Chewing water bottle

[xdawnx]

When I first got my guinea pig he had a water bottle but I don't think her could understand how to use it. If I squeezed the bottle abit so water droplets would come out he'd drink them as fast as he could, his water wasn't going down much so I kept doing this sometimes. He would chew the ball in the bottle and I could see bubbles going up the bottle so I knew he was getting some water. He kept chewing the bottle though and he chewed the plastic holding the metal end in so the metal end fell out so I had to put a dish of water in which he now drinks from. I want to give him a new water bottle to try because hes 7 months old now so might be able to figure it out because I can fill his bowl of water and ten minutes later its can have a pile of sawdust in it and of course and I cant be there to check his waters clean every ten minutes. Do you think I should get a new water bottle but keep using his dish for now aswell to see if he uses the bottle? I obviously dont want to just swap it for a bottle incase he still cant figure out how to use it but dont want to use both if hes going to just keep using the water bowl and ignore the bottle :{ he also knocks the dish over sometimes even though its really heavy so thats another reason I want him to use a bottle.

 

[lynda1]

Hiya, do you mean that the metal ball fell out or was it the long metal bit?
I found that the metal ball came out of the first bottle I had because it was held in by a bit of plastic that they could chew on, not all bottles have this so maybe try a different kind of bottle.
If it was the long metal bit you could try mounting the bottle on the outside of the cage/grid if it is possible.
Sorry cant think of anything else but I know it is difficult with a water bowl, I have put one in with the babies until they are a little older and they just run through it and poo in it as soon as I'm not looking :laluot_21:

 

[Abi_nurse]

Maybe try a new bottle. A bigger one maybe, it seems the bigger bottles are easier to get water out of. You may have had a duff bottle. Not sure what to suggest I'm afraid.

x.

 

[xdawnx]

The guinea pig chewed the plastic which held the long metal thing in so the whole long metal thing kept falling out, Ill have a look around see if I can find a better one x

 

[suem]

I keep buying cheap ones fro asda, and Bertie is killing them, or they dont work. I might have to invest in a super duper one if I can manage to buy it without|) hubby noticing...

 

[gizmo01]

you need to find out why he's chewing the bottle. boredom, teeth, lonliness?

 

[Elitah]

Our spend quite a lot of time with their bottles as well, but they just chew the metal bits at the front. I read that if they drink a lot, it might be a sign for problems, but ours look and seem completely healthy and happy.

 

[xdawnx]

I found one on pet planet which says its chew proof, I might have to invest He's got allsorts to chew, just chooses to chew plastic instead!