[MatthewM1]

Just curious as to what all of your preferences are. I've never been fond of the bottles. As I imagine the water must pick up even more trace amounts of metals than it already has which can't be good in the long run. Ive been using a shallow dish and changing it atleast once a day, sonetimes twice and our little one drinks from it regularly.

On the topic of water I treat the water for all of my animals besides my cat(she has an electric dish with a charcoal filter to remove chemicals and what not) with a dechlorinator that neutralizes chlorine, chloramins and heavy metals. Can anyone link me to some studies about the effects of chlorine, etc. on rats?

 

[MangoTango]

I admit that I'm not well educated on the effect of chlorine on rats, so I can't contribute there. Where I live, we have extremely high quality and frequently tested water. Everyone (humans and pets alike) drink straight from the tap.
With regards to bottle vs. dish, I personally use both. In my DCN, I have three bottles (I prefer the glass ones to plastic ones) and two dishes. The girls like to drink from the bottles, but use the dishes as 'wash basins'.. there's very few things they enjoy more than grooming wish fresh water (it's adorable to watch).
However, they do also enjoy dunking toys in the dishes sometimes, so it's important if you go the dish route that you clean it frequently (I change my dishes twice a day).