. It is only her second day here and she's used to drinking from a bowl exclusively. I'm going to keep trying because bottles are definitely superior to bowls.
I've had my boys for about 2 months now and they have only just go it. I showed them for a few weeks before they got it. They only today started to drink from the other bottle, the spouts were different so I think they didn't realise that it was a bottle to drink from.
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