Water Bottle Malfunction

[Happi Bun]

I woke up this morning to find the left corner in Dunkin's cage (under the water bottle) soaking wet. The water bottle was bone dry but yet kind of steamy looking inside. I had filled it before going to bed last night. Apparently during the night it had a major malfunction. I cleaned Dunkin's cage, gave him a nice dry blanket (he likes to rest on it) and tried again with the water bottle. It's been fine so far.

Any idea's on what happened? :huh

 

[Maureen Las]

there is ablack ringer that fits into the top of the bottle with the spout
sometimes that ring falls out and if it does and you don't catch it the water will totally leak out;

some bottles need to be filled to the top to function properly. This relates to air pressure within the bottle

some bottles are just plain junk and leak from day 1 for no rhyme or reason

 

[degrassi]

Sometimes the ball in the spout gets stuck in the "open" position. I had a water bottle in my hamster cage that dump itself out. The hamster must have gone for a drink and the ball didn't fall back down to completely close off the spout. I found a soaking cage and a empty bottle.

Did you check the spout/ball before you moved it?

 

[kherrmann3]

I second both of those ideas The ball one is what I've had happen... FREQUENTLY. (Thanks, SuperPet!). I have one bottle that I had to decommission because I can't figure out why it's leaking. It's not the ball, or the ring. Some bottles just are faulty, I think.

One time, the water shot out (of the recently decommissioned bottle) so fast when I put it back up on the cage, that it shot out onto Toby's face! That was a surprised rabbit! He didn't even jump or anything... He just looked at me like, "WHY!?". His face was soaked to the skin. Poor Toby. I felt like such a jerk.

 

[degrassi]

I've also had it where the pressure in the bottle wasn't right and it continuously dripped.

This is why I stopped using the bottle for my rabbit and now use a bowl. There were too many issues with the bottles. Along with the constant licking noise(tiny metal clinking sound) I had to hear during the night as the rabbit is in my bedroom.

 

[Leaf]

degrassi wrote:

I've also had it where the pressure in the bottle wasn't right and it continuously dripped.

This is why I stopped using the bottle for my rabbit and now use a bowl. There were too many issues with the bottles. Along with the constant licking noise(tiny metal clinking sound) I had to hear during the night as the rabbit is in my bedroom.

Mine all have heavy duty water bowls.

 

[werecatrising]

Eck... I hate water bottles. I have one method that works best when I am forced to use one. I fill it all the way to the top and squezze as I turn it upright. This helps form a vacuum..

I am another bowl fan. It is so much easier. Plus I feel that they drink more water that way.

 

[kherrmann3]

I like that clicky sound I can't sleep without there being noise. I've always had pets, though, so that is the product of 15+ years of conditioning!

 

[Happi Bun]

When Dunkin was younger I used a heavy bowl with him, but when I woke up it would always be empty because he drinks so much. That's why I'm using the water bottle. It's the glass kind, so I can turn it over and squeeze it. That's what we do at the rescue with bottles though, it works great!

Thanks for the help.
I'm now positive it just got stuck in the 'open' position.

 

[BSAR]

It has happened to some of my buns a few times. I just filll the water bottle back up, but when it first happens you wonder how they could drink that much, when usually they don't, until you discover the tray full of water!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I feel your pain! I used to use those. After having a few mishaps with them leaking all over my first bun's cage, I switched to bowls! I even returned a bottle and it leaked, so, I was done with 'em. Not sure about what the other's have said about them, I didn't checkthe functioing of the bottlesout, I was a first time bun mom and blamed it on the manufacturerand went Bowl.

Bowls have worked great since then though!

 

[maherwoman]

I totally recommend using an Edstrom Water Buddy. They're water bottles that actually use a valve instead of the ball method. You'd think it'd be a bit difficult for a bun to get used to, but I have yet to have one that didn't figure it out overnight. They don't leak, have a lifetime warranty (I did have one malfunction, and they replaced it for free, and the person I spoke to said that she'd never had to replace one before and apologized profusely), and they're SILENT (which, with having now eight buns, is a NICE feature!). They're really wonderful.

You can sometimes find them in stores, though we haven't been able to find the 32oz size in stores (which we use for all our buns). If you're going to buy one online, I recommend checking around...we get ours for about $15 each, and they're SO worth it to know that they're not leaking!

 

[maherwoman]

Oops! Double post! Sorry, guys! LOL

 

[Happi Bun]

I looked up the Edstrom Water Buddy and it looks great.
I'm going to have to buy one. Thanks!

--Erika ☆

 

[AlabamaWildMan]

maherwoman wrote:

"...I totally recommend using an Edstrom Water Buddy..."

Just found this forum and your great lead on this Watering System.

THANKS so much !! !!

 

[JimD]

I use the Farnam weather resistant bottles.
The plastic is heavier that most regular bottles, and the tube has 2 balls in it.

7out of 8 of my buns use them.

I've been using them for 5 years with only a couple of major mishaps.
Once, a piece of hay got stuck in the tube and the entire bottle leaked out. I cleaned the tube out and I'm still using that bottle.
The other problem was when the balls got stuck and NO water would come out. The bun hadn't eaten it's feed from the night before and I thought it might be the onset of stasis...then I check the bottle and discovered the problem. I cleaned that one too and am still using it.

They sometimes drip a little when I first fill them.
If they get almost empty they also tend to drip some.
It seems like a drop in temperature also causes them to drip some.

 

[AlabamaWildMan]

JimD wrote:

"...Farnam weather resistant bottles..."

I've not heard of those, we've only had these lops since Christmas, and I appreciate the info!