Question for Feeder Breeders

[kitty]

Last fall, we decided to splurge on a rodent rack. Our first glitch (after a couple of months) was when we had some drippy nozzles in the gravity-fed watering system. One flooded a tub, drown some babies, and caused some minor heartburn. So, we adjusted the nozzles to not release water quite so easily. Then we noticed our weans could reach the nozzles but were having difficulty depressing the valve to activate the water flow.

Husband called to discuss the problem with the manufacturer. As the conversation was related to me, the seller fixated on the fact that we raise colored mice - he claimed the colored mice are smaller than white mice and practically insisted our problem was the colors of our mice. Whatever. He did manage to make a suggestion - put in additional bedding to raise the weans higher, allowing them better leverage to depress the valve.

Today, we found a tub where the water valve had a piece of aspen wedged in it. The dripping filled the tub and drowned a litter of hoppers. We're not sure the adults will survive. We're hesitant to contact the seller again because of his less-than-helpful response the first time.

So, my question, Clever-Corn-Keepers, do you have any suggestions we could try to solve our problem?