Plastic VS glass bottles

[Jenine]

I started my buns off with plastic bottles, just because it was included in the cages I had originally bought for them. When I upgraded their homes I switched to glass bottles because I thought they would be better. The first ones I bought leaked A LOT so I exchanged them twice but they still leak. I’m not talking the occasional drip which is normal for bottles, but I could fill the bottle and within a few hours it has nearly emptied. It doesn’t make for a cozy dry bed and its also mighty annoying having to change her bedding so often! I started only putting small amounts of water in the bottle but that also gets irritating when I have to put water in it so often.

I’m so fed up with these bottles! Does anyone else have this problem with glass bottles or have I just fallen into a terrible brand?!

[Stitchntwinks]

Mine have water bowls instead of bottles, they seems to get much more water out of them and I’ve never had a problem with them tipping them upside down or anything! I wouldn’t use water bottles now I have used bowls

[Jenine]

I’ve tried bowls, but that ends up being just as messy.. she likes to toss ANYTHING around her .. or step in it.

[Alexandra]

I have used plastic bottles, glass bottles, and water bowls. I had the opposite problem, the plastic bottles leaked constantly, and so the option of a water dish saved the day. However, since I adopted my second bunny, Frank, it became clear that a water dish was no longer an option (he likes to throw things around, and was strong enough to do so with even the heaviest water bowl I could find).

Anyhow, I am now using glass bottles and they work perfectly. I use the Super Pet glass bottles, they have a little floating duck inside that shows the water level and can be found at Pet Valu, Pet Smart, and I’m sure other pet stores.

[TH004]

I had the bowls, but it always got filled with hay and hair. I had to try 5 plastic bottles to get the right one, but I have it! It NEVER leaks. You have to fill it completely when you do, hit the little ball a few times to seal it up, then put it in the cage. (Vet taught me that trick)

I found it here: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752722

I’ve had it for at least 3 years, and it is still working great.

[LoveChaCha]

I prefer bowls because I don’t like to see my rabbit strain her head/neck just for the sake of my convenience. I don’t mind washing out the bowl every 2 days, she seems to drink a lot more out of the bowl than she ever did the bottle

[Monkeybun]

All of my buns prefer bowls. Sure, hay and stuff gets in them, but that just means they get clean bowls more often

[TH004]

Once I got the right positioning, my rabbit doesn’t have to move his head at all for the water. It is getting it situated right.

I wouldn’t mind washing a bowl once a day even. I was doing it many times each day. Mine goes through some crazy molts and likes to play with his hay (he has to eat the best pieces first, and the runner-ups get thrown around). Once hay was in the water, he wouldn’t drink out of the bowl. My vet did recommend that I switch to a bottle, because she said any time I go on vacation, bunny sitters aren’t as likely to clean out the bowl as often as I had. Just something to consider.

[tanlover14]

We had that exact problem with a few of our glass water bottles — we had to buy new ones because we couldn’t fix the problem. I also use the SuperPet glass bottles with the little floaty duck and they work really well! But like mentioned before sometimes we have a problem if we don’t fill it to the very top (I always let it overflow a little) and seal it then.

[bmt87]

Lola prefers a bottle – sometimes I think she thinks it’s a toy. I just switched from plastic bottles to glass bottles and am liking the glass more (I have the SuperPet/floating ducky one as well). I realized TanLover just wrote everything I was going to say when I looked up haha. But, yes – try making sure you fill it up all the way to the top..

[Jenine]

One of the ones I have is the SuperPet with the floating duck, its OK but not perfect. The terrible one is a Living World brand (same idea, floating carrot)
I’ll try filling it completely, I never have because I’m afraid of it all just gushing out! I’m really starting to think I got a faulty batch of them because there’s no way it should be leaking this much even if its not full :s

[TH004]

With the one I have, you do have to fill it completely and seal it by hitting the ball a few times. It was scary putting a full bottle up after I had so many leak from a little to the whole thing. I sat there and watched it at first. Just keep trying them out, but make sure you do the sealing trick too!

[FooFoosMommy2]

We use a plastic Super Pet one, however ours does not have a duck inside. It hasn’t leaked so far, outside of the occasional drip after Foo is done drinking. The only problem I’ve had with it is sometimes the lid is hard to get off when I have to refill it, but that could be because someone else puts it on too tight.

[Roberta]

I had the problem with one bottle but it turned out it was because it was tilting backyards. Once I moved it to outside the cage with the spout going in through the bars so it tilted forward slightly the leaking stopped and it works perfectly. You can also try packing behind the bottle to push it upright or into a forward tilt but the buns just lurv to get up and yank the wadding out.

[Monkeybun]

Filling htem completely is recommended to stop leaks

[Jenine]

I tried filling it completely, to the point of overflowing yesterday. I put some of her litter underneath the bottle because I was afraid of coming home to a soaking wet bunny lol.. but the overfill worked, no drip-age at all! and now I feel like a bit of an idiot for not doing it sooner lol.. thanks!

[TH004]

I didn’t know it until I had a rabbit for 6 years When my vet told me, I looked at her like she was crazy. I never filled the bottles full, because they leaked! Duh! lol. Live and learn!

[tanlover14]

Don’t feel dumb — hahaha. We bought like 6 of them and did a TON of googling before we realized what the problem was!

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By nenexx2 on 08/16/2012 11:03 AM

I tried filling it completely, to the point of overflowing yesterday. I put some of her litter underneath the bottle because I was afraid of coming home to a soaking wet bunny lol.. but the overfill worked, no drip-age at all! and now I feel like a bit of an idiot for not doing it sooner lol.. thanks!

Don’t feel like an idiot – I actually didn’t know this until THIS thread!  And I’m supposed to know more about this kind of stuff. I have been through a gobzillian water bottles in the past.  Though my set up now allows me to have water bowls, but before that, I stuggled often with bottle leaks!   I should have known since I volunteered for years at a shelter, and we always filled them up to the top just as part of the protocol.  Never had many leaky problems, except with my own bottles.  DUH!   So you have been out dummied….by me!  

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