The Defective Glass Water Bottle

My poor girls spent the whole night with hardly any water thanks to a dodgy water bottle. It seemed to be working fine but when I woke up this morning and the water level hadn't changed I realised something wasn't right.

I took the bottle out and gave them a glass ramekin with a shallow amount of water in, then headed to the local pet store for an emergency plastic one to put through the mesh. When I got back the water in the ramekin was gone and my girls started drinking from the new bottle as soon as I put it in.

Living World Glass Water Bottle

After much reading I found that there were quite a few others leaving reviews on glass non-drip pet water bottles stating that they didn't work. I wasn't going to be defeated though as I'm uncertain about using the plastic bottles (even on the outside) after my rats caused a flood with theirs a few years ago. I spent this morning fixing my glass bottle.

Shook the bottle to fill the nozzle and it worked fine until the nozzle was empty. What should have happen next is that bubbles should have risen up through the bottle as it refilled the nozzle. Didn't happen. At first I thought it may have been a defect with the double ball bearing inside but I 'Googled' it and found that it may have been a 'vacuum' problem. Sometimes a super vacuum is created when you tighten the nozzle on to the bottle and this prevents the bubbles and stops the refill of the nozzle. With my fingers crossed I slowly loosened the nozzle until it started to drip. Then I gradually tightened it again until the dripping stopped and then tested it with my finger. No water after about 20 seconds. After a bit of fine tuning I managed to get it to work again. My bottle now has to fitted backwards but I'd rather have that than have wasted £5.

Comments

My Degu Cage Plans

Building a cage to house my degus is starting to take over my life. I've spent weeks jotting things down and thinking of ways to make it as degu proof as possible. The problem is that I could probably spend months just making sure I've thought of everything so I've decided to go for it. This morning I worked out how much material I would need for a basic cage structure to the one below (allowing extra for adjustments) and popped down to my local Wickes to order it all. I will also be adding 2 sets of mesh doors and a mesh roof but I haven't drawn these on the diagram. I've gone for mesh doors as the room it will be in is a few degrees warmer than the rest of the house and it will allow for better air circulation. The RSPCA recommends a minumim CARA (cumulative available running area) of 12,000 sq.cm for 2 degus. Owners recommend a CARA of 17,000 sq.cm so I've gone for a happy medium of around 15,000 sq.cm. Ideally I should have at least 2 levels measur...

How to Make a Fresh Herb Degu Eatery

My 3 degu girls absolutely love eating fresh herbs. Mint, basil, and chives are their favourites and chives seems to be the one they like the most. I've been thinking of ways to enrich their environment so while I was eating my birthday breakfast this morning I set about making what I like to call the Fresh Herb Degu Eatery. A portable herb garden that can be put in their play area for them to nibble on. To make the Fresh Herb Degu Eatery you will need: An empty 2 litre ice cream tub and lid. Wire mesh with holes approx. 13mm Wire cutters Thin wire Pliers Craft Knife Thick Needle Scissors Fresh herbs or herb seeds of your choice Soil or compost It takes approximately an hour to make and can be used straight away with fresh herbs. Of course, if you decided to plant seeds you will have to wait until they have grown. Let's get started… Step 1 — Prepare the Lid & Mesh The first thing you need to do is cut a hole in the ice cream tub lid. I used a c...

Dozing Degus

I can't believe I've had my degus for a month tomorrow. I've been a little busy with work this past week but I thought I'd take time out to share a little video my brother took of the girls chillaxing on Saturday afternoon. About 30 seconds in I open the door for a better view. Enjoy!

The Degu Diaries

Search This Blog