PVC Pipe Water Bottle Holders?

[cchardwick]

So I'm raising rats, mice, and ASFs in glass aquariums and have been running into a few problems... I'm putting Velcro on the water bottles and on the sides of the tank, working pretty good so far to hold up the water bottles but I'm finding that after sterilizing the tanks and washing them out every week that the Velcro on the tank is failing (after being wet) and needs to be replaced fairly often. Also, the rats are starting to chew up and eat the Velcro on the sides of the tank. So I was thinking... has anyone ever seen water bottle stands made from PVC pipe? Seems like they would be pretty easy to make, just cut a PVC pipe to length, drill a hole for the nipple to go through, and maybe glue it to a small piece of wood or plastic to keep it upright in the tank. Since I have several different size water bottles I'd probably need several sizes of PVC pipe stands. Any thoughts?

I'm also finding that under the hides the rats / mice / ASFs are pushing out all the bedding, then end up sitting on glass. I think it kind of freaks them out seemingly being suspended in mid air, so they end up sitting in a corner outside of the hide. Anyone using glass tanks and do you put anything on the bottom of the tank under the bedding? I'm thinking cardboard but that would be a pain to cut to size every week... newspaper may work but they would probably chew it up real fast...

[Sirrush]

I actually made a water bottle holder out of hardware cloth and wire, has a smaller footprint, is chewproof, and (generally) easier to hang.


Edit:and on the bedding problem, my asf's actually pull all their bedding INTO the hides, so I am not much help there. However, you COULD glue cardboard underneath the tank so that the bottom doesn't have that floating effect.

[Caspian]

Not sure on the water bottles, other than that it seems like they'd probably just knock pvc over. I know with mine, I don't worry too much about them using the hides - because invariably, every cage manages to turn their hides upside down, then all the rats pile into the bowl and sleep in them that way. If I turn them right side up again, they all go sleep in the food dish, instead, until their hide is tipped over again.

[cchardwick]

I actually made a water bottle holder out of hardware cloth and wire, has a smaller footprint, is chewproof, and (generally) easier to hang.


Edit:and on the bedding problem, my asf's actually pull all their bedding INTO the hides, so I am not much help there. However, you COULD glue cardboard underneath the tank so that the bottom doesn't have that floating effect.

Can you post a photo of your hardware cloth bottle holder? Just had a rat chew through one of my plastic bottles today, need something fast!

[Sirrush]

Can you post a photo of your hardware cloth bottle holder? Just had a rat chew through one of my plastic bottles today, need something fast!

Sure, though it is extremely simplistic, I just cut it to the bare minimum size for the holders that came with my bottle (bought a glass one) and then just attached a length of wire (actually the wire holding the roll of hardware cloth together of all things), and hooked it over the side with enough length to counter the weight of the bottle... Which took a lot less than I expected, hence the zip ties hanging off of it (originally had a weight attached to them before I noticed it wasn't needed at all).