I use both water bottles and water bowls because most of my ferrets are
rescues and some insist on drinking their water one way or the other.
I offer both in all cages. What worries me in your case is that your
ferret is drinking a lot of water all at once. Is the water bottle
flowing properly? Does your ferret have a medical condition requiring
attention?

I use both heavy pottery water bowls and the plastic kind that attach
to the cage (Sneaky's cage). The plastic bowl comes off the holder with
a simple twist. I believe both are available through any of the ferret
suppliers online.

For food I use the heavy pottery kind but have also used the plastic
ones that attach to the cage for food with dertermined cage destroyers
(Sneaky again). I seem to remember the J food holders causing big
problems because of furry creatures getting caught inside them, wedged
in, but others on the List with more experience would know.

A note on Sneaky.....she came to me last fall and the idiot owner
handed her to me in a parking lot along with Gem, her cagemate. She
leaped at my face and sunk her teeth into my chin. After prying her off
my face I held her with the scruff of her neck in my mouth until she
settled down, blood dripping onto her, my blouse and the parking lot.
The owner and her friend, who had driven several hours to bring her
to me, stood there with their mouths hanging open (revealing studded
tongues, no offense to anyone). Gem has always been sweet but was newly
acquired by the owners. I have dealt with face biters before and they
take longer to change than others types of biters but none have taken
as long as Sneaky. Her problem was that she was terrified of humans. I
have no idea what was done to this poor creature but it must have been
horrific. Now after months of love and building up her trust she is a
sweetheart. The only thing I did to her was love her but it still took
a long time for her to realise that I was never going to hurt her. When
she was loose in the house and saw people, she would run, hide and
shake. It was very sad. She still has issues, destroys her cage when I
am 5 minutes late in letting her loose in the house or when she wants
immediate attention and doesn't get it. She's a high maintainence
ferret. BUT she no longer bites...she gives kisses. It was a long
road but she finally overcame her past!

On the lighter side about water bowls....I had a ferret named Steve who
would wait until a ferret in the next cage over would back up into a
corner to poop on the bottom level in the old style Midwest cage (that
I hated and replaced with Quality Cages). Steve would then push the
pottery water bowl to the long ramp, down it would slide and SPLASH
all over the pooping ferret in the next cage. Great fun for Steve and
what a mess for me! Then ferrets in the other cage caught on to his
trick and would wait for a ferret to poop in the last cage over....
SPLASH.....another wet ferret and another mess. The ferrets in
the third cage never did the trick because there was no cage on the
other side of them to SPLASH. Ferrets are very smart! Well I had to
end the fun and clamp the bowls to the cages.

Nancy in OR and her 15 fuzzies

[Posted in FML 6310]