Pink mucus in the water bowl

[mxrider5p]

I just looked in on my female bp and noticed that there seemed to be a pinkish film in the water bowl. It was only a small amount but was floating suspended in the water. I just gave her new water only 5 hours ago so I know its not old. She often slithers through her water on her way from one side of the cage to the other. I dont know what it is and have noticed it in the past. She is extremely healthy and eating great. She is 2 and has never had any problems. I have had multiple fecal samples run to check for parasites and all clean. She just urinated as well and all urine was clean and white with no red at all and i have never seen any pink/red stuff on the aspen, its only in the water bowl. I dont know what it could be. Any help would be great. Thanks.

[rabernet]

The water at my house can leave a pink "film" behind if allowed to sit in a dish for too long (I only deal with it when I've been out of town for a week and come back to clean the critters).

Is it possible you cleaned a bowl and there was a bit dislodged and still in the dish when you re-filled the water dish?

If it's not - then my next concern would be blood from somewhere - if it's from mucus from the mouth, I'd be heading to a vet - as that's highly irregular!

[MarkS]

I've also seen this in waterbowls that have been left sit for too long. I'm not sure what it is either, I've always assumed that it was some kind of bacterial bloom in the water. It doesn't appear to be harmful, but it is unsightly and I don't usually see it if I replace all the water bowls every week. I use deli cups in holders for my water bowls. I'll usually pull all the deli cups once a week and replace them with fresh ones then leave the old ones to sit in a sink full of disinfectant solution overnight. But sometimes things get busy and I can't get it done every week. That's usually when I see this crop up.