Why does my guinea pigs “Vacuum water bottle leak more than my rabbits?”
First, let’s explore what is really leaking. Most often the water bottles are not leaking at all…but the guinea pigs are. Watch a rabbit as it drinks. The rabbit will lick the ball bearing of the Vacuum-Valve bottles with its tongue. The tongue lifts and pushes the ball into the tube, the water is released, and the rabbit catches the water on its tongue to swallow. Rats, mice, ferrets, cats and dogs drink in this same manner. For some reason guinea pigs feel the need to chew their water. So these little critters put their entire open mouth around the end of the tube and chew-chew-chew the ball up and down, shifting it with their lower teeth most of the time. Guinea pigs often also tilt or twist their head to one side or the other while drinking. Observation will show that chewing water is a sloppy technique that allows some water to pass in one side of their little mouths and right out the other side onto the floor of the cage. So, the bottle isn’t leaking, but the guinea pig is! The
