Water bowl problems. Help?

[aurra]

The water bowl is outside the cage. I used the top shelf of the ferret nation cage as a mat. They would always use that floor for a bathroom and make a mess so I just removed it and now they just use the cage as a play place (they are free roam)

My issue is that my big guy plays in the water. Lol he's always wet and so is the mat and sometimes the floor. I have to buy water and I would like it if I didn't have to fill the bowl 4-5 times a day. I started putting less water in the bowl but he's still enjoying the mess making. Does anyone know what to do with this problem.

I was thinking about mounting a water bottle on the wall just in case the other ferrets are thirsty and the bozo emptied the bowl. But that still doesn't solve the mess issue.

[aurra]

I just realized I put this in the wrong section.

[unclejoe]

you get something like a dish pan and put the water bowl in it. there are storage containers designed to slide under beds that would work.
May I ask why you have to buy water, I mean other than your normal water bill? Just curious. We treat water for the aquariums with dechlorinizer, or just leave it sit for a couple days to allow chlorine to gas off before we put in in the tanks.
btw, vitamin C neutralizes chlorine, but don't ask me for ratios.

[LindaM]

The water where I live is very hard, so us and all our animals from hamster to ferret get Dasani or similar for drinking, LOL.

I have a few that enjoy playing in water and snorkeling. I've ended up using a big, heavy ceramic dish for water outside of their cage (since we have a ferret room, the cages are always left open just as a sleeping spot and they have 3 lock crocks in there with extra water) sitting on the lid of a plastic storage container to catch any accidental spill, and there is pretty much always a large, flat plastic Sterilite storage container on the floor filled about half with water (from the tap for this) for them to play and snorkel in, with towels laid under and around it.

I don't have any issues with them splashing the water from their water bowls anymore.

[Sherry]

I put a large metal bowl inside a clean litter box. That way they can splash away, and still have water caught inside the box.

[storm]

Does he look something like This? That was when I first introduced Snowball an her sister to water in a bowl. She was quite taken with it to say the least. She's not a bad now but I have to use large heavy bowls so that she doesn't drag them around and plastic mats help. Though I think that Sherry has the best idea with putting it inside a clean litter box. You wont have to constantly towl up and mop (Like I had too).

[aurra]

I use heavy glass dog bowls. But yes that is exactly what my guy does. He digs to China in it lol. I changed back to a "under the bed" container. I want to try a slow eating metal bowl but I can't find them in stores. I'm going to order one soon.

I have to buy water because I'm on a well. My water is hard and loaded with iron.

[Charlie]

I use a ceramic bowl and Charlie still pushes it around in his cage but he doesn't play in the water. lol

[LindaM]

Thickness and weight of the glass or ceramic bowls can play a huge part in whether it works or not. I have tried some general Pyrex dishes, and they can move those even with water. I ended up using one of my Pyrex casserole dishes for a while, and it had a much heavier, thicker glass than the other Pyrex dishes. Wasn't very pretty though, so I bought a large ceramic dish for them. That dish is now sitting somewhere upstairs without a purpose. I am currently using another ceramic (stoneware type I think) dish, but this one is MUCH heavier than the prior one.
Thankfully, it has saved me from needing to figure out how to pour cement or something else heavy into a wooden or quartz/granite structure and stick a metal bowl into it permanently, which would have worked for all intents and purposes, but have been a bugger to try and clean later on.

[msav]

Apr 21, 2018 12:33:08 GMT -5 aurra said:

I use heavy glass dog bowls. But yes that is exactly what my guy does. He digs to China in it lol. I changed back to a "under the bed" container. I want to try a slow eating metal bowl but I can't find them in stores. I'm going to order one soon.

I have to buy water because I'm on a well. My water is hard and loaded with iron.

We are an a well also. I spent about $170 on a Reverse Osmosis system with UV sterilizer. I added 2 additional Pre-filters on the system a 30 micron and a 20 micron . 

so the system goes like this. from the well tank into the 30 micron to the 20 micron. First filter in R/O system is 10 micron then 5micron carbon then 2 micron then into the R/O membrane then into holding tank. From the holding tank into UV filter then into Final filter that removes off flavors.  

I purchased a 5 gal water dispenser that chills and heats the water and I fill rotate through 4 5 gal bottles of water refilling them with the system. the water is used for dog, Ferrets and People. 

If you buy the filters in Bulk they are about $3-$5 per filter and the 2 pre-filters need replaced every 3 months. The rest of the filters every 6 months. 

If you do go this route. Always buy Filter housings that are clear so you can see when the metal particles are getting close to the Membrane. The filters will turn brown. 

when We first moved in. we were giving the dog well water. Our dog started to stink really bad. we could not figure it out.  Once we switched her to the filtered water she stopped stinking after a couple of weeks. 

I would highly recommend this as it will save you $$ buying water.