Water should be changed daily and the container should be wiped out. How often do you change it?

Are the bowls outside or in direct light? I keep aquariums, I have my rabbit’s water in a little white ceramic bowl and it pretty much sits under the window and I’ve never experienced algae in it.

If you’re using a plastic bowl, especially a lighter colored one that transmits light through it more, it’ll be easier for algae to grow. But the algae needs nutrients, which makes it sound like maybe you’re adding either nutrients to the water bowl or maybe it’s getting food in it that is being left for a little too long?

I’d switch to a stainless steel or ceramic that doesn’t transmit light through it. If you can just go in and empty the bowl, wipe it down and fill it with fresh water in the morning you shouldn’t experience any algae (assuming it’s indoors).

Toasty- unrelated but can I PM you a question about aquariums? I have a 5g planted tank with bloody mary shrimp and I’m trying to clear up the water.

I change my boys’ water every night and rinse out their bowls at the same time. Bacteria can accumulate as well as fur and dust. I only top it up in the morning before work.

Probably outside bacteria or generally rabbit dirt getting into it, which means you definitely be should be cleaning it daily, not topping it off. Stagnant water outside is not good. I do this with Wick’s water bowls even though he’s inside.

As everyone else said, yes you need to be replacing the water- not just topping it off. Especially because of the direct sunlight. And algae can proliferate rapidly in the right conditions. I recommend just getting a new bottle, since methods of killing algae are likely not safe for rabbits. You can buy those scrubbers that they sell for baby bottles so that you can clean it. You really should start doing complete water changes every day and also give it a quick scrub.

On top of the whole, change it every day, really rinse it out, which if you make it a daily habit it takes 30 seconds to run around the rim with your hand and run under some hard water, I’d invest in a different type of bowl.

Plastic can really harbor bacteria as it gets scratched up, the translucency isn’t helping at all. Stainless steel would be best if it can go out of sunlight so it doesn’t heat it up, ceramic works too but if it gets knocked over and broken may hurt your rabbits.

Yes, at least daily change out. We actually did it morning and night. Of course it seems we did everything a little over the top. Stainless steel bowl, just ran my fingers around it under water and it would take care of any film that might have started to accumulate which was very rare. 5 seconds and done. But regarding the stainless steel bowl. Our rabbit was inside so yes if using stainless steel bowl outside, it would definitely need to be out of direct sunlight as Toasty mentioned.

I’m sorry, but to me it sounds stupid that you don’t have time to clean out your rabbits bowl. That only takes about five minuets! If you don’t even have time to clean your rabbit’s water bowl, than how do you spend time with your rabbit? I personally don’t even clean mine like every week, but at least clean it very 2 weeks! You shouldn’t wait to see if it has algae in it. Imagine if you had to drink out of a cup that had algae and bacteria in it?! I’m sure you wouldn’t want too. I apologize if I came off harsh, but honestly, it sounds retarted that you don’t have time to clean your rabbit’s water bowl… especially with having a bunny in the outdoors. there’s a lot of bacteria out there

I posted this on your other thread but I’ll say it again…

How can you not have time to clean a water bowl? Providing clean, fresh water is literally the bare minimum. I’m confused as to how you don’t have time. I mean, really…

I thought we were talking about a bottle here…in a bottle I can see how it would accumulate and become dirty, especially if you just top it off… and how it might be more of a pain to clean a bottle…

I don’t understand. It isn’t much of a chore to simply dump, wipe with a paper towel and refill.

When I used to use bottles, I had two so that I could grab a fresh clean one from the cupboard in the morning and take the previous days bottle and clean it when I did the washing up that day.

I’m honestly baffled at this post :/

I just would like to chime in and say, please also find time to make certain that your Bun’s bowl doesn’t get turned over or tossed around. Being that your rabbit is outside, you can’t really just glance over and see that she needs more water. I am only mentioning since my Bun gets plenty of pleasure tossing her steel bowl (yes, the kind that has a rim and a hoop that screws tight into the side of a cage to prevent such activity) all over the place so I opted with a heavy weighted straight sided ceramic bowl that she could not budge.

If you can’t clean the bowl out properly I suggest getting a different bowl that is easier to clean. A large round ceramic dog bowl works well. And I agree that toy should not be waiting to see the algae before you clean it. I can feel that the bowl gets a little slimy after a few days if I’m only just topping it up but you wouldn’t see it if you looked. So yes, rinse and wipe with hot water every day. Wash thoroughly once a week.

If it really is that difficult to get into the corners then I would go with the most logical and sensible fix, a different bowl, Bree and Pebs. Make your life immensely easier. A round bowl that has no corners or a round bowl that has the only edge as the one on the bottom that you can just swirl your finger around and easily contact all surfaces to remove any slime buildup. Make it so the water bowl is not such a problematic issue. Easier on you. Better for the bunny. Too many other hassles in life to have a water bowl problem that could be easily solved. That would be my ultimate suggestion.

I have a large ceramic dish (actually originally a dog dish ) for Panda and Fernando which can hold up to 4 cups’ worth of water. This bowl, which is heavy and sturdy enough that it’s pretty much impossible to overturn, is always kept on the lower level of their condo, under the ramp connecting the levels, next to their litterbox and food dishes. I always completely empty and refill it at least once a day, twice a day is even better when I can manage it. This is particularly important because stray hay, leaves from their salad, pieces of chewed-up cardboard and even stray poops are apt to find their way into it.

Maybe try a toothbrush for the corners? A round bowl would make your life a lot easier though. 

I have just locked another, very similar thread by another member, simply because it’s less confusing if the discussion about water bowl algae is kept in one and the same thread. This is the other thread: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/166931/Default.aspx

Forum search is down for the time being, so it’s difficult for new members to find preexisting threads about specific topics.