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Teaching a rabbit to drink from a bottle...

Why? (in answer to your 'how' ;))

I would probably offer something really nice in the bottle as well as offering water in the bowl, but I don't see much point in changing a bunny over unless it's friend (or itself, obviously) has a reason not to have a bowl.
 
When I bonded bunnies I had two that drank from a bottle and one that drank from a bowl. I wanted either or bottle, not both! However much I tried, I could not get the one bunny to drink from a bottle but the other two quite quickly decided that drinking from a bowl was better.

I have since discovered that drinking from a bowl if more natural to them and they seem to prefer it! Are you having problems with having a bowl?
 
I just gave them a bottle and showed them it had water in it (by holding near face and squeezing a drop out) and they then started to lick it and learned :) i also made sure they knew were it was in thier cage
 
Mine couldn't give a :censored: where the water is as long as they can get it! :lol: Just shove it under her nose, she'll click on! :)
 
If you haven't already, put the bottle where the bowl usually is, that way they will be "expecting" there to be water there.

get them interested in a pellet or treat and take it over to the spout, when they nose around the spout, squeeze a bit of water out. I'm sure they'll gradually get the jist.

I've never had to show mine how to use a regular bottle but I recently had to show them that there was water in a bowl bottle thing and it was in a totally new place, so I used pellets to get them over there and show them it was wet.:)
 
to b e honest it seems more natural and easier to have a bowl for water! When I got my buns they had a bottle, then a bottle each... then I got fed up of moving the bottle from shed to run each day (when they were separate) so then they had bottle inside shed and bowl that moved between (coz easier to move). Now they have bottles and bowls inside shed and a bowl outside, the shed and run are joined so they can use either whenever they want, but the bottle never get emptied at all now, so I assume they are never touched! It seems that the bunnies def prefer the bowls.
 
I know it's better them have bowls than bottles but I need them to drink from a bottle hence the question. Thanks for the suggestions, will have a bash as even the clever one isn't cottoning on! :lol: thankyou xx
 
Although it seems "natural" for a rabbit to drink from a bowl, water in a bowl is out in the open and subject to foreign bodies including the rabbit's own emissions.

Water in a bottle usually stays fresh longer, (i say usually because sometimes food (especially crunched pellets) in the rabbit's mouth can end up on the ball, then get pushed into the bottle that way) and it can signify them drinking from a stream, their water source is not always underneath them, such as a puddle, stream or such, in the wild.

Bottles, if cleaned every day with fresh water added afterwards, are far more hygienic than bowls.

I got my bun to take to the bottle by using treats, getting closer and closer to the spout. Then squirting the water out slightly to get the ball wet. After a few attempts, he took to it.

Hope this helps a little.
 
Just a suggestion to anyone who prefers the cleanliness of bottles but whose bunnies prefer bowls, I have this bowl bottle thing which is really good. It's easier for the bunnies to drink from but stays clean, can't be tipped up, and is easier to fill up and carry around without spillage.
 
Although it seems "natural" for a rabbit to drink from a bowl, water in a bowl is out in the open and subject to foreign bodies including the rabbit's own emissions.

Water in a bottle usually stays fresh longer, (i say usually because sometimes food (especially crunched pellets) in the rabbit's mouth can end up on the ball, then get pushed into the bottle that way) and it can signify them drinking from a stream, their water source is not always underneath them, such as a puddle, stream or such, in the wild.

Bottles, if cleaned every day with fresh water added afterwards, are far more hygienic than bowls.

Whether in a bottle or bowl water should be changed regularly and not just filled up when empty anyway. :) i don't think rabbits in the wild worry about if the bottom of the stream is clean ;) just that the water is fresh.

There are pros and cons to both and the ideal is one of each but it's not always possible. In my case, with house bunnies, I have nowhere to put a bottle so I stick with a large heavy dog bowl that they cannot tip or move. They get far less annoyed with this (oh the arguements they used to have with the bottles!!) and they drink more. For someone with a hutch and litter and hay over the entire hutch then a bowl is likely to get filled up with stuff almost immediately so it's not such an option.

As for the original post maybe something tasty round the outside of the spout would help? For example some banana?
 
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