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Living World Glass Water Bottle
by WackoStepho
I bought 3 of these bottles for my guinea pig cages some months ago now and as of today only 1 of them is currently still working. I've always preferred the thought of glass bottles as not only are they far more hygienic; in my opinion they also keep the water fresher for longer, unlike plastic that might leech into the water and alter ... the taste, making your pet less inclined to drink it. In my experience, plastic bottles also tend to discolour and become dirty far more quickly. There are downsides to glass bottles though, the first being that they are generally far more expensive than their cheap plastic cousins, secondly if they are dropped you can count on them to smash to smithereens or at best, crack and break in two, whereas plastic ones are a lot more durable and tend to survive hitting the deck, whether that be carpetting or sturdy stone tiles.
Over the years I have spent countless pounds and pennies in the quest for water bottles that do not leak, some start dripping from the moment they are set up whilst others slowly decline, seeming perfect to begin with but after a couple weeks of usage turn into gushing monstrosities that completely ruin and soak a freshly cleaned cage but to my dismay. I had heard quite positive reviews on these bottles by Living World so decided to give them a go, picking 3 of the 355ml (12 oz) varieties at the princely sum of £5.99 each.
I was attracted to these bottles for a variety of reasons as not only are they made out of glass, they also possess long spouts; if you put your bottles on the outside of your cage like I do you'll realise that shorter spouts don't reach very far into the cage and can make it harder for your pet to drink from. In this case the spout reaches in at a fair distance and so your pet can easily put their mouth round it and drink. These bottles also happen to very handily come with 2 means of attaching them to the cage, a nifty metal holder as well as a spring device that holds it in place and fits nicely into a ridge manufactured into the glass.
For the week or so all 3 bottles worked a treat, dripped occasionally but remained leak free and all the pigs seemed to like them, I noticed that the amount they were drinking had increased slightly which made me wonder if the water tasted better from the glass as opposed to the plastic as I mentioned previously at the beginning of this review. One of the bottles then began to leak incessantly, it hadn't been dropped and I was slightly perplexed, until on closer inspection I discovered that the little rubber washer in the screw cap attached to the spout had eroded and start to split. I didn't know where I could find another washer that would fit and be animal safe so I had to revert to using a plastic bottle. The second bottle to break did so like the first, appearing to be a leaky washer or some other malfunction.
I love the concept of these bottles (and also the cute little floating carrots) but they really aren't made to last and at £5.99 each I expected a far better quality product for my money, strangely enough one of the bottles is still going strong but at the price I daren't replace the ones that have broken incase history repeats itself and I am left with yet more disastrously drippy bottles that don't serve their function. Back to the drawing board please, Living World!
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Trixie Metal Salad Rack
by WackoStepho
As anyone who has read my profile or any of my previous reviews will be aware, I am the owner of 5 guinea pigs... or rather in this instance they own me! My boys make up quite a large chunk of my life and I will be the first to admit that they are indeed quite spoilt. I use fleece bedding for my boys and whilst it is lovely and soft for ... their little paws the downside is that hay doesn't half stick to it, this is a nightmare come washing day as despite vigorous shaking and sweeping with a bristle brush, little hay bits always remain and there is always the worry that the washer will clog up with the stuff.
To try and relieve the problem I use racks in my cages rather than piling the hay up in a corner as I used to do, I also have litter trays underneath the racks to try and contain the hay further. For some reason my boys are rather fussy when it comes to racks and I have tried numerous types and varieties over the years, they aren't keen on ones with only small gaps as these make it harder for them to pull the hay out, being rather lazy piggies mine tend to give up and sulk instead of perservering.
One of the hay racks I have had success with is this one by the french brand, Trixie. I bought mine a couple of years ago from zooplus and at the time I recall it costing me less than £3.00. The rack is meant for holding salad, vegetables and the like but I find it just fine for hay, the wider spacing between the bars means that the piggies can easily pull the hay out from the bottom and sides but the hay is contained and doesn't just drop out messily on the floor of the cage.
The rack itself is constructed out of strong metal; it's sturdy and not something flimsy that is easily bendable or broken. It also has nifty little hooks for holding it on to the bars of the cage; my boys are quite boisterous at times and have managed to knock it off on to the cage floor but these instances are few and far between so this doesn't detract from the product. The surface is smooth and I imagine would be easily wiped clean, though as mine only ever has hay in it I haven't really needed to wash it thus far. Another note I would say is that whilst the rack is quite large and you can stuff a fair amount of hay in there, for bunnies or more than one piggy I'd personally invest in more than one rack just to be on the safe side as your pet should always have unlimited amounts of hay and never be without it :)
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