Bowl or Bottle?

[Scarlet]

My new rabbit who’s only thirteen days into living here seems to always be thirsty. His bottle isn’t going down in water correctly day to day and when let out he gulps from the spare water dish for my dog. He does try to drink from the water bottle but he gets, I wanna say, really mad? He grabs the nozzle and thrashes it, shaking it violently and getting angrier and angrier. He’s drinking but it’s not enough if he’s bolting out for the water dish right away each outing he gets to become used to his new home. Harvey’s very invested in the bowl, down to chugging it dry(tiny bowl for a Chihuahua, holds half a cup of water at the time and is always refilled), then throwing the empty dish around until I refill it. 

Should I just give him a bowl or implement some kind of cup or bowl waterer? He’s obviously drinking just not enough from his normal waterer. Is this a concern? He seems parched constantly. I’ve dealt with gluttonous bottomless pit animals a lot, and I’m not sure if he can overdrink but he makes loud gulps and chugs until he’s very full of water, sometimes only stopping when I cut him off. Is there any suggestions for him? He’s not yet three months old, but none of my other rabbits have struggled to drink properly like he has. 

[Dee]

Give him a bowl ☺! My rabbits all liked bowls- only thing is you may have to get a heavy bowl with no lip on the edge, so your bunny can’t grab it and tip it over. I use heavy glass bowls that hold about 20 oz of water- there is no chance of my bunny tipping them.

You might want to mention his extreme thirst to your vet, but I would guess he is just frustrated from not being able to drink fast enough from the bottle. If he was an older bunny, I would be concerned about kidney problems, but he is very young for that. Oh yeah- I’ve had a couple rabbits who were loud drinkers and their bellies made weird noises as they drank. Apparently it was normal.

[sarahthegemini]

Bowls are far better than bottles. Bottles are simply too much work for little pay out – meaning they have to really work at the nozzle to get any out. Drinking from a bowl allows them to drink without having to work hard, and therefore they can drink more

[Scarlet]

My first rabbit absolutely SNUBBED bowls, she hated all bowls. She refused to drink from anything but a bottle unless it was ice cubes in the summer. She was sort of a learning curb as she hated almost all veggies, peels, and everything but things by the book(food in a bowl, water in a bottle, sod off and let her be).

My other rabbit at present is fifty-fifty on bowls, he will drink from them, but he prefers the bottle, bowls are for hot summers. Bottle is better, he has a borderline attachment to his bottle and shoves hay in bowls put in his cage for too long. I presumed he was also a learning curve with me as he hates his food(besides oats and veggies) on a flat surface.

Harvey isn’t much for throwing his bowls unless empty and bone dry. He seems to either not have the hang of drinking or just not like the bottle. I’m going to try adjusting the height for him and giving him bowls for a short amount of time so he doesn’t throw them or make them messy until I can get a properly weighted one for him if adjusting his water bottle’s height doesn’t make him less furious.
I am learning a lot about just how dang different each of them can be because he’s prone to snubbing things and then in secret eating or drinking behind my back. So I’m not sure if he’s actually having trouble drinking -I just know his bottle is only half empty and it has been four days now- or if he’s being picky as heck and darting to the water dish to get his water how he prefers it.

[sarahthegemini]

It’s not really being picky. Drinking from a bowl is far more natural than from a bottle. Do you provide fresh clean water every day? You said the bottle is half full and it’s been 4 days?

[Scarlet]

I figure bowls are what would be preferred, the fact two out of three have either snubbed completely or half-snubbed implies they’re picky because logic would say they would prefer the bowl to a bottle. They prefer/ed bottle to bowl.

When I first gave him the bottle it was snubbed, changing the water seemed to aggravate him and make him antsy. As he’s new, and not even two weeks in, handling and avoiding making him upset or prone to running into tight spaces/slamming himself into his cage was priority. When he did not settle down to water changes and I couldn’t get him to be okay with them, I decided to let it go for a few days and watch if he’d drink it more if it was untampered with. It’s only a slight increase. The temperature is very cool(a pleasant 29-32 with some 40s), so I figured it was a good time to see if maybe he just hated me touching his water in general and that was it.

[Dface]

They’ve done studies into it and rabbits should not be drinking from bottles. They drink 40% less from them.

[Scarlet]

Any suggestions on this then? Such as getting a rabbit who won’t drink from a bowl to drink? With any other animal the option is weaning or elimination, but I’ve found rabbits are stubborn and will just shove stuff in their water or tantrum when bowl switched. My idea was to give them all bowls of water, but there’s the shoving hay, food, etc into the water. I suppose I could elevate the dish, but Nimo is fond of lifting his hay and food up in his mouth and dropping it into things. I know not every rabbit can be made to do something they don’t want. Nimo chugs his bottle down daily and has no qualms with gulping every drop as often as he can get a new full bottle.

Harvey being so young and also being new with new-home jitters is boiling down to I want him comfortable and okay asap. Some just stop eating or drinking for awhile during travel/new homes, but he’s been great, appears to be eating good, enjoys his veggies(snubs, but eats in secret when I look away), it’s just water that is a concern.

[DanaNM]

Provide both. Bowl for most of the time (as is preferred by most bunnies), bottle just in case the bowl gets knocked over or soiled. Also confirm that the bottle is working properly. Sometimes the nozzle gets clogged with hard water deposits and the water doesn’t flow properly.

Heavy ceramic dog bowls work well, as they are too heavy to be tossed or tipped.

Do have you vet look into excessive thirst though. Can be anything from dental issues to kidney problems.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Scarlet]

Will do both then. Going to have to get some properly sized bowls as what I’m using is lightweight and a bit small. Adding that to the plan.

Have not heard of thirst being associated with kidney problems, only the opposite. In my experience animals that drink less are the concern. Is that bunny specific? I have raised a great number of animals and never seen any unhealthy due to having a healthy appetite and thirst. I would assume it a concern if they got gas or bloating or had a lack of urine output. Both my boys are under two years old, with one just shy over a year old so I’m going to guess that kidney issues are not early onset health problems in young rabbits and it’s more worrisome with age?

[jojothebun]

When I first got JoJo I noticed really quickly she didn’t like the bottle. When I provided her with a bowl instead she was so much happier and started drinking a lot more water! I ended up putting two water bowls, in two different places, in her habitat. I use ceramic bowls I found on Amazon because she cant knock them over. Here is a link for the one’s I have https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035HD4US/ref=twister_B005HSG7PC?_encoding=UTF8&th=1, but I’m sure there’s many good options if you just shop around

[Gordo and Janice]

Our experience was the same as most. Icey would drink from the hanging bottle. But it appeared after the fact that it was because it was the only choice we gave her at first. After examining how it looked unnatural and kind of awkward for her we read that bowls might be better. We got a small stainless steel bowl that was weighted on the bottom to help keep it from tipping over. After that change her water intake increased dramatically, she shunned the water bottle completely, and watching her, it looked totally natural and comfortable.

[sarahthegemini]

When I first tried bowls rather than bottles, neither of my buns were interested but after their spay and neuter I offered both and they opted for the bowl. Strange!

[Gordo and Janice]

And I suppose it goes without saying, but I think what helped it to be more natural for Icey was the height of the lip of the bowl was only about 1.5 to 1.75 inches. For what it’s worth.

[Scarlet]

Given Harvey is very small and seems to be stretching out and learning how to push off the ground and reach things, he might hate the bottle for being higher than him or because he’s short and its at a reasonable level, not too high, but head-level. 

[Scarlet]

Very strange, I’ve never had neutering or spaying in any animal affect their diet, just their temperament. Most often I’d see fixed animals overeat or gain weight but never seen them like stuff they hated or had no interest in because of fixing. 

[Mikey]

All three of my boys are very complicated with their water preferences.

Blue only liked a bottle if it was above his head, but then it would be way too high for his bondmate, Bombur. Bombur preferred his water bottle mouth level, but then Blue would refuse because he would deem it too low. Neither preferred a bowl at first. At one point, I had a bowl, a low water bottle, and a high water bottle all in their cage at the same time. This lasted about two months before they finally shifted over to the bowl. During this time, we would change the bowl water more often (several times a day opposed to twice a day) so they slowly started to gravitate towards the fresher water in the bowl over the bottles. Now they share a large ceramic bowl. You can try this tactic with your bun if you think it could help.

To get him more interested in the bowl water, you can add a bit of no sugar added apple juice or no sugar added natural cranberry juice (not cocktail). Sometimes the sweetness or bitterness added will encourage a rabbit to drink more often.

How many greens do you feed him and what kinds? Some rabbits get a majority of their water intake from their greens so they do not need to drink as often.

Side story: Badger, my third bun, heavily prefers bottles but he tends to break them causing water spill everywhere. In less than a year, he went through four high quality water bottles. We had to force him to start using a bowl. We used the same tactic of bowl + bottle, and refilling the bowl very often. He still preferred the bottle and would start trying to throw the bowl and the bottle because he was mad about the situation. We took the last bottle out after he broke it again and just left him with the bowl. He needs a large ceramic bowl all to himself because anything smaller and he will flip it because he simply does not like bowls. But, he will drink from them because its all he has available now.

[Deleted User]

I transitioned Ophelia from a bottle to a bowl. It is obviously more natural and I’ve noticed her drinking more water now. It really is a lot of work for them to get a substantial amount of water without just rapidly licking at the spout. I offered both at first, because she was a little wary of the bowl at first and would sniff it then go away. I took the bottle away when I noticed that she was comfortable drinking from the bowl.

[Dee]

Everyone else has offered great solutions on the water bowl/bottle situation, so I have nothing to add there. Just had to comment how amazing it is that these little adorable creatures have such varied and strong preferences, and extreme ways of expressing themselves ?, AND how I love seeing all the other bunny servants who get to know their rabbits so well and go to such lengths to ensure that they are happy. Makes ME happy reading about it ☺.

[Scarlet]

Given how stubborn they can be, I’ve come to realize that if I cannot please one with a bowl or fool them with the proper methods, if a bottle will be what they prefer, I’ll supply it. I’m going through a lot of toys testing who likes what and what gets thrown aside and never sniffed again. Some of mine hate flat surfaces for their food to be on with a passion so I assume that’s life, figuring out how to make them happiest.

[Scarlet]

I might attempt the no sugar added fruit drinks to the water thing, never thought they could have fruit juice at all. 

Uh. They get
cilantro,
raddish tops,
the normal timothy hay,
fresh cut willow branches and leaves(right now they’re mainly getting twigs and branches or saplings due to winter),
small pieces of carrot or a single mulberry as treats, sometimes a grape,
parsley,
green beans,
sometimes one steals my orange peel or takes a bite of banana peel,
and sometimes a tiny slice of banana 
sometimes also a bite or two of an orange slice.

It’s all varied day to day if I can manage it. I have frozen containers of blackberries, mulberries, and peach skins that are often savored greatly by them in small daily treat amounts. 

[Scarlet]

More of a saucer than a bowl then, sounds like. 

[DanaNM]

Hmmmm, not sure of the amounts of everything, but seems a little heavy on treat-like things, and could be improved in terms of leafy-greens (I only see cilantro, parsley, and radish tops). How big is your bunny, and about how many cups of leafy greens do they get per day?

Feeding the greens dripping wet also helps boost their water intake.

I am also not sure about the green beans… most lists of “good veggies” avoid legumes. But I have heard that pea-pods with no peas in them are OK. So maybe young green beans would be fine?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Scarlet]

Posted By DanaNM on 1/06/2018 5:22 PM

Hmmmm, not sure of the amounts of everything, but seems a little heavy on treat-like things, and could be improved in terms of leafy-greens (I only see cilantro, parsley, and radish tops). How big is your bunny, and about how many cups of leafy greens do they get per day?

Feeding the greens dripping wet also helps boost their water intake.

I am also not sure about the green beans… most lists of “good veggies” avoid legumes. But I have heard that pea-pods with no peas in them are OK. So maybe young green beans would be fine?

The greens are always freshly washed and dipped in water. I left out bell peppers, basil, and clover. Green beans are fed sparingly and have had no ill results, I’ve heard they’re safe from sources. Carrot tops(the greens) are also included. The treats are limited to the two per day regiment. Broccoli too. As it is winter most of the normally grown things I get them are replaced with store bought stuff.  

Last year they got to eat sunflower plants(not the seeds).

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