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Post by degulover21 on Aug 22, 2017 2:55:18 GMT
I take my time rising and washing the degus water bottles but tonight I spotted green stuff stuck inside the water bottle I quick went and tried to wash it but it wouldn't go so I threw it but I had no more bottles, hazel and coco bottle was fine just snowballs and fudged so I used there feeding bowl for water, will the green stuff have hurt them, I don't know if the water bowl was the right thing to do, tomorrow I'm buying them both new water bottles
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 22, 2017 15:30:56 GMT
A bottle brush would have been needed to get that out. It was likely algae growing. I don't think it would hurt them, unless it got really thick, but by that time the smell of it would have had you doing something desperate. Algae flavors the water and it isn't pleasant. Hot salt water poured in, agitated around and sitting for a bit, and letting it dry completely should kill it.
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Post by bouncy on Aug 22, 2017 15:59:07 GMT
Agree with DC. It was algae, and will always grow in water bottles exposed to sunlight. It's an example of earliest life in our world, with microbes in the water using the sunlight to grow, turning green through photosynthesis (isn't science great!) Cleaning can either be by putting something abrasive in the bottle with water, and then shaking it, or by using a bottle brush. The brush will look like plastic coated wire, twisted, with bristles twisted into one end. For an abrasive, try uncooked rice! EDIT: Forgot to say, the algae won't harm the goos, so don't worry
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Post by degulover21 on Aug 22, 2017 19:54:50 GMT
Thanks guys, I brought them both new bottles.
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Post by savvy on Aug 22, 2017 20:11:55 GMT
Never hurts to keep spare bottles in DL21. You never know when you'll need one.
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 22, 2017 20:52:15 GMT
LOL! I usually had three extra bottles on hand for "just in case," and at one time . . . I'll bet I had at least a half dozen. My husband wasn't very happy with me. LOL! But hey . . . I had all potentials covered and there were times I needed them all!!
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Post by bouncy on Aug 22, 2017 21:15:38 GMT
Sods law they all started dripping at the same time!
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Post by Emziedee on Aug 22, 2017 23:05:46 GMT
I notice that in Tibb's plastic bottle! Never in Garf's glass bottle. I use some small ball bearings and give it a good shake around when I'm rinsing it out but also have the bottle brush I think from zooplus? It has a big end and a smaller end to use in the bottle top
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Post by Emziedee on Aug 22, 2017 23:06:53 GMT
If it's plastic though, don't do what I did and pour boiling water inside!! Warped the bottle and now it's a funny shape lol
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Post by bouncy on Aug 23, 2017 0:10:47 GMT
Doh!
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 23, 2017 0:46:25 GMT
Yes . . . they did all drip and then we would rotate them round to find the least drippy ones. I think they are as temperamental as the degus they serve!!
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Post by randomname on Aug 23, 2017 1:46:30 GMT
My routine for bottle cleaning is a good rinse with hot water daily when I refill, then once a week when I clean the cages I soak the bottles in mega hot water, a drop of pet safe disinfectant & a bit of washing up liquid for a couple of hours. Then I use a bottle brush & rinse obsessively for a while.
I've never had any green in any of my bottles but a lot of the animals that come to me have green bottles, way worse than yours I'm sure DL21. Just make sure once a week you scrub them out, it'll be fine.
2 interesting things about water bottles - one is that you need to change the water every day due to backwash. This is where bits from the animals' mouths is somehow sent into the bottle when they drink. I have no idea how, but if you google it, you'll see it's very common. My rabbits & g.pigs leave a cloudy green residue in their bottles after eating nuggets, you can see it floating. I haven't seen it in the degus bottle, but that might be because it's too small to see. Second is that water bottles should be changed yearly. I didn't know this until a few years ago, was talking to the Crystal brand people of FB & they said all manufacturers recommend replacing them after 12 months due to the bottles degrading & leaching chemicals into the water. Also the ball bearings in the nozzle tend not to last longer than a year. Maybe it's just to sell a few more bottles, but it's worth knowing. Am I the only person who didn't know this?!
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Post by savvy on Aug 23, 2017 8:45:41 GMT
Bumblebee has a glass bottle (Living World) which means it doesn't have the chemicals found in plastic bottles and does withstand very hot water better.
They come with a little carrot thingy which shows the water level.
I'm swapping Dixie to one in the next couple of weeks.
As an aside, does anyone know if sternest tablets, the sort used for dentures, are degu safe? I use them a lot for tea and coffee stains etc, so wondered if I could use them on the bottles. They would be rinsed well afterwards of course.
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Post by bouncy on Aug 23, 2017 8:56:31 GMT
savvy I'd personally use something safer. Thinking back to my childhood, how about Milton fluid? I use it for my Sigg bottles, and it's great. randomname the backwash into the bottles is because of the way they work. The animals lick the ball to get the water. This releases stuff from their mouths onto the ball, which is also pulling in air to replace the water. Most often, the spout stops working well because of hard water caulk. Most plastic bottles have removable and reversible spouts to prolong their life. Just pull it out, and pop the opposite end back in again! Never tried to descale them, though.
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Post by savvy on Aug 23, 2017 9:06:40 GMT
I won't have anything by Proctor & Gamble in the house Bouncy.
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Post by bouncy on Aug 23, 2017 9:17:39 GMT
No worries. There's a few others out there to try too EDIT: originally, I think Milton fluid was from Jayes (certainly still was in the early 80s), but got bought up.
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Post by randomname on Aug 23, 2017 9:22:11 GMT
Superdrug sterilising fluid is not tested on animals & doesn't contain animals, as is Sainsburys if that's helpful Savvycat Edit : not going to say which one, but one of my guys came with one of those living world bottles. They look pretty cool, but this one was properly green & mouldy. Was all over the inside. I couldn't bring myself to clean it so I binned it. I've seen some pretty manky bottles
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Post by bouncy on Aug 23, 2017 9:33:59 GMT
Yeah. Any bottle has the capacity to go green or mouldy, by the very nature of what happens with water and sunlight. Oh, and neglect
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2017 9:46:06 GMT
Ditto here. I use plastic bottles never had an issue. The one glass one - a living world one - came green and nasty, managed to scrub it beautifully though. Still think I prefer the plastic bottles, they just seem a lot easier to me?
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Post by savvy on Aug 23, 2017 9:56:17 GMT
I like glass over plastic I must admit, also because they can't chew through it, lol.
P&G are taking over so much now it's getting hard to do the housework. I'll pop into Superdrug later.
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