Water Bottles for cages - Do rabbits need to be taught how to use them?

[l.lai]

Hi there,

My two rabbits have always been using bowls for drinking water, however they've recently taken up nudging, picking up, throwing etc their bowls around, no matter the size, weight, etc, i've changed to heavier and thicker ceramic bowls, i've used connected cat/dog feeding bowls, it doesnt matter, somehow they manage to spill the water out and either:

1. Make a mess
2. Spill the water everywhere and not have any water to drink.

So i purchased a large 1 litre water bottle.

Do i have to teach them how to use the water bottle, i know one knows how to use it, but i cant be certain if they both do.

Are they like Mice, where they can smell the water and will intuitively give it a go once they get thirsty?

 

[tamsin]

Some rabbits catch on quick others are a little slower on the uptake. Copying another rabbit is probably the easiest way they can learn. Provide a bowl too until they do learn though as water is important to hydrate the guts and stop blockages.

 

[l.lai]

good point, thanks will do!

 

[Pipp]

I'm still haunted by a thread a very long time ago, in the early forum days. A fellow had bought a baby bunny that was far too young to be away from its mother. He posted that his new bunny wasn't eating. People asked questions trying to figure out what was wrong.

Finally someone asked about water. A bunny not drinking won't eat. It turned out the baby didn't know what the water bottle was for and didn't use it. But it was too far gone by that point.

Tragic.


sas :tears2:

 

[l.lai]

****, well right now i've got the new bottle in the cage, as well as a bowl of water too.

 

[naturestee]

My first bun will not drink from a bottle. At all. Ever. Ok, she tried a little but would then get frustrated. I tried several different brands before giving up and using a bowl. All my others that have had bottles greatly prefer bowls. I end up cleaning them every day but it makes the buns happy.

I'm surprised the heavy ceramic bowls don't work for you. Are you using one that's heavy and large enough and putting it in a corner of the cage? The water bowl is the one thing Loki bunny weight lifter can't move around easily, and he can flip a big litter box full of wood pellets!

If nothing else has worked, what about the food/water cups that can be locked to the side of the cage?

 

[l.lai]

I'm looking long and hard now, well, it seems LeeHom (who is intent of rearranging the play pen according to how she likes it) likes to move one water bowl more than the other, and i know she knows how to use a bottle, so i'll have a combo of bowl and bottle until further notice!

Now to find a solution to give them hay without them peeing all over it.

 

[Runestonez]

All our bunns have been bowl bunnies and we have had to convert them to bottles...
the easiest way we have found to go about it is to put their bowl under the water bottle...eventually nosy bunnies start to push and nudge the bottle and figure out water comes out of it! Once they begin to use it off and on we let the level of water in the bowl get lower and lower until they are drinking out of the bottle exclusively...then we remove the bowl.

Our boy Darwin is a little slow on the uptake...he just wasn't getting the point...it took an extra2 weeks before he finally caught on...we would watch him carefully and mark the water level in the bottle...as we let the water level go down inhis bowl we would constantly check the bottle to see if he was drinking(we listen for the clicking soundtoo but with 10 bunns it is a little hard to distinguish between them!)...if not we would re-fill the bowl and try again...it also helps to start out with the water bottle a little lower than necessary...so when bunn uses the water bowl the spigot for the bottle is right there...our kids got snarky and tried to butt or pull it out of the way...once they realized water came out we were able to switch them over!

To stop them from throwing their water bowls everywhere and making an unholy mess...we went out and bought a plastic bowl...drilled two holes in it near the top and ziptied it to the bars of the cage...doesn't stop all the water from being thrown...but takes alot of the fun out of it!

Danielle