Cleaning Your Pets Water Bottle (Simplified)

Every single time you refill your guinea pigs waterbottles. Here are some simple steps to follow…

*Give them a quick rinse on the inside & outside.*

*1 Empty whatever water is inside the water bottle, Rinse off any debris on the inside and outside of the bottle. (never wait till they’re completely empty. )

*2 fill them up with really hot water and put in on the lid….

*3 shake the water bottle like a crazy person, then dump out the hot water.

*4 use something to wipe and scrub the mouth piece on the outside. Also on that inside of the lid. ( Examples: toilet paper, baby wet wipe, paper towel, washcloth. )

*5 Rinse out the bottle & lid with room temperature water.

*6 Then fill up with room temperature water and put back on cage.

NOTE: Before filling up the water bottle, run your finger on the inside of the water bottle and feel if it is slippery like greasy or if it is clean and you can’t feel any slime.

* If you feel slime then it’s time to stick your water bottles and lids in the dishwasher.

It’s really important to clean your guineapigs water bottle because they can get sick from bacteria.

Common Misinformation

Many people recommend baby bottle brushes to clean the inside of a water bottle but, those should only be used on glass or stainless steel water bottles because of bacteria.  If use in plastic water bottles such as soft PBC, hard acrylic or any other type of plastic bottles; they can become scratched on the inside.  Over time those scratches can harbor grime and dust that you’d have to use a microscope to see.

Most of the scratches happen the very first time but are impossible to notice with the naked eye.  Using a dishwashing machine or boiling hot water won’t get into and clean out those scratches.

To clean the ball inside of the mouthpiece

You can use pipe cleaners, (Yes, like those fuzzy, long sticks you use for arts and crafts) by pushing one end from the mouthpiece through the lid, (Direction: first from the outside to the inside) then flossing it back and forth and around the ball. Don’t forget to fully remove the pipe cleaner and then washout the mouthpiece with running water from your kitchen sink or bathroom.

Bacteria can and will grow; it could harm your pet.

Prevent it from happening by fallowing the Simplified version above ( in the post you are viewing now )  twice, daily.  You should always give your guineapigs clean, new/fresh/filtered water twice, daily and refill when almost empty.

Symptoms of Dirty Water Bottle. 

The first eight symptoms are signs and can easily be reversed by cleaning your guinea pigs water bottle. Please understand that not all of these symptoms will not always happen nor in the order listed below.

  1. Unwilling to drink
  2. Chugging water
  3. Sniffling nose
  4. Dehydration
  5. Sneezing
  6. Coughing
  7. Bad gas
  8. Diarrhea
  9. Throat infection
  10. Mouth breathing (even while asleep)
  11. Respiratory infection (example: pneumonia)
  12. Gastro inflammation (swelling of GI track)
  13. Kidney dysfunction
  14. Kidney stones (calcium build up)
  15. Kidney infection
  16. Intestinal infection
  17. Constipation
  18. Seizures (which can lead to stroke)
  19. Death (eventually, if not treated)

All of this is preventable

simply by cleaning your pet’s water bottle

frequently and in the proper way.

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