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Bunny having trouble with water bottle

22 10:49:17

Question
QUESTION: We got our daughter young lionhead rabbit a few weeks ago.  He appears to thriving very well. He has grown and the whole family enjoys him.  He gets lots of attention and run around time and get excited any time someone comes to his cage to take him out.  He is eating Timothy Hay and food pellets very well.  However, he seems to have a problem getting the water bottle to work well for him.  He works very hard at getting a drink but he doesn't seem to get much. We can squeeze the bottle so that it starts to drip and he will drink for a minute or more.  We first thought we had a faulty bottle so we got another smaller one.  However, the problem remains.  Right after we squeeze the bottle, we can touch and roll the ball valve with our finger and get some water, but if you leave it for a few minutes and come back it is dry and almost impossible to get water.  Did we get two "bad" bottles or are we not doing something right.  We know how important water is so we make sure that he gets to drink by us squeezing the bottle, but we want to correct the problem.  We would greatly appreciate any advice.

Thanks

ANSWER: Hello,

I can't imagine the luck of getting two bad bottles. Were they they same kind each time? You might want to try another brand. It might also be that he is not used to having a water bottle. You may want to try another brand first. If it still does not seem to work, my recommendation would be to get a pet crock for water instead.

Actually rabbits tend to drink more (which is good) when they have crocks. For that reason I recommend them anyway over water bottles. However, it is harder to keep a crock clean. Be sure to change the water daily and clean it as necessary.

Good luck!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the info!  Your suggestion that he may not have been used to having a water bottle was right on.  We monitored his water very closely but did not "help" him with getting the water to come out.  Now he is definitely getting it on his own.  However, regarding the water crock, my wife had heard that it was not good for rabbits to get their noses wet.  I guess this is just like so many things, don't always believe what you hear!

Thanks again!

Answer
Hello,

Crocks are completely safe. In fact, they are recommended by many breeders and veterinarians. A well hydrated rabbit is a healthy and happy rabbit. We've used crocks for all 12 years. As I mentioned, they are more of a pain to keep clean, but we find they drink more.

I've never heard that it is not good to get a rabbit's nose wet. I can't imagine what that would do. I'm sure that they even get their nose wet while drinking though. :)

Good luck!