Rodent Water Valve Help Needed

[whitewolfluna]

I finally got myself set up with my first mouse rack. Everything works beautifully, except one thing. My mice have no clue how to drink from the water valves. I've tried leaving them in there for a 4 days to figure it out but they just couldn't catch on so I ended up having to move all the mice to a sterilite bin as I don't have bottles for each bin. I've tried placing peanut butter on the stem of the valve to encourage them to chew on it but all they did was lick the PB off and lost interest in the valve. I got the valves from Reptile Basics. They said they were good for both rats and mice but I'm just not sure if the mice have the strength to move the stem.

Here's what the valves look like:


I'm new to gravity watering systems and I have no clue what else to do to get them drinking from the valves. I'd hate to have to get water bottles for each bin after the money I've spent on the watering system. Any advice and tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!

[Mike41793]

I'm not sure how smart mice are but is it possible to show them you pushing on it to give them the idea? Try contacting rich at reptile basics and see if he has any suggestions.

[Darkbird]

Yeah, not sure about with mice, but i just had to show a breeder holdback rat how the valves work. When you put the mice in the rack, make sure there is a drop of water around the tip of the valve. Just push it with your finger. It may take a few tries, but they should eventually catch on, and at least with rats when one gets it the others will learn. Just make sure you some moisture on the tip of the valve, thats what happened with mine. Cage was empty for a bit, valve was dry, and he was taken from a holding bin with a bottle. Once i got a drop hanging from the valve and showed him where it was he picked it right up.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Mice can use those valve just fine, I breed both mice and rats and all my racks are equipped with valved, I never even showed any animals how to use those they simply do.

You can push the stem and let water run so they see where it comes from and it will in no doubt do the trick.

[whitewolfluna]

I did the finger trick a few times, they would lap up the water but wouldn't know how to get more out of it. I'll keep trying that and hopefully they will catch on at some point. Thank you all for the replies, it's greatly appreciate it!

[Rhasputin]

If they've licked the peanut butter off, and then not used the valve again, it might not be working properly.

Mice go downhill really quickly without water, they should learn how to use it. Just 24 hours with no water can kill a mouse on a bad day, so they're likely either using it when you're not looking, or it's not working properly.

[Darkbird]

Doubt theres any issue with the valves, more likely they're using it already. Once they know water comes from the valve they will naturally try and chew it to get more, and eventually they bump the valve enough to get the hang of it.

[whitewolfluna]

Thanks guys. Yea, the valves work properly. It only takes a wee bit of pressure on the stem to get water out and seal up with no leaking when not in use. A couple of the mice I got were pregnant so I didn't want to chance losing them and the babies, but sadly even though I saved them they ate all the babies in both litters. So I will be putting them back in the rack in the next few days. Maybe try to set up my camera to try and catch them drinking. I know for sure the mice in 2 of the four bins I had some in were bright and perky when I took them out after 4 days in, so I believe you're right about them drinking when I'm not watching. The mice in the other bins were pretty dehydrated, so I don't think(if they were using the valves) that they were getting enough water from them, but I don't think they were using them at all, just getting the water from when I would go in there and try to show them how to get water. I would do it multiple times a day so maybe that little bit was keeping them going? Not sure. But I'm going to try again, I can't give up now. I've included a pic of my setup. 6 bins total, I'll have the option to fill it with females, but seeing as I only have two snakes I'll leave the bottom to house the male. After building the rack the bins were kind of loose so we installed bungee cords and eye hooks to keep them snug. I'm hoping one day to get into sand boas but I just don't have the room right now, but when I ever do there will be mice a plenty(I hope).

[Rhasputin]

Looks good. What I wouldn't do for a gravity fed water system right now.

What's in the green glowy tank off to the side there?

[whitewolfluna]

Thanks! Four Black Skirt Tetras, only fish that ever survived in there. All the other things I put in there dies, but those I've had for years. I'm starting to think they're what's killing everything else, tetras do tend to be on the semi-aggressive side. It's getting near cleaning day so the glass hood is a little green.