Dew tubes for 2 litre bottles

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john_francis

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We've accumulated 7 of the 16 oz drip bottles and a single 32 oz bottle but for sure that's not going to be near enough once the freeze starts setting in.

We've been looking for dew tubes that will fit directly onto a 2 litre pop bottle to try and minimize expense and change outs but no such luck has made them appear in our little patch of the world.

Does anyone know if such a thing exists and where it can be mail ordered from?

It must be a product sold somewhere, it's too good an idea not to be one.

Thanks for any help.
 
My experience with the 2 litre bottles is that they are not rigid enough. When you hook them onto the cage, they collapse and the water leaks everywhere. Also, when the temperature is cold enough to freeze the bottles, it's the nipples that are going to freeze up first, so a bigger bottle isn't going to help, I shouldn't think.

What I do in the winter is take half the bottles off the cages, and give those cages a dish of some sort (thrift stores are good!). Plastic that has some flex in it, so you can pop the ice out, works best for me. The cages that still have bottles, now have two bottles per cage, so I can take warm bottles out and bring frozen ones in to thaw.
 
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a dew tube. I do know that Woody's Wabbits has ball style drinker valves for $1.00 each. I do use those on 2 liter bottles.

I agree that the valves freeze before the bottle, but the valves are much easier to defrost than an entire water bottle. Also, another idea is the dollar store. I just picked up 10 ceramic dishes and I think I have nearly 30 of the plastic dog bowls all for a buck a piece. Last year was a nightmare with water bottles, and I had way fewer rabbits.
 
pfaubush":3qeb0zr5 said:
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a dew tube. I do know that Woody's Wabbits has ball style drinker valves for $1.00 each. I do use those on 2 liter bottles.
Click to expand...
We used to use those on 1 liter bottles that happened to have ribbed sides, it made them sturdier and less collapsable. For $1 each you could afford to have several 1 liters to swap out. If you use them experiment with the different bottles it makes them easier to use and hang.

There is also a type of pop bottle waterer with a tiny crock type attachment that people use for birds like quail and chickens. I was wondering if those would be slower to freeze in the winter, but I don't really have a real winter to test it out on. Someone else will have to let me know.

There is a pic of them at the BOTTOM of this page. http://www.strombergschickens.com/produ ... _chick.php
 
The problem for those of us who are in the Freezer during the winter months IS
that the sipper tubes will freeze within minutes disabling any chance the
rabbit has of getting enough drinkable water. They must have
drinkable water or they will not eat. I use heavy plastic
unbreakable slanted feed/water bowls in the colder months.
I water at least twice and sometimes three times per day.
If you use the sipper tubes on the two liter soda bottles,
which I do when applicable you need to fashion your own bottle holder
out of excess cage wire. The bottle will not collapse.
I have been using this for years. I can post some pictures
if anyone is interested.
Dennis, C.V.R. [Ottersatin]
 
My winter water solution is cheap and low tech. I buy those plastic food containers, the square ones that sell 3/$1 at Dollarama. They hold about 16 oz. of water. I use two for each cage. One I pierce with an ice pick near the rim and on the base. I wire it through the holes in the rim to the cage. This serves as a holder. A second box fits inside and this liner is what holds the water.

On mornings when everything has frozen solid overnight, I am very grateful for this system. I take a bucket of hot water down to the rabbitry. I open the first cage, lift out the frozen food box and float it in the bucket. I fill the grain dish and put in hay. By this time the ice block has unmoulded can be dumped out. I scoop up warm water and replace the container in the holder. Close the cage and I'm done.

The plastic boxes take quite a long time to freeze to the point where the rabbits cannot get a drink. In extreme cold, I make three trips a day, but for most of the winter, morning and late afternoon is enough. I know a lot of people prefer water bottles, but just wanted to post this as a cheap and easy alternative.
 
Like you Maggie,
I prefer water bottles as it keeps the water cleaner.
The rabbits cannot urinate or defecate in the bottle
as they often do in a bowl. I am relegated to using water bowls in the winter
as it is so important that they have access to drinkable water.
Sipper tubes are usless to me in the extreme cold as they often freeze
within a few to five minutes. I always have the Bottles available but not full in the winter.
Sometimes half full. Winter is hard, but, nothing is easy! If it was everybody would do it.
Dennis, C.V.R. [Ottersatin]
 
Wait, Maggie, I can't picture that. Where is the rabbit drinking from? One box is the holder for the other, and they nest...but where is the water coming out? This sounds neat, I just don't quite get it. Could you take a pic?
 
Oh, I should have been more specific, I guess. This system is a crock substitute, not a bottle arrangement. you don't use the lids and the rabbits drink out of the box.

Actually, Dennis, I use water crocks year round. I just switch to the freezer boxes in the winter because they make changing the water so quick and easy.

I've never had much problem with rabbits using their feed or water dishes as potties. One of my criteria for a good doe is that she train her youngsters well... and I do believe potty habits are learned. I once culled a whole line, doe included, because she did not train them well. All my current does are daughters or granddaughters of that doe's sister, Patches. Patches did always did did a first rate job of training. :)
 
oooh. i see, sorry! somehow I was picturing something like a chicken waterer, where you have an upended jar over a drip pan base...
 
eco2pia said:
If you use them experiment with the different bottles it makes them easier to use and hang.
Click to expand...

I have found that the Smart Water bottles are the best! They are super sturdy and come in different sizes. I have forced the entire family to start drinking Smart Water. LOL

I agree with you Dennis about the bottles in the dead of winter. Thankfully, we don't stay that cold for too long. I did get a slew of dog dishes for when it does. As it is, I'm filling around 50 bottles a day, some twice. Something has to give. I just can't do that in the freezing cold, morning and night.
 
pfaubush":3svuemxh said:
eco2pia said:
If you use them experiment with the different bottles it makes them easier to use and hang.
Click to expand...
I agree with you Dennis about the bottles in the dead of winter. Thankfully, we don't stay that cold for too long. I did get a slew of dog dishes for when it does. As it is, I'm filling around 50 bottles a day, some twice. Something has to give. I just can't do that in the freezing cold, morning and night.
Click to expand...
[/quote]

Yeah you can!
if you want your rabbits to survive the winter. It's just as chilling to fill water Bowls in the extreme cold.
I wear Rubber gloves over a thinner pair of gloves to help prevent spills on MY hands when I'm dumping and filling Bowls. Hey, that's what makes having rabbits FUN! :twisted:
Ottersatin.
 

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