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Frozen Water

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Alpha Buck
Any help please....i went in to the wendy house to let the rabbits in the garden this morning & i was shocked to see their water had frozen in the bowl, they had broken it to get to the water but it was thickish ice, i had been in to them early hours at 2am this morning & it was fine but at 8am it was frozen. Can you please tell me what you use to stop the water from freezing as it is going to be an other cold night :(
 
I put warm water into the bottles and am considering wrapping them with bubble wrap for insulation. I dont think there is any point insulating a bowl though.
 
I've heard of people using a drop of glycerine (sp?) in the water to stop it freezing. Not sure if all rabbits will like the taste though.

Mine was frozen too this morning and my lot have curtains and a heat pad in there! I guess that you can only really keep filling th ebowl with fresh water.
 
I give mine a bowl of warm water at bedtime, and a bowl of warm water in the morning (use boiling from the kettle, mixed with the cold water - not from the hot tap) - They usually have a big drink in the morning, but not much at bedtime or during the day. I wouldn't worry about it freezing overnight so long as they get fresh first thing in the morning.
 
I know you can get insulating covers for rabbit bottles to stop the water from freezing, but I'm not sure what you could do with water bowls. Perhaps put a snugglesafe next to the bowl to help keep it from freezing?
 
To a certain extent it's an occupational hazard with having outdoor buns so I just make sure that I have spare bottles made up indoors so I can swap them straight away in the morning. You can do things to slow down the rate of freezing but it's difficult to stop it altogether - I have a bottle hugger but I found that although it stops the water in the bottle freezing, on a really cold night the nib will still freeze so they can't get the water out anyway.
 
AlisonA said:
To a certain extent it's an occupational hazard with having outdoor buns so I just make sure that I have spare bottles made up indoors so I can swap them straight away in the morning. You can do things to slow down the rate of freezing but it's difficult to stop it altogether - I have a bottle hugger but I found that although it stops the water in the bottle freezing, on a really cold night the nib will still freeze so they can't get the water out anyway.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with the nibs and I also use the bottle covers. I do the same as you and have fresh bottles made up in the morning ready to go ! Im putting snugglesafes under the big crock water bowls tonight, lets see how that goes :D
 
hello I have just posted the same answer to this question in rabbit chat but if you have a bottle I wrap kitchin foil around the bottles then put a big woolly sock over them and they never freeze :D saves pennies if you have to buy a bottle warmer thingy :D
 
I was told that glycerin in the water help, as does a small plastic ball (but only for bottles) I'm not sure how the ball works, because I think the water will freeze around, but it might wirk, maybe:?
 
Ditto isla...a ping pong ball in the water bowls stops them freezing to some extent...I suppose because it bobs around and stops the ice from forming.

I used to do the same for my pony, but with a plastic beach ball instead.

Amy
 
abbymarysmokey said:
Ditto isla...a ping pong ball in the water bowls stops them freezing to some extent...I suppose because it bobs around and stops the ice from forming.

I used to do the same for my pony, but with a plastic beach ball instead.

Amy
Click to expand...

Yep ive used ping pong balls in the past, they tend to float around the bowl especially when the bun drinks and it keeps movement on the surface which breaks down the ice particles I think, thats what I imagine anyway :lol:
 
The only issue with ping pong balls is though no shops seem to have them in stock this time of year. I was told however they'll have them in when they get their summer stuff out, I thought table tennis was an indoor game! :roll:
 
Thank you

A big thank you to you all for taking the time to help me. In the wendy house i have no where to fix a bottle up, so thats one thing i will try tomorrow to do, but as you can see i am a bit of a night owl lol, so i will be changing their water at 2am then again at 8am, so im keeping my fingers crossed it will not freeze but it did yesterday :(
The reason i was so worried is because the rabbits had tried to broke the ice, which they did a bit & they could get to a bit of the water.
Roll on spring & summer lol :wave:
 
Maybe you could put a piece of carrot or apple in for them at 2am as they could still gnaw on that even if it was frozen to get some liquid, and if they ate it straight away at least you'll know they've had some liquid at 2am! -Sue:wave:
 
It's probably been the ice expanding that broke the dish, that's happened here before with the dishes in the grass runs with no buns about ;)
 
Green house heater

well i went and brought a green house heater from B & Q & i fitted it straight away. they can chuck some heat out, but i have left it on the low setting, plus it as a cold setting which will be great for summer as it is freezing when on the cold setting.

Just hope it will be good for my boys lol
 
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