I understand that most of us are in different areas of the world but by the end of October I retire their water bottles till spring and use alternate bowls and crocks for water.
A few cages have those hardy plastic ones but one idea I like is using cat food size cans...I have many and they are easy to replace and with enough water in between checking on them.
I did buy a really cool purple one that fits on the cage for my big girl but she started chewing it and when I lifted it off to clean it out -it broke!
Just curious what do other people use that have a freezing/water problem?
Lorelei
It very seldom freezes down here in Texas but I thought about this and could you use that Foam Pipe Wrap to cover your bottles?
It come in sizes big enough to cover a 3 in. pipe and you can cut to length easy.
Hmmm...something to thing about.
But would that keep the tube part from freezing?
I was thinking about bringing all the rabbits in the livingroom and stacking them up next to the TV till April! LOLOL Hubby didn\'t think so!
We usually have a few days below freezing that we have to worry about frozen water. Last year, we only had 2 rabbits and so my children changed the water bottles 3 times per day for those times that were below freezing. I think we had a few weeks of it here and there. Now, we have 9 little buns and that will be much more difficult to change those 3 times per day (we don\'t have that many bottles). I\'m going to have to think about this dilema. I\'ll talk to my children and get back to ya...
We live in Indiana and the weather gets cold. So we have to switch all of our water bottles over to plastic crock type bowls. We found a type from a cage dealer here in Indiana that have no lip on the top part of the bowl and the rabbits can\'t chew them all up. The dealer is KD Cage Company,1-800-265-5113 is there toll free number and they will send you a catalog for free. Another nice thing thing about these crocks is that they lock into the bottom of the cage wire when you twist them in place so the bunnies can\'t spill them. They come in 3 different sizes. We have to change water atleast 2 times a day. Maybe that will help someone? Good luck. Tony Artist,Artist Rabbitry
Clamp on Water Bowl
This is what I use for all my rabbits during the winter months. The bowl lifts out of the ring for easy dumping of ice and you don\'t have to worry about having to replced cracked or broken bowls or water bottles using these stainless steel bowls. You do still have to fill the bowls frequently though. I usually have to fill them three times a day.
I tried what Mike is talking about last year, it did keep the water in the bottle from freezing completely but your dead on, the drinking tube still froze solid.
If the link above doesn\'t work then just go to
http://www.jbpet.com and type in Spot Clamp on Crate Bowls in the search bar.
Oh thats a good idea...thats kind of what I use with the little cans. I didn\'t want to invest in anything until I looked around -so I went cheap cheap! LOL
They also have those plastic travel clip on ones I got from Bass -but I wonder if they\'d crack if banged on. Those plastic crocks I have don\'t crack but like anything thats not mailed down it is considered a toy!
I\'ll have to keep that link and check it out.
I live in northwest Oregon right now, so don\'t have many days where the water will freeze, but when I lived in Utah and northern Arizona, it was a different story.
I continued the use of water bottles. I had two sets. I filled the bottles with warm water which encouraged the rabbits to drink more and would replace the bottles and let the frozen ones thaw. Only had to do this in the morning in northern AZ, but had to replace bottles often in mid-day in Utah.
I know my rabbits had sufficient water for their needs because they continued to breed and successfully rear litters all through the winter months.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
I like that idea with the dish that locks on the bottom of the cage...hmmm...another possiblity! Thanx Tony...