Water Bottles are freezing! How do I stop it?

[Maple Buns Rabbitry]

Even though we live in Tennessee, my bunnies water bottles are freezing and they only get a few good drinks a day. Do Yall have any suggestions to stop there bottles from freezing? its mainly the nozzle that's the problem. If you have any ideas please share them! Thanks!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

A way to keep the water warm is maybe wrap something around it like a heating pad or something like a hand towel

 

[Maple Buns Rabbitry]

Thx! I have also heard about a sock. do you think that would work?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

I would think so. It would cover up more space

 

[Preitler]

Insulating everything and putting warm water in might help for some time, but aren't the spouts freezing first?

That's one of the reasons I don't like bottles (fellow breeder down the road uses bottles, what a nightmare). Crocks are an option, and I put an electric heating element on an adjustable power supply under it, best investment ever.

 

[MuddyFarms]

Depending on how many rabbits you have, if you have a power source, and how much cold you get, you may want to check out heated water bottles. You can also have several regular water bottles per cage and swap them out throughout the day so they can thaw in the house between uses. But, I have heard of the water bottle tips being damaged by the frozen water in the tips (I think that would mostly be for the ones that have the ball-tip and not the ones that have the rod-tip?). I know many people switch to crocks in the winter because of this problem. I did that and water bottles for half a winter years ago with only a few rabbits. This year I put in a circulating, heated water system. Boy, am I thankful for that system! I did not want to deal with the issues of frozen water again.

 

[ThunderHill]

Depending on how many rabbits you have, if you have a power source, and how much cold you get, you may want to check out heated water bottles. You can also have several regular water bottles per cage and swap them out throughout the day so they can thaw in the house between uses. But, I have heard of the water bottle tips being damaged by the frozen water in the tips (I think that would mostly be for the ones that have the ball-tip and not the ones that have the rod-tip?). I know many people switch to crocks in the winter because of this problem. I did that and water bottles for half a winter years ago with only a few rabbits. This year I put in a circulating, heated water system. Boy, am I thankful for that system! I did not want to deal with the issues of frozen water again.

Could you possibly post some pictures and info about your heated system? I've read about a few others on different threads, but would love to see what is working well for you. Thanks so much in advance!

 

[MuddyFarms]

Could you possibly post some pictures and info about your heated system? I've read about a few others on different threads, but would love to see what is working well for you. Thanks so much in advance!

Sure! I will try to get some pictures in the next few days and get that info up with it.

 

[jajtiii]

What are crocks (in relation to this conversation)?

 

[Preitler]

Bowls. I use ceramic ones, holding 0.5-1 liter, and stainless steel tip-proof dog water bowls. In winter I cover half of the top with a wooden board, additional to the heating.

 

[jajtiii]

Gotcha. It’s not connected to a container- the bowl is the container.

thanks for the response

 

[WylieCoyote]

Here's a couple pics of my setup. Upstate NY. The 2nd shows my gfci power cord delivering electricity to the rabbitry. The first a photo through the vinyl shower curtain showing the electric heated bottles each have. It's 9 degrees and all water is still unfrozen.

 

[Mini_stead]

Nice setup! I’m Definitely contemplating on getting heated water bottles also. But I guess I haven’t gotten tired of thawing off bottles yet. I’ve just been filling bottles with hot water. Seem to last about 6-7 hours before the nipples freeze. Takes a long while after for the water to freeze. The bunnies don’t mind the hot water.

 

[arachyd]

I found crocks to be much easier to use, especially in freezing weather. Use 2 crocks per cage and rotate them. My method was to carry a bucket of warm water out twice each day. I would take out the frozen crocks, put them in the bucket and replace them with the clean crocks. By the time I was done the ice would have melted from the first set of crocks so I could wash them to be ready for the next round.

 

[Zee-Man]

In addition to all the great advice above, you can invest in either a heated water bottle or a continuous flow system. This Bottle has a thermostat built into it so it only uses power when the water gets close to freezing. At $26 it is reasonable for just a few rabbits.

A CFWS has the benefit of never needing filling and not freezing in most human inhabitable places. Depending on the distance between a heated structure and the hutch a CFWS would cost less than $200. I have a promise to publish my plans here at RT, but I have yet to get time to build mine. Here are the parts:

1) a reservoir - a 5 gal bucket would do
2) a float valve - there are many styles, there is one for cattle that looks like a pint bottle
3) an RV pump - runs on 12v and has low pressure
4) PEX and fittings
5) valves - used to cut off flow when doing maintenance
6) nipples - of course!
7) tap for the nipples

The reservoir goes inside the house or heated structure. A water source is connected to the reservoir via the float valve. This is what keeps the system full forever. Using on bulkhead fitting at about the half height of the reservoir, stretch a run of PEX out to the hutch. That is the return side. Use another bulkhead fitting near the bottom of the reservoir and connect the pump. From the pump stretch another run of PEX out to the hutch. Run PEX through the hutch and add nipples as needed. Turn on the pump. Rabbits now have a constant supply of water that won't freeze unless you live at one of the poles. Bury the PEX deep enough so you won't damage it with daily traffic. Don't worry about getting it deep enough to not freeze, it simply won't while the pump continues to run. Added benefit is that in the summer the water is always cool for the bunnies too!

 

[ladysown]

you either need to
1. by heated water bottles
2. have a heated water source with protected lines
3. switch to a different method of watering. I use ceramic bowls in the winter. Fill half way in the morning, top them up at night, bucket of hot water thaws the ice in the mornings. Living in SW Ontario winter happens!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

We never use food bowls to hold water. Our rabbits are messy enough-

 

[MnCanary]

What's difficult for me with bottle or nipple watering systems is this: research shows that rabbits with bowls drink more water than rabbits with bottles or nipple systems. Bowls are a little more work, but taking the best care of my rabbits isn't work for me.

 

[gswafford]

In addition to all the great advice above, you can invest in either a heated water bottle or a continuous flow system. This Bottle has a thermostat built into it so it only uses power when the water gets close to freezing. At $26 it is reasonable for just a few rabbits.

A CFWS has the benefit of never needing filling and not freezing in most human inhabitable places. Depending on the distance between a heated structure and the hutch a CFWS would cost less than $200. I have a promise to publish my plans here at RT, but I have yet to get time to build mine. Here are the parts:

1) a reservoir - a 5 gal bucket would do
2) a float valve - there are many styles, there is one for cattle that looks like a pint bottle
3) an RV pump - runs on 12v and has low pressure
4) PEX and fittings
5) valves - used to cut off flow when doing maintenance
6) nipples - of course!
7) tap for the nipples

The reservoir goes inside the house or heated structure. A water source is connected to the reservoir via the float valve. This is what keeps the system full forever. Using on bulkhead fitting at about the half height of the reservoir, stretch a run of PEX out to the hutch. That is the return side. Use another bulkhead fitting near the bottom of the reservoir and connect the pump. From the pump stretch another run of PEX out to the hutch. Run PEX through the hutch and add nipples as needed. Turn on the pump. Rabbits now have a constant supply of water that won't freeze unless you live at one of the poles. Bury the PEX deep enough so you won't damage it with daily traffic. Don't worry about getting it deep enough to not freeze, it simply won't while the pump continues to run. Added benefit is that in the summer the water is always cool for the bunnies too!

I tried using a small recirculating pump and when rabbits drank water would spray out of nipple. I ended up using a five gallon bucket set a little higher than nipples and let gravity feed the water. I put heat trace around bucket and down the water line and insulated been down to 19 degrees with no issues. By the way most nipples are rated at 3 psi. Pumps can easily exceed this so you would need a regulator for your system

 

[Olbunny]

We use heated water bowls