Water bowl

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TK Bunnies

TK Bunnies

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, Wisconsin, USA
It's been so hot lately that I put out a water bowl filled with ice cubbes. The buns really love the bowl. They use it way more then the bottle. But anyway I was wondering if I should keep the bowl out all the time. Is the bowl better the the bottle. We have 2 water bottles but now they don't use them much. I was going totake the bowl out in the fall when it starts getting cold and they don't so over heated. Is that a good idea?

-TK
 
I'd say if they are drinking more from the bowl then keep it, my girls way prefer bowls to bottles and drink much more now than they used to. Also I'd keep the bowl in all year if they enjoy drinking from it.:)
 
Okay I will. I was wondering because I had heard that if the bowl was to deep the buns would rub the fur of their chin on the side.

-TK
 
I use both bottle and bowl for Pebble and Ebony, they seem to go through phases where they prefer one or the other. Maddie just has a bowl, she's never really used the bottle.

Neither is better, it's just up to what your buns prefer. :)

Though bowls are much easier to clean (bottle spouts can be tricky!) and I find I'm encouraged to change the water in the bowl more often, I do the bowls 1-2 times a day, but I do the bottles every 1-2 days.

Wet dewlap can be an issue, it's not something I've ever experienced, I'd just watch them and see if it's affecting them at all, it probably won't.:D

 
I've used both bottles and bowls here. I personally prefer bowls because they don't leak, and my bunnies tend to drink more from bowls, and, like Michaela says, it's easier to clean.

We've used bowls for nearly two decades and never had any problems with wet dewlap, but then our buns are mostly nethies so don't have the massice dewlap you often see on bigger/other breeds.
 
I used to have the bottles and the stupid things leaked. I took one back for a new one and it leaked, so after that I went with bowls and I really prefer them. It's easier for the buns to drink out of and they'reeasier to clean:D.
 
I'm all about the bowls, LOL! No bottles here! Well there are, but they're in storage. Mocha won't drink from a bottle at all, and none of the others will touch a bottle if they have a bowl available. So I stick with the bowls. Besides, it's easier to clean them and they drink more. Drinking more keeps them healthy and is especially important when they are feeling a bit ill. It's actually recommended in "Rabbit Health in the 21st Century" to give a sickly rabbit a water bowl instead of a bottle to encourage it to drink more.

Wet dewlap isn't usually too much of a problem. If you see that one of your buns is getting her neck wet while drinking, put a ball in the bowl that allows her to still get her nose in to drink but doesn't let her stick her whole neck in. I used to do this to stop Mocha from throwing her toys in the bowl, which was her favorite game as a baby.
 
Yeah, I always use bowls mainly because rabbits tend to drink more from bowls and because I live in a cold climate, water bottles can't be used during the winter.

I do give one bottle per cage though, just in case they tip a bowl or drink a lot or what ever, then they can still drink. Out of my 4, only one likes the bottle, Zoey will drink quite a bit from a bottle but she is the only one who uses them when provided with a bowl as well. It also depends on the tip. I have one spring tip and the rest just have a ball, only one can figure out how to use the spring tip.
 
I use bottles for my girls, and a bowl for my boy, the only problem I have had is that he gets his ears in it while he drinks... But he also lays down beside it and puts his ears in it :p... I used to use a bowl for Simi and she had no problems... I don't see anything wrong with using a bowl all year round.
 
Here is another tip.

Place the water bowl on top of a brick, so it is higher up. That way your bunny is not slouching down over the bowlwhen they drink.

Rainbows! :)
 
When Chippy got sick, I gave her a bowl to see if it wouldprompt her todrink more.

It worked!!!

I think she always had an issue with the bottle. Instead of drinking from it, she would grab the tube with her teeth and shake the bottle and then let it go...when the water dribbled out she would catch in her mouth.

I decided to leave the bowl for her since she prefers it over the bottle.

She drinks about the same amount, but she never drank a lot of water.

I do find the bowl harder to keep clean.
I change the bowl twice a day because it gets hair, hay, toys, bunny feet,and who/you-knows-what in it.

The bottles get cleaned and changed every day if needed. (White vinegar da bomb!!)
The water they drink is always clean and free of debris.
It takes up less room in their cage.
I can access it from the outside of their cage, soI don't have to mess with the cage doors.

I guess it's a matter of preference....both our's and the buns!

~Jim
 
PixieMillyMommy....if you get a really heavy crock, then she won't be able to tip it :p.

I prefer to use bowls.

Mallory and Madilyn have a water bottle though, as they LOVE to spill water bowls every where when they run around there cage and play.

Morgan, he gets a bowl. He is a calm little guy.

Marlin gets his water changed 4 times a day or more. He loves to put his toys in his water bowl, fling poop in it, throw pellets in there, a little touch of hay every now and then....oh...and tons of Lionhead hair ends up in there, hehe.

I use cold filtered water and put a bunch of ice cubes inside of the bowl. Marlin loves to play with the ice cubes with his tongue :).
 
Rilee used to have a bottle, but she got pretty annoyed at it! She would tug on it because I guess she didn't get enough water at a time. So I gave her a bowl and she gladly gulps it up.

I still keep a bottle in her cage, though, in case she dumps something in her bowl (which she often does) while I'm not home so she can still get a drink if she needs one. While she prefers the bowl, I'd rather she used a bottle because she's always dumping hay, pellets, toys, and other things in her bowl! But it's all about what she wants ;)

I don't know about dewlap problems, Rilee doesn't really have one. Maybe when she lays down. At what age do they get a big dewlap?
 
PixieMillyMommy wrote:
I would prefer a bowl, but I would think that Pixie would tip it and get water EVERYWHERE. :shock:
Click to expand...

Actually the kind I have screw onto the cage so they can't tip it:D.

7671100752A.jpg

 
Bowls are great for all the reasons mentioned above, and: it's a lot easier (I think) to keep track of how much they drink when using a bowl - at least, it is for me.

And, as others have mentioned, you really want to encourage them to drink water. Hydration is important.

I'd think that wet dewlap is something to worry about if you see it developing, but otherwise, not. I don't mean that unkindly at all - just trying to say that, for my own part, i often tend to allow my worries about what might happen to influence my decisions a bit too much, if you see what I mean... ;)
 
I use a bowl for Anna (themountable type) mainly because I have yet to get a proper water bottle that doesn't leak. (One of these days I'll order one of the more reputable ones, if I ever get around to it.) Anna loves her water dish though; to her, it serves not only as a vessel to hold her water supply, but also as a lagomorph garbage can. Anything that she decides isn't worthy of being in her cage either gets dragged outside or tossed directly into the water dish. I've found toilet paper holders, newspaper, discarded food, etc., in there at one time or another.

Oh, and at night I think she secretly plays 'Bunnyball'...I've found more of those little round suckers floating at the top than I care to admit. I have to give Anna credit though...she's got a really great aim. Maybe she's the next 'Airbun'...:p
 
I said earlier that in almost 20 years we'd never had a problem with bowls. Lol, spoke too soon.

I came down this morning to find Badger paddling around his hutch (well half of it, the rest was dry) after turning over his water bowl. No idea how he did it, and he is certainly to first to do it, but it's one I'm going to have to watch out for for the future, lol. Oops.
 
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