Leaky Bottles

[Beach Bunny]

Every time I get new water bottles they end up leaking! Is there a way yo stop them from leaking? Are they supposed to do that or am doomed to go mad over this? Our poor little dwarf Hotot keeps getting soggy

 

[akane]

Get a bottle with a spring loaded ball like critter canteens. Do not get a bottle with a large lid. They never fail to leak. Only the little screw on tops or the top fill lixits with the valve not the ball. Fill with room temp water (or outside temp depending where you are) because bottles with balls instead of valves work on a vacuum and as the temp changes the vacuum is lost so cold water will leak until it reaches room temp. Make sure you haven't lost any o rings (little rubber rings) that go to your bottles or they will leak. Tighten down the wire to make sure the bottle is sitting as upright as possible and not a huge slant on the cage.

 

[sommrluv]

Some of my bottles I have to squeeze to create the vac or they leak. Is that possibly the reason?

 

[Secuono]

Get the big blue "critter canteens", they are awesome. Just do not over tighten the top, it will either pop off or leak a river! Just tight enough that it's on and not moving is perfect.

 

[Jack]

every bottle is going to leak
A LITTLE
it's not going to hold perfect vacuum, the pressure fluctuates with the temp etc.
BUT the usual reason for a major is damage to the bottle, lid put on wrong or something fouling up the seal, such as ice popping the nipper or cracking the lid (you can fix that with clear silicone seal) or just some crud on the rim.

 

[Beach Bunny]

Thanks everyone

I don't mind a little leak but this is a flood so we are going to try the blue bottles.I've had to blow dry the poor little guy.I would put a bowl in with him but i'm sure he'll find a way to get that all over him too.

 

[akane]

every bottle is going to leak
A LITTLE

I've got a 10 year old lixit bottle that has never given more than a drop right after filling. I was just thinking about it as I filled it along with all the critter canteens yesterday. You can put a brick or bowl under it and you'll never get water whether it's inside or outside with temp changes. The critter canteens are pretty close. They drip a little here and there but that's it. Then I have a few nondescript hamster/gerbil size bottles from the grocery store over the years that are hit or miss. Some leak all over the place from day one, some start leaking after a few months, and a few I've been using for again 10 years without more than a drop or 2 after filling and nothing from then on until it's filled again.

 

[SilverBlaze85]

I have one that I found in the dog-crate aisle... It's thick and heavy and sturdy, and the wide mouth is big enough to slip ice cubes in during the summer, but the balls are light enough Ollie can move them, and they don't seem to leak but a drip.

http://www.petco.com/product/109386/Lix ... ottle.aspx

Huh. So, apparently it's a Lixit. Whodathunkit.

 

[akane]

Even the lixit wide mouth bottle I tried just did not match up to the small opening bottles or top fill valve bottles. Amako had water everywhere 3 different times and it's in a box somewhere now. Usually the lixits are good but I just have no luck with wide mouth bottles. I ended up with a hamster one because petco's selection was limited at best and I'm holding my breath on it. I needed something to fit a specific homemade cage style and that's all they had. I will have to go get more of the white holders I can put critter canteens on from petland before the hamsters and gerbils spread again. One of my gerbil does looks like she swallowed a balloon.