One of the most important components of successfully raising rabbits is constant access to clean drinking water. Animals suffer from a lack of fluid, and dehydration can lead to disturbances in the processes of digestion and metabolism, which threatens disease and death of the livestock. Contaminated, stale water poses no less a risk, so drinking bowls for domestic rabbits should provide the animals with access to liquid and keep it clean.
Primary requirements
The following requirements apply to rabbit drinking bowls:
- Simplicity of design.
- Keeps water clean even when used by large numbers of animals.
- Constant access of rabbits to the drinking bowl.
- No accidental overturning possible.
- Affordable price.
- Stable fluid supply even in the absence of owners.
If the rabbit is decorative and is kept alone in the house, you can limit yourself to a simple bowl, like for cats or indoor dogs. It is only important to constantly monitor the cleanliness of the contents and replace it regularly.
Types of drinking bowls for rabbits
In the event that rabbits are bred en masse or several animals are kept, you will have to take care of the availability of drinking bowls of a suitable type. They must be durable, work properly and provide rabbits with the necessary amount of drinking water. It won’t be possible to limit yourself to a bowl or a handy tool, because the animals will dirty the container and spill the liquid. And this will lead to food rotting, dampness in the cage and room, as well as to diseases in the rabbits due to wet paws.
To prevent this from happening, you need to take care of purchasing a suitable type of drinking bowl.
Cup
Such a device is equipped with two pipes and a float, which ensures a constant level of liquid in the container. The device is attached to the wall, does not require special knowledge and skills for installation, and is easy to clean and disinfect. Rabbits quickly get used to it, but this type is more suitable for cages with three to five pets.
Nipple
This type of drinking bowl is the most modern and convenient for keeping rabbits, because such a device practically eliminates the risk of water contamination. The use of a nipple drinking device does not allow animals to dirty the liquid, since there is no container in it.
It is also impossible to dilute dampness, because there is simply nothing to turn over in the cage or room. Rabbits drink water from a kind of “nipple”, by pressing on which they get a drop of crystal clear water using a valve - nipple.
Nipple systems are of the following types:
- Vertical (180 and 360 O).
- Horizontal.
Vertical drinkers at 180 are best suited for rabbits. O. They differ in the following characteristics:
- Installation within an hour.
- Easy maintenance.
- Autonomous operation of the system.
- Wear resistance.
- Service for decades.
- Safety for animals, people and the environment.
- Minimum drinking water consumption.
- Constant fluid purity.
- The ability to give portions of vitamins, minerals and medications with water.
- A chance to install liquid heating for use in unheated rooms or free range during the cold season.
- Low price.
Nipple systems are popular and beneficial for rabbit breeders, so they are becoming more common.
Vacuum
This is a fairly simple way to provide water to rabbits. The principle of operation is that the liquid pouring from an inverted container into the bowl is topped up as the rabbits drink it. At the same time, the resulting vacuum does not allow it to spill immediately, flooding the cage and wetting the food and bedding.
These are cheap and practical devices that have one drawback. Rabbits can dirty the water in the drinking bowl, and besides, it is designed for several individuals, but not for dozens of them.
Automatic (for large livestock)
This option is the most practical and useful if you have a herd of rabbits of tens or hundreds of heads.The automatic drinker consists of a large water tank, a distribution tank equipped with a float, and drinkers located in each rabbit cage. As the liquid evaporates or is drunk, the float lowers, releasing a portion of fresh water into the bowls.
This system works well, but it is bulky, expensive, and drinking bowls will still need to be washed frequently, as rabbits can drop wool, scraps, hay, etc. into them.
Features of winter drinkers
If rabbits are outside in winter or live in unheated areas, they need to be provided with heated drinking bowls. Nipple systems equipped with electronic mechanisms that heat the water to the required temperature are suitable for this purpose. They require batteries to operate, so the cost of the devices is quite high.
To keep several heads or when the rabbit is in an apartment or house, they are not necessary, but when breeding an entire herd outdoors, you will have to purchase such a device. It will pay for itself over the next few months, making life easier for the rabbit breeder.
DIY making
The easiest way to make a vacuum drinker at home. It is easily obtained from a bowl, plastic bottle or sewer pipe. The most primitive option is to tip a bottle of water into a bowl and attach it to the cage bars with plumbing clamps or strong wire. Some of the liquid is poured into the container, with the edge of the bottle neck being below the water's edge. When rabbits drink from a bowl, water from the bottle flows into the container, replenishing its level.
As a temporary option, you can use any cheap plastic container, for example, the same PET bottle.It is closed with a lid, and a hole slightly larger than the rabbit’s head is cut in the side. Having filled with water, an improvised drinking bowl is attached in a horizontal position to the side of the cage. As the liquid decreases, it is constantly topped up.
Such a device costs almost nothing, but also lasts a couple of weeks, no more than a month. This is an excellent temporary option, for example, in a situation where there are already rabbits, but waterers have not yet been delivered or installed. But, despite the simplicity and cheapness of the method, it has a significant drawback. Rabbits can chew the bottle, and plastic in the stomach and respiratory tract leads to the death of the animals.
How to install it?
Most often, the sippy cup is mounted on the wall of the room or on the side of the cage, at a height convenient for rabbits. The drinker must be placed in such a way that the owners or farm staff have quick access to the device, minimally disturbing the animals. This is especially important in the case of pregnant females and nursing mothers. Stress, especially frequent stress, can lead to the death of the entire litter or the mother rabbit’s abandonment of her offspring.
Care and cleaning
Even if rabbits are unable to litter into the water (and in 99% of cases they do), dirt and sediment from the water accumulate in all components of the drinking systems, and microscopic algae develop. If you do not regularly wash and clean all elements of drinking bowls, this can become a serious threat for rabbits.
They easily develop indigestion, and this entails diseases that can kill the entire livestock. Therefore, drinking bowls with bowls and containers need to be washed and cleaned of dirt, and also disinfected with products that are safe for rabbits.In the summer, this needs to be done more often than in winter, because the water becomes polluted and blooms much faster in the heat.
How to teach rabbits to use a water bottle?
Rabbits are intelligent creatures, and they also have a developed sense of smell. Rabbits find standard water containers and drinking bowls without problems, but novice rabbit breeders do not know how to teach animals to use nipple devices. This can be done without any problems. It is necessary to moisten the “nipples” with carrot juice or milk. Two or three such attempts, and the rabbits in the herd will calmly drink water.
For raising rabbits on an industrial scale, watering is extremely important. With a lack of fluid, the animal becomes weaker, eats worse, and its metabolic and hormonal processes are disrupted. Females may not become pregnant after mating, and after giving birth they can bite or even eat the offspring. So in order to produce offspring and gain weight, it is important not only to provide pets with housing and food, but also to ensure that they have fresh and clean water.
