If your guinea pig’s water bottle is dirty or you feel like you haven’t cleaned it out in a while then it’s definitely time to try to clean it.
There are basically four simple and good options that you can try that can help clean it out.
To clean out your guinea pig’s water bottle you can rinse it out with water, use a water bottle brush, use water and rice, and you can even use a vinegar and water mixture.
You always want to make sure that their bottle is clean, and each of these options can do a really good job of cleaning the water bottle depending on what you’re trying to clean out or how dirty it is.
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Cleaning Your Guinea Pig’s Water Bottle With Just Water
Cleaning out your guinea pig’s water bottle can be really easy and it usually doesn’t take too long to do most of the time.
Cleaning it out with just water is great for when you haven’t cleaned the water bottle out in a while and there’s not much caked-on mess inside of it.
The first thing that you would have to do is take the dispenser cap off of the water bottle and rinse it in some warm water.
This will do a good job of cleaning and clearing out any obstructions from the dispenser so that it’s clean and the water will flow properly.
Once that’s done, then you can fill about half of the bottle with warm water and place the cap back on it.
Start to shake the bottle for about a minute or more depending on how dirty the water bottle is, and once you’re done shaking the water around inside the bottle then you can empty it.
You can then put more water back into the bottle to rinse it out and this is something that you can do a few times a week.
Cleaning Your Guinea Pig’s Water Bottle With A Bottle Brush
Sometimes cleaning your guinea pig’s water bottle out with just water isn’t enough and you need something that can help clean it a little more thoroughly.
If that’s the case, then you can use a water bottle brush to really get the job done.
If you don’t have a water bottle brush then that’s fine, you can always clean out their bottle with just water for now while you get the brush later.
You’ll want to get a quality water bottle brush that can fit into small bottles like this bottle cleaning brush on Amazon. Just make sure to get one with a good amount of bristles and the right size for your guinea pig’s bottle.
So to clean your guinea pig’s water bottle with a bottle brush you first need to take off the dispenser cap and then insert the brush into the bottle.
Take a few minutes to use the brush to scrape the insides of the water bottle until it’s fully clean.
Then you can remove the brush from the bottle and rinse out your guinea pig’s water bottle a few times.
Cleaning Your Guinea Pig’s Water Bottle With Rice
If just water isn’t enough and you don’t have a water bottle brush then another way that you can clean out your guinea pig’s water bottle is with rice.
The rice can do a good job of getting to some of the harder to clean areas of the bottle.
All you would need to do is get some dry white rice and put it into the bottle and you shouldn’t need more than a handful.
Then fill the bottle up with some water once you have the rice inside of it and put the cap back on.
Start to shake the water bottle with the rice inside of it until it cleans any caked-on mess that was hard to get off.
Once the inside of the water bottle is clean make sure to empty all of the rice and water out of it.
Any rice that’s leftover may block some of the water from coming out so rinse the bottle out a few times to make sure that you get all of the rice out to be safe.
Cleaning Mold Out Of Your Guinea Pig’s Water Bottle
It’s never a good thing when you see mold in your guinea pig’s water bottle. So if you do, then you’ll either need to thoroughly clean it out or replace it.
One of the best ways to clean mold out of your guinea pig’s water bottle is to use a vinegar and water solution.
Use a mix of about half vinegar and half hot water and put it into your guinea pig’s bottle.
Then shake that mixture around the inside of the bottle for about a minute so that the mixture gets on every inch of the inside of the bottle.
You can then let the vinegar and water mixture soak for a while and shake it around some more if you want to.
After a while drain the mixture out of the bottle and fully rinse it out a few times to make sure that no mold is left inside of it.
Help Prevent The Mold From Coming Back
If you ever notice any mold inside of their bottle then you’ll want to try your best to prevent that mold from coming back.
So to help prevent the mold from coming back you can use really hot or close to boiling water and vinegar and let that soak inside the water bottle.
Then let that hot mixture soak inside the bottle until it goes back to room temperature.
Once it reaches room temperature then pour out the mixture and replace it with more hot water and vinegar and let it soak again.
You can repeat this process a few times or until you feel sure that you’ve really cleaned the mold out.
Then just make sure to clean it out often while also refilling the bottle with fresh water.
However, if the mold keeps coming back even after that, then you may have to replace the water bottle with a different one.
Cleaning Algae From Your Guinea Pig’s Water Bottle
Algae can grow inside your guinea pig’s water bottle, and while algae might not be all that bad you still want to clean it out of their bottle.
That way you can make sure that their water is as clean and fresh as it can possibly be.
To clean algae from your guinea pig’s water bottle you can use the water and rice method and then the water and vinegar method.
So all you would have to do is add the rice and water into the bottle and shake it around until it scrapes off all of the algae.
Once the algae has been completely cleared from the inside of the bottle then you can empty it all out.
Then fill the water bottle with the water and vinegar solution and shake it around and let it soak inside.
After it’s done soaking then drain the water bottle out and rinse it with clean water a few times.
Help Prevent The Algae From Coming Back
One really simple way to prevent your guinea pig’s water bottle from constantly growing algae is to keep it out of direct sunlight.
Keeping your guinea pig’s bottle in a spot that is receiving direct sunlight can sometimes create a situation where the algae can grow a lot quicker.
Which then means that you’ll have to spend more time cleaning the algae out of the bottle.
Even though cleaning out all of the algae from your guinea pig’s water bottle can make it look clean some bacteria can sometimes still be present though.
If you notice that algae keep coming back, then it may be time to get a new bottle just to be safe.
The glass ones can be slightly better sometimes especially if you get a glass water bottle that’s dishwasher safe because it’ll be easier to clean.
Most of the time the glass ones won’t retain as many germs as the plastic ones can.
Plus the dishwasher can do a better job of cleaning the bottle than if you were to do it by hand.
Conclusion
Your guinea pig’s water bottle is something that they will use many times throughout the day and for the rest of their lives.
So you always want to make sure that you keep it filled with fresh and clean water and clean it often.
After you clean their water bottle out with any method always make sure to thoroughly rinse it out.
If any mold or algae continues to grow inside of the bottle even after you’ve cleaned it out multiple times, then it’s best that you get a new one.
A new water bottle won’t have the germs that have been building up inside of your current water bottle that can create a situation where mold or algae can grow.
So if you were thinking of switching to a new water bottle then the glass ones are really recommended because they can help the bottle stay cleaner for longer.
That way there won’t be as many mold or algae issues and when it’s time to clean it you can put it in the dishwasher if it’s dishwasher safe.