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Chew Proof water bottles?

vanderkm said:
Be aware that a drip system can create problems too. If the water reservoir is large and a leak develops, the entire reservior can empty into a single tub and drown all the mice really quickly. There may be valve systems that provide protection against this, but I know one person who had a whole rack of rodents die when the drip system failed. A small piece of bedding can lodge in the valve so they have to be monitored closely.
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Excellent point Mary. Even with water bottles, the mice sometimes push the shavings up into a pile and causes the ball bearing in the water spout to push back and cause the water bottle to slowly drain.
I've heard of a rodent breeders that have had a drip system cause a flood resulting in the loss of numerous rodents. That's why so far, I have preferred to use water bottles.
 
Oh wow, I hadn't even considered that.. I'll just keep the reservoir small and add water to it daily. I already check them each day anyway so that won't be a problem.
 
If you are happy with water bottles, stay with them. Get good quality glass bottles and stainless steal sipper tubes and you are good to go. The down side is that they need to be checked and refilled everyday. If you have many colonies that may not be practical. It’s also a problem if you should ever take a vacation.

I have my mice in racks with drip waterers. Each bin has a food hopper on it. If I fill all the food hoppers my mice will not need to see me again for a month. They will stink to high heaven when I get back but they will be fine.

It is true that auto water systems sometimes get stuck and drip and will flood out a colony if nobody notices. I would guess that over the last 15 years it has happened to me 3 or 4 times. It bugs me, makes me mad when it happens, but not as much as washing and refilling 100 water bottles every morning.
 
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