Fussy reds chippy / coco and water bottles

[Stevelisa]

Our 2 red girls chippy 9 mos and coco 7 mos are overwintering (they are both spoiled and fussy). We used to put some apple juice diluted with water in their water bottle on side of cage. They loved it and would drink often. But the water bottles dripped all the time... i bought several different brands from the pet store, they all dripped. The drips would wet their pine or paper bedding. After a while the wet juice attracted fruit flies. Searching all over i found drip-proof water bottle on amazon, 3 times the price of the pet store bottles. Got one for each of their cages, it truly is drip-proof. I think there is a tiny rubber o-ring at the end where the metal ball sits, which seals it tighter than std bottles.

Well I put their juice/water mixture in ... they drank some first day then nothing after that. i unhooked the bottle to push the ball in and it squirted all over the place... i think the juice mixture began fermenting and built up pressure in the bottle, which is sealed so well against drips. They probably got a face spray once and they stayed away from it.

So then i just put water only in the bottle to avoid the fermenting/pressure issue. In the last few weeks I've only seen coco drink water out of the bottle once. Chippy never touches it. i change the water everyday, but they still dont touch it.

Would love to hear TSB thoughts on this....DO SQUIRRELS IN THE HOUSE NEED A WATER BOTTLE AND WHAT TO PUT IN IT ?

[Mel1959]

Squirrels in the house definitely need a water bottle. I have only ever put water in a water bottle. They really don’t need any type of juice. If they are scared of the water bottle now, but a shallow dish of water in their cage. Put a few clean marbles or small stones in it so they can lick the water without submerging their nose.

[Stevelisa]

Now that you mention marbles/rocks…I must try that 😊 chippy only takes water from my thermos/mug, she hops on top of it when I’m at my desk, waiting for me to open it. She licks the ice cubes floating in it. Then rubs her chin on my sleeve to dry off lol. It’s amazing how they train us to please them 😊, so smart

[Stevelisa]

Mel thx for advice. They are both sipping from the water bottle spouts now, occasionally when they're thirsty. I think they purposely try to do it when we're not looking lol, but we've caught them a few times