FAQ: Bowls & Feeders for small pets

Yes, it is worthwhile. Moist vegetables dampen pellets, which then spoil faster. A wide, shallow, heavy bowl or plate that is easy to wash daily suits vegetables.

Vegetables should be left for only a few hours, and even less on a hot day. Remove wilted, bruised or soiled vegetables so the animal does not eat spoiling food.

On bedding vegetables quickly get soiled with urine and droppings, and damp bedding starts to smell. A bowl, plate or greens holder is better.

Use a separate small bowl for moist food or vet-recommended mash and wash it after every feed. Moist food spoils quickly, so throw out leftovers within a few hours or sooner.

Hamsters naturally hoard and carry food to the nest, so an empty bowl does not mean everything was eaten. Check the stash regularly and remove spoiling vegetables or fruit, but leave dry stores.

A small bottle fixed to the side of the carrier works best, as an open bowl spills on the road and soaks the bedding. On a short trip juicy vegetables such as cucumber also provide fluid.

For longer journeys it is worth having a small bottle that fixes to the carrier’s bars. Fill it to the top so it drips less and check it before setting off.

Put a thick layer of hay or a small hay bag in the carrier so the animal can eat throughout the journey. Take extra and fill the usual rack as soon as you arrive.

Animals are often stressed when travelling and do not want to drink or eat. Offer water when you stop somewhere quiet, give juicy vegetables, and on arrival make sure it drinks and eats again; if not, see a vet.

Rodents chew silicone bowls easily, so use them only briefly and under supervision, for example at a stop on a trip. For long-term use in the cage, use a ceramic or metal bowl.

Hang two filled and tested bottles, or a bottle and a heavy water bowl, so if one fails the other remains. For longer absences someone needs to look after the animal.

Show them how to check the bottle works, how often to change the water, how much and what food goes in the bowls and when to fill the hay rack. Leave notes and the vet’s contact details.

While driving the bottle shakes and temperature changes alter the pressure inside, so water drips. Fill the bottle to the top, fix it firmly and put an absorbent layer under the carrier.

Yes, gerbils dig a lot and quickly fill an open water bowl with bedding or sand. Hang a small bottle with a metal spout so the spout does not touch the bedding.

Place the bowl on a tile or low platform away from the hay and toilet corner, and choose a small, heavy one the guinea pig cannot step into. A bottle can be hung as well.

They can, but chinchillas and degus quickly soil open water with sand, bedding and hay, and wet fur is bad for a chinchilla. So a bottle with a metal spout is usually recommended for them.

Put a heavy bowl in a quiet spot, out of walkways and away from cables, on a non-slip base. In a larger space have several water points so the rabbit can always find water easily.

A plastic rack is light and inexpensive, but rodents often chew it, especially degus, chinchillas and rabbits. Replace chewed plastic, and for long-term use a metal rack is better.

No, wooden items for small pets should be untreated wood, without varnish, paint or preservatives. Rodents gnaw them, so chemical coatings can end up being swallowed.

Place the bowl on a flat surface away from the toilet corner and the bottle, where the animal likes to eat. It helps if it is slightly raised off the bedding, for example on a tile or shelf.