Switching from crock to water bottle help please

[amandainohio24]

To give a little background on this, I just bought this rabbit the other day and I noticed his water level had not gone down. After seeing another post on here I gave him a small crock with water in it which he drank from. My question is, how difficult is it to teach a rabbit to switch over to a bottle? He is a year old as of last month if that matters at all, and is a lionhead. Any tips to help get the little man switched over would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Strawberry jam (preferably organic ) on the ball or stem valve usually does the trick pretty quickly.

 

[amandainohio24]

Will have to give that a try. Luckily we always have that flavor in the house.

 

[caroline]

That's a trick I haven't tried yet :idea: . My hand raised litter didn't learn how to drink from mom so I've been hoping they would catch on and filling the crock every day so they won't get dehydrated now that they're weaned off their formula I'm going to use apricot [cuz that's what I have]

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Just so you know...most rabbits can learn, but some never will. I used to use water bottles and tried for weeks to get some of mine to learn to drink from it...no dice, so I switched to crocks entirely.

 

[ladysown]

sometimes it depends on the water bottle style.

I've never had success with the pin type, but the roller ball style tends to be fairly easy for rabbits to pick up on. Even using some tea in the water helps.

 

[Secuono]

If it's a ball valve and not a pin, he should learn in time, but he may never learn to like using it. They will sometimes refuse to use them in hot weather because the bottled water also heats up.
It took my rabbits from 1wk the earliest to about 4-5wks for the very stubborn rabbits. I only put the bottle above the crocks, they figured it out.
Sticking something on the end can help or piling hay up so they accidentally keep touching it.

 

[Peach]

I used to use water bottles....but they leaked and I felt they were difficult to get adequate water from. But this is just IMPO. I've switched about 95% to crocks around spring time and have seen a major improvement with flesh condition. For me, they are also easier to clean. I dump the old water out daily and purchased a handy dandy special rabbit water nozzle for $15 at the last show at it cut down my watering time by half

 

[caroline]

ALL my rabbits, except the one orphan litter, are on bottles and do fine. I use the roller bll type. Most kits begin drinking out of them by 3 weeks.
THE JAM IDEA: maybe it got them started, we'll see. But there were so many ants on the bottle when I just went out to check that I abandoned the Idea. I washed the bottle off and refilled it. We'll see how much water is gone in the next 24 hours.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I used to use water bottles....but they leaked and I felt they were difficult to get adequate water from. But this is just IMPO. I've switched about 95% to crocks around spring time and have seen a major improvement with flesh condition. For me, they are also easier to clean. I dump the old water out daily and purchased a handy dandy special rabbit water nozzle for $15 at the last show at it cut down my watering time by half

I monitor my rabbits' fluid intake...back when I used bottles, they drank SIGNIFICANTLY less than they do now with crocks. I think, because the bottle is harder to get water out of and takes longer, they drink until they are satisfied and no more...whereas with crocks they can drink as much as they want, not just what they NEED. I too have seen improvement in condition. Much more sanitary, too, IMO, for the same reason(s) Peach said...takes me two seconds to dump/rinse/refill a crock; took me a lot longer with bottles. Plus the bottles did tend to leak...which drove me nuts.

Plus in really hot weather I often catch my rabbits stretched out alongside their water crocks or pans, because it helps them keep cooler. And they LOVE it in summer when I put a handful of ice cubes in their water crocks!!!

 

[caroline]

[crocks are] Much more sanitary, too,

Isn't that funny. That one of the reasons I DON'T like them. When ever I have used them temporarily there always seems to be poop in them.
So for me that's LESS sanitary. I also don't like how much space they take up in the cage.

How nice there are so many options, since there are so many differing points of view.

 

[Ralph]

I use small dog waters. They hold a volume of water have the advantage of a crock easy to drink from, also in the Oklahoma heat give the bun a place to cool there ears. Put ice in the jug keep water cool for a little while.

 

[Peach]

I used to use water bottles....but they leaked and I felt they were difficult to get adequate water from. But this is just IMPO. I've switched about 95% to crocks around spring time and have seen a major improvement with flesh condition. For me, they are also easier to clean. I dump the old water out daily and purchased a handy dandy special rabbit water nozzle for $15 at the last show at it cut down my watering time by half

I monitor my rabbits' fluid intake...back when I used bottles, they drank SIGNIFICANTLY less than they do now with crocks. I think, because the bottle is harder to get water out of and takes longer, they drink until they are satisfied and no more...whereas with crocks they can drink as much as they want, not just what they NEED. I too have seen improvement in condition. Much more sanitary, too, IMO, for the same reason(s) Peach said...takes me two seconds to dump/rinse/refill a crock; took me a lot longer with bottles. Plus the bottles did tend to leak...which drove me nuts.

Plus in really hot weather I often catch my rabbits stretched out alongside their water crocks or pans, because it helps them keep cooler. And they LOVE it in summer when I put a handful of ice cubes in their water crocks!!!

It's not uncommon to for my Mini Lops to lay next to their crock with one ear in when I'm in the rabbitry

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I used to use water bottles....but they leaked and I felt they were difficult to get adequate water from. But this is just IMPO. I've switched about 95% to crocks around spring time and have seen a major improvement with flesh condition. For me, they are also easier to clean. I dump the old water out daily and purchased a handy dandy special rabbit water nozzle for $15 at the last show at it cut down my watering time by half

I monitor my rabbits' fluid intake...back when I used bottles, they drank SIGNIFICANTLY less than they do now with crocks. I think, because the bottle is harder to get water out of and takes longer, they drink until they are satisfied and no more...whereas with crocks they can drink as much as they want, not just what they NEED. I too have seen improvement in condition. Much more sanitary, too, IMO, for the same reason(s) Peach said...takes me two seconds to dump/rinse/refill a crock; took me a lot longer with bottles. Plus the bottles did tend to leak...which drove me nuts.

Plus in really hot weather I often catch my rabbits stretched out alongside their water crocks or pans, because it helps them keep cooler. And they LOVE it in summer when I put a handful of ice cubes in their water crocks!!!

It's not uncommon to for my Mini Lops to lay next to their crock with one ear in when I'm in the rabbitry

This afternoon it's been terribly hot...I keep going over and checking on Breezy and her brood.

I found a Champagne in the water dish!!! He's almost as big as Breezy, easily a pound or more of kit...four-ish weeks old...just sitting in the middle of the TOTALLY FULL water dish! Soaked through!!! I tried to shoo him out, he hopped back in and began casually grooming a foot. In the water.

I figure, as long as he doesn't pee in the pool, s'all good. Still, what a wierdo!!! :lol: If he does it again I might nab him and tattoo a dot in his ear to tell him apart...and name him Heathertoft's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!!!!

 

[amandainohio24]

Thank you everybody for the ideas. Since we are having a heat wave the next 2 days I am going to wait until it cools down before I mess with him too much. Here is a picture of the little guy in question:

 

[DogCatMom]

I found a Champagne in the water dish!!! He's almost as big as Breezy, easily a pound or more of kit...four-ish weeks old...just sitting in the middle of the TOTALLY FULL water dish! Soaked through!!! I tried to shoo him out, he hopped back in and began casually grooming a foot. In the water.

I figure, as long as he doesn't pee in the pool, s'all good. Still, what a wierdo!!! :lol: If he does it again I might nab him and tattoo a dot in his ear to tell him apart...and name him Heathertoft's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!!!!

:lol: Maybe he hasn't read the book? You know, the one that says rabbits "don't like being in the water"?

 

[PrairieBelle]

Peach,
Please tell us more about that awesome rabbit watering nozzle !

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

I like bottles - much easier for me to tell how much the rabbit is drinking and it's much cleaner. The rabbits like crocks - gives them something to dump over - especially if there are visitors. Some like to use them as toilets. Some will actually put their front feet in the crock and flick water at you!

I think the rabbits drink more with crocks. It's just easier for them. Have not had any issues getting rabbits to drink from bottles. I use crocks in the winter because the bottles freeze up so quickly. Then switch to bottles in the spring. Then get the crocks out again when it gets really hot - I add ice to the water to help keep them cool. Then when it cools off again, switch back to the bottles. (Funny - I've never really given it much thought before. When I write it down and read back what I do with all the switching back and forth between bottles and crocks, it seems kinda stupid. I may have to give this more thought.)

Pros and cons for both. When a rabbit dumps his crock or fouls his water - he's out of water. Doesn't happen with a bottle. Water gets hot or freezes either way. The issue really boils down to a combination of temperature control and monitoring. The less I can control the temperature, the more I monitor. I worry much less in the winter as the rabbits can handle it better. When temps are above 95, I'm out checking on them nearly every hour. Not everyone can do that, I know.

Don't know if I've been of any help at all. Will have to give some serious thought to just sticking with the crocks. Hmmmmmm.......