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Bottle or Bowl

C

Charlotte.Pattimore

Young Bun
My rabbit is nearly 5 months old and when I bought her home from the shop, she wouldn't drink out of her bottle. I have attempted a number of times to get her to drink out of a bottle but she refuses and would rather not drink at all. SO i have now had to give her a bowl of water... if this safe and healthy for her?
 
Most rabbits do prefer a bowl - my girls have a bowl and a bottle so they have a choice and most of the time they chose the bowl, the bottle just gets used to water the flowers everyday :lol: but sometimes they drink a small bit from the bottle so I dont want to take it completely away though I know some people do, drinking from a bowl is more natural :wave:
 
Yes, it's perfectly safe, and they often drink more from a bowl. Just make sure to keep the bowl clean and change the water at least twice a day or more often if it gets dirty.
 
1 bowl and 2 bottles per bunny...:oops: well you never know if they mess there water bowl up and the bottle fails or drops off :shock: over cautious much? Lol
 
Great big metal dog bowl! Mine won't touch water from a bottle. I change it once or twice a day.
 
Bowls are easier to drink out for a rabbit, bottles can take a lot of work to get a little water out and be rather uncomfortable for bunny mouths.

You could try these. I've found them much better than bowls (easy to use and keep clean) and the rabbits much prefer them to a traditional bottle.
52042_kerbl_kaninchentraenk_1.jpg


ETA: change formatting
 
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Spenser has a bowl. When he first came to me he had a bottle, but I found he didn't use it much so changed to a bowl.
 
My buns hated their bottle so much that I just stopped using it in the end. They are much happier with their bowls. The bowls do need changing quite a bit though (at least twice a day, sometimes more) as they seem to manage to get the water dirty really quickly :roll: :lol:
 
I have 5 bottles and 4 bowls dotted round the shed and garden, so they have access to plenty of water during the hot weather. All gets changed 2 - 3 times a day. ;)
 
Mine have bowls. I change them three times a day. They're much easier to keep clean than bottles and more natural for the buns.
 
My rabbit has a bowl - I think they prefer it because it is easier to get at the water and some times the nipples on the water bottles can get stuck, meaning no water, or it all floods out in one go. Just make sure the bowl is heavy so they can't tip it over, but not too deep (I use a ceramic cat food bowl), as if it's too deep they end up having to stick their noses right into the water and sometimes breath it in resulting in snorting fits. Shallow, heavy and filled to the top is the best bet.

If your rabbit will only drink from a bowl, don't forget to tell your vet if the rabbit has to be an in-patient for a while. Mine went in for an anaesthetic and spent all day in a cage with only a bottle that she didn't know how to use. Luckily I popped in to visit, and asked for a bowl - she was gasping for a drink by this stage..
 
Merlin's had both a bottle + a bowl, his bowls he didn't really seem to drink from though - he'd much rather chuck it around the cage making his hay all nice + wet, even when it was a big ceramic bowl he'd sit in it, or tip it up.. just something about those bowls he didn't like. He does have a bottle now with a bowl he seems to tolerate, but he seems to drink more from the bottle than the bowl.. I think my rabbit is backwards...
 
I've always used bottles but when my girls first came to me, they didn't know how to use a bottle so they had a bowl. They've since learned to use a bottle. I prefer my buns to use bottles as they hold a lot more water & when I'm at work all day, bowls are always running empty.
 
I have only recently given mine a bowl as well as a bottle, and Lily at least, seems to prefer it. She's the only one I've seen drink from it but it is empty every day and the bottle is rarely touched so I presume they all use it. They are forever throwing toys in it when it's empty though!!!
 
Tarja used to poke her teeth up the tube on the bottle and flood the hutch for giggles so she got switched to a bowl. Mitsy uses a bowl and bottle fine. Skylar puts toys in a bowl, so I suspect she'll need to have a bottle back.

It's a rabbit dependent debate I think!
 
My lot have heavy ceramic dog bowls (metal ones get thrown around). I havent ever tried them with bottles.

I need to get more bowls so they can have one per rabbit. They drink plenty.
 
I gave hopscotch a bowl when the weather got hot as he didn't seem to be drinking enough from his bottle. He took to it straight away and didn't touch the bottle again so after a couple of weeks I removed it. He has only once knocked his bowl over :)
 
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