Hydration - bowl vs. bottle?

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SnootyPuffs

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Well, I just switched my buns to drinking out of a flat (nontoxic, not made in China, lol!) dish and I've realized that YES bunnies need to drink PLENTY of water. I'm completely convinced that if you can, let your bun's drink water out of a dish instead of the sip style bottles.

For my habitat set up, I'm keeping bottles in place and a dish with water too.

Anyone else realize this?
 
I have! :)

All my bunnies drink from bowls now. My bonded pair have both a water bottle (just in case) and ceramic bowl. They prefer the bowl and drink much more too. I actually had to purchase a bigger one because I was having to fill it up more than twice a day. Felix has a bowl also because he dislikes drinking from a water bottle. Some bunnies are just too messy though and need bottles to keep their water clean.
 
Yes! While my bun was at the breeders from the time he was born until he came home he drank from a bowl. I wanted to swap him over to a sipper bottle, and he didn't drink near enough water he really struggled with it. So I switched to a bowl and he drinks a ton! It is a lot of work though, he always gets hay in it, and somehow there are always a few poos floating in there too...so I end up giving him fresh water about 4 times a day..at least! lol But he's worth it, it only takes a minute and makes him happy. I think it's funny how they have their preferences, they are very particular animals. :)
 
It's far more natural feelingfor rabbits to drink from a bowl, not to mention easier for them, so yes, I've observed that rabbits with bowls will consume more water. And I do think, that having bowls as opposed to bottles in the summer, makes access to water much more manageable for rabbits.

However, water bowls can be contaminated much more easily than a bottle. Rabbits can easily urinate and deficate in them, thus destroying a fresh source of water. And if the bowl is not sturdy, they can be tipped over. The biggest problem I've seen with bowls, is that rabbits with larger dewlaps usually end up with a green bacteria build up from the moisture they are exposed to when the rabbit drinks from a bowl. This can cause some severe problems down the road if it's not treated.

The only problem I've had with bottle is that they freeze during the winter. We solve this problem by only filling the bottle half way with hot water(which also saves on water since rabbits drink much less during this season anyway), and then we can gradually add more hot water if need be to the bottles, which in turn melts the ice inside.
 
YES! My rabbit bandit drank an excessive amount of water when he had a water bottle, but ever since I switched to bowls he seems to drink even more. I finally broke down this morning and bought one of those waterers because I'm not home alot and I don't want to take any chances in the summer.

Pumpkin still has a water bottle but I'm probably going to change him over soon as well.
 
Inle_Rabbitry wrote:
The biggest problem I've seen with bowls, is that rabbits with larger dewlaps usually end up with a green bacteria build up from the moisture they are exposed to when the rabbit drinks from a bowl.
What's a dewlap?
 
I started off with 2 water bottles but I was filling them twice a day so I figured he needed more water. So I bought a small waterer for cats and set it up on a concrete brick so he can't pee in it (unless he's got some really good aim). He drinks a ton of water. This thing holds a little over half a gallon of water and he will drink 1/2 of that easily. I don't think I will ever go back to using water bottles again.

I'm almost wondering if my previous rabbit died because he wasn't getting enough water even though I always filled his water bottles.
 
Bowls, for sure. I don't think a domesticated animal should have to "work" for their water if they don't have to, but I realize people with a lot of rabbits (rescues, breeders) need to use bottles for sanitary reasons & time-saving reasons. I even offer my rats little bowls of water :).
 
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