Posted by abbym on June 12, 2002 at 08:43:00:
In Reply to: Is my water bottle defective? posted by James on June 07, 2002 at 18:06:56:
You need to make sure they have water immediately! I would recommend getting a small pet crock sort of dish that is heavy enough not to tip over when a mouse leans on the side to get a drink. The ones I use are about 2 inches high and 2 inches across, some are heavy plastic, some glazed ceramic, and they only cost about $2 at most any pet store. You then need to find something to set this dish on so that it is elevated about the bedding, but still accessable to the mice. I use a little rubbermaid container that has a lid on it as a platform, and put the water dish on it. The mice can hop onto the rubbermaid container's top, and reach the water without a problem. I have also seen someone suggest a piece of 2 x 4 wood for the same purpose...
Be aware that bedding will still get into the water, and that you should dump out the old water and anything that may have fallen/been put into the water and replace it with fresh water EVERY day. If you have teeny mice (young, or pygmy) you also need to make sure that no one will drown. Some rocks in the bottom of the crock will give allow a mouse that has fallen in to crawl back out.
Hope this helps!
: Hello. I recently purchased a water bottle for my mice. My mice cannot get water to come out of the bottle and 2 of them died from dehydration. Is there any method/procedure that I can do with this water bottle to make it work? I can get the little ball to move and release water, but the mice cannot. If you have any useful suggestions, please post a reply to this message.
