# Faulty Water Bottle, Dehydrated Mice?



## YuukikoOgawa (Jul 26, 2013)

I had gotten a new glass water bottle for my mice at Petco last week, so I could rotate the two bottles through the fridge while the temperature stayed high.

However, for the last several days, I've been kept awake all night listening to my mice fighting with the darn thing and making a really obnoxious racket.

I finally had enough and checked the bottle at about 2:30 am this morning. I tapped at the little ball bearing a few times, trying to mimic how the mice would use it, and I couldn't get any water out of it at all! The bottle was filled correctly, but nothing was coming out. (Is this the way to make sure the bottle is working?)

I've switched the original plastic bottle back in, and they were climbing over each other and shoving each other out of the way to get to it.

My concern is, what are the signs that a mouse is dehydrated? Should I get mine in to the vet or should I wait a bit and just watch them to make they're all right? I don't know exactly when the glass bottle stopped working or how long they've been without water.

Thankfully, I still have the packaging and the receipt for that glass bottle, so I can return it. It was Super Pet brand I think; has anyone else had issues with that brand or model?


----------



## athiena14 (Jun 20, 2013)

I know what kind of bottle your talking about, I had one too and it was quiet faulty. I noticed when mine got really overheated from the car trip home from the store, it seemed to have "Sweated" which the face had gotten damp and heavy breathing and lethargic.


----------



## YuukikoOgawa (Jul 26, 2013)

Okay, thankfully I haven't noticed any dampness around the face or heavy breathing.

Not sure about lethargy, since they tend to sleep during the day and they get really active at night. When they're active at night though, they're REALLY active, so I guess no lethargy so far.

I'm really surprised that the cheaper plastic water bottles are working out so much better than the nicer glass ones. What gives?


----------



## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

A dehydrated mouse will have a skinny tail where you can feel all the joints(?). Their fur will get scruffy-looking, and some will even lose some weight.
What athiana14 describes as "sweat" (mice can't sweat) is actually them drooling on themselves to keep cool. I've had this as well when picking up mice on a warm day in a warm car.


----------



## thammy24 (Dec 20, 2012)

You grab a pencil or something and give the little ball a hard jab, that should make it work better. sometimes the spring inside is too new and stiff for mice to be able to move the ball. doesn't hurt to try.


----------



## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

I have two of those. One I took back for an exchange because it was faulty in the ball/tube area. The amount of lost sleep from just those two water bottles was annoying. If I hear any drinking past more than a couple seconds, I get up. Tends to mean something is wrong.

Usually the way to get a new one of those double ball sipper tubes to work, is bang the tube part against your hand, until you hear/see the bubbling to the top. Those didn't work that way, and required some fussy tight/not tight fiddling. They did eventually work, but now they sit on a box, while I either use the Lixit flip top (valve tube tip) or the critter canteen plastic cheapies that always work.

From what I understand, a dehydrated mouse has a non-plump tail, and ruffled fur. Visually as a sick mouse, but no sneezing, like what Fantasia described.


----------



## athiena14 (Jun 20, 2013)

know they don't sweat, that's why it was in " "...


----------



## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

athiena14 said:


> know they don't sweat, that's why it was in " "...


I'm sorry if you misunderstood what I meant, I didn't imply that you didn't know.  I was just explaining it further in case Yuuki or anyone else reading it didn't know.


----------



## YuukikoOgawa (Jul 26, 2013)

Thanks for all the tips!

Luckily, I didn't have the glass bottle in there for very long, so I don't think they got too badly dehydrated from it. They went a little crazy desperate for the plastic bottle once it was back in, but after an hour or so they were back to normal drinking patterns.

I think for now I am going to steer clear of those glass bottles. They don't seem to be really worth the extra price.


----------



## NikiP (May 7, 2013)

This place has super cheap bottles! Regularly run discounts & free/reduced shipping.

http://www.petmountain.com/category/938 ... erers.html

Last time I had a bottle issue I bought a couple of bottles locally to try then ordered 15 to replace all. Personally I like the Oasis brand.

PS, everything on there is pretty cheap! I stocked up on bird food as they carried our parrot's brand. It seems to be mostly closeout kind of stuff.


----------



## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

NikiP, that is where I get mine too.  I get the 8 oz 12 packs, and the 4 oz 12 packs. Then promptly swap the 8 oz spring tubes with the 4 oz double ball. So I have nice, low noise volume, 4 oz water bottles.  (Then I have an excess of loud 8 oz bottles sitting in a closet, but whatever.)

I was a huge Oasis fan years back. If a store didn't stock them, I would leave and come back later, instead of taking whatever they said was just as good. hehe. They are probably really great still. Because I feed soaked food, it works out better to use 4 oz bottles these days instead of 8 oz.


----------

