Ball point water bottle?

[Popqorn]

Hi, my rabbit is 8 weeks old and I've had her for just over a week now. I have her water in a ball point water bottle and she seems to know exactly where to find it and i've tested the bottle to make sure the water is properly working. The problem is that when she uses the bottle she will sit for a solid 2 to 3 minutes continuously drinking from it. Is that normal regardless of the way the water is presented? I'm worried that maybe she's having a hard time using the bottle, even though I've heard that rabbits tend to drink more water than many other animals. Would leaving a bowl of water out be a better idea? Or are there different kinds of water bottles sold for rabbits?

 

[PaGal]

A bowl of water is better. Rabbits tend to drink more when it is in a bowl. Look for one that either attaches to the cage or a heavy one such as ceramic to avoid them spilling it because they will if they can.

At first I had a water bottle because that is what the breeder used, before long though I got a bowl, Thumper took to it immediately and ignores the bottle. I have kept the bottle up just in the off chance of him spilling all of his water. Mostly just so if we are gone the whole day or longer.

 

[KeltonB]

I've always had much better success with a bowl, my bunnies drink more from them I think. They are quieter too and they don't drip. The only downside is you get stuff in it from time to time (fur, pellets, a stray dropping, etc) but I change it every day regardless.

 

[whitelop]

Ellie started with a bottle, but that lasted like a day when I realized she wasn't drinking that much and was having a hard time with it. The water does come out when you push the ball, but they tap it with their tongues and a little bit of water comes out, so its not a continuous flow.
Some rabbits do really well with water bottles, but sometimes they have a hard time.

I use a heavy ceramic soup mug, Ellie drinks one sometimes two bowls full a day. But she does get stuff in it all the time, especially hay.

 

[Shmoo06]

I have two water bottles in their cage. One hardly gets touched, but the other they use all the time. Sometimes they are drinking water from it for quite a long time because it's not coming out fast enough. I bought one of these dishes that attach to the cage, and they prefer to drink from it now. Sometimes it runs out though when I'm at work, so they still have the water bottles.

I bought the second water bottle because I left them alone for a few days when I went out of town. I was paranoid, so I had 3 water bottles(I have some extra/smaller ones lying around) and 2 dishes of water in there while I was gone. lol. They still had plenty left when I got home.

 

[majorv]

Early on we had the type of water bottles with the stainless steel ball, but they got to where they would leak, especially if they didn't sit perfectly upright, so we switched to one with a small switch at the opening, like this. It just requires the rabbit to push the switch off center and it lets out a stream of water. Since our rabbits are outside, during summer we will give them crocks for water and some also have these water bottles.

 

[J.Bosley]

Thanks for the information! Glad you posted this thread. Might switch to a dish!!

 

[qtipthebun]

Tippy refuses to use a dish. She just dumps it over and plays in it. I have the same type of bottle you have, and she lvoes it. But yes, she will sit sometimes for a while and drink, like two or three minutes. I think it's because it only comes out a drop at a time. She doesn't seem to mind, though.

 

[Azerane]

I originally offered Bandit a bottle and a bowl, because the breeder had them using bottles. Now he just gets a bowl, though I do keep a bottle for vet trips and if I expect to be away for a day. Bandit has a habit of putting his wire hay ball in his water bowl, so I stopped putting hay in the hay ball. Now, he still puts the ball in the bowl, but the water doesn't go green and yuck from the hay

I tend to refill Bandit's bowl twice a day, he probably drinks about a bowl a day. I use a large ceramic bowl, and mainly refill it twice because it gets fur in it and I have this thing about him having fresh water, I hate drinking "stale" water myself, so would hate the same for Bandit.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

Thanks for the information! Glad you posted this thread. Might switch to a dish!!

-been there done that,--offer both,--water is very necessary,--the bottle (water level) is very deceiving,-and ball is not guaranteed to function 100%,--also--I use small orange fishing tackle bobbers inside the bottle as water level indicators --I hope this helps,--sincerely james waller--:bunnyheart:bunny17:

 

[J.Bosley]

-been there done that,--offer both,--water is very necessary,--the bottle (water level) is very deceiving,-and ball is not guaranteed to function 100%,--also--I use small orange fishing tackle bobbers inside the bottle as water level indicators --I hope this helps,--sincerely james waller--:bunnyheart:bunny17:

Thanks! Sorry for somewhat hijacking the thread haha. I am hesitant for a dish, because my last rabbit would just sit in it and not drink from it... :what But who knows! Chive seems to drink quite a bit from her bottle, so I might do both

 

[minmelethuireb]

My rabbits seem to prefer bowls. They're probably more natural to drink out of, and then you don't have the annoying tapping. I do have water bottles in their cages as well, in case their bowls run out. But yeah, a heavy ceramic bowl is probably the best.

 

[Junior_Babbeeyy]

I just bought a extra big ceramic dog bowl for BABBEY at petsmart. I haven't had a good past with the ball bottles. Every time I even try using one it continuously links & the waters all gone on the ground in 2 hours. I choose bowls because you can actually clean them out. The bottles you can't fit your hand in to scrub the nasty stuff out

 

[missyscove]

My buns have a half gallon waterer that's made for cats (where there's a bottle of water that drains into a bowl). I also leave a water bottle attached to their cage just in case they were to tip their water while I wasn't home. I used to use a water bottle with the ball in the spout but found it was too noisy when I was sleeping and switched to one of the ones with the rod that they move to the side. Of course, no one seems to want to use that one.

 

[jazminrae]

I tried both a water bottle and a water bowl with my buns and it seems that the ball point water bottle is a pain and my buns will also sit there all day yanking the think just to get a sip of water. They enjoy the water bowl better because its easier for them, but that being said my lop eared Gatsby ALWAYS sits in it, but drinks it at the same time? so it just depends on your bun! good luck!

 

[Popqorn]

I have switched her to a bowl. She really seems to like it, but she keeps stepping in it and getting her fur soaked. I'm not sure if I'm ok with her being wet a lot of the time, I'm worried she'll get cold and sick. I'm still looking for alternatives, will update if I figure something else out.