Product Review of Super Pet "Flat-Bac" Water Bottle

I was purchasing a new hamster cage that required the separate purchase of a water bottle. When I saw the 'Flat-Bac' water bottle, I thought to myself, "How cool!" It would mean that I could place the water bottle smoothly on the side of the cage by the wall without it being far away from the wall.

The Super Pet Flat-Bac water bottle comes in various sizes. I decided upon the 8-ounce water bottle. The Flat-Bac water bottle is for hamsters, gerbils, mice and other furry friends. On its packaging it says, it includes snap-lock bottle brackets, E-Z twist attachment knob, contour designed bottle, spring-loaded dripless sipper, and a floating duck, which is used as a friendly refill reminder.

All of this impressed me, so I was very eager to purchase it, and get it home. The mounting of the bracket seemed pretty easy, the knob turned very easily around the screw. It didn't quiet grip the cage bars but it did stay in place. The sad thing is this Flat-Bac water bottle cannot be used in glass cages because there is no over the head older to flip upon the side of the outside of the hamsters cage. There is however a note on the back of the package that states how the water bottle can be placed on smooth surfaces by purchasing the "Super Pet Suction-Cup Attachment Item number 61942" I have no idea about the cost of that attachment though, as I didn't even see it with the bottle when I purchased it.

This style water bottle requires you after filling the water bottle with water (room temperature) to hold the Flat-Bac water bottle over your sink waiting for it to stop leaking, allowing the water bottle to settle. This is rather annoying. It also tells you on the back to screw the cap to over side and screw it to the other allowing a vacuum to form. Once you place the Super Pet Flat-Bac water bottle into the cage it still leaks a little bit until it is settled.

Also because of the way the cap with the sipper tip goes onto the water bottle you may need to turn the tube a bit to get it to fit your cage just right. After finding the perfect fit to my cage I noticed a lot of leakage going on. I broke the Super Pet Flat-Bac water bottle trying to turn the cap in the direction necessary to fit my hamster cage. I ended up using my soldering iron to melt the cap so it didn't leak and was still useful.

I rate this water bottle a 3 for leaking, and a 1 for design. If Super Pet would combine the Top Fill water bottle technology with this Flat Bac, this would be the perfect water bottle. Smooth on one side, and tight gripping no drip.