Help Please...Frozen Bunny Waterer

[nitronut1]

We have a lop-eared rabbit pet here in New Jersey. It's been 20 degrees at night and her water bottle is freezing constantly. It's one of those plastic bottles with the metal tube. The tube freezes up within a half hour.

I went to Agway today to find a bottle heater and was told they don't sell them. The clerk told me that one option is to put mollasses syrup in with the water (a 30 percent mix) which should keep it from freezing. He said the rabbits like the water/molasses mix because it's sweet.

We weren't sure if that was the right approach or if there was a better method or a product we could buy. I searched the web for an hour but couldn't find anything significant.

Any ideas or expertise?

 

[bky]

not sure i can help.
we keep ours indors as a house pet. mabey you could insulate the cage and put a light bulb in the insulated area for a little heat

 

[MossRoad]

http://www.bassequipment.com/

http://www.rossrabbits.junglelink.co.uk/diet.htm

http://www.bunnyrabbit.com/Newsletter/bunnyrabbitcom_articles/winter tips.htm

Hope these links help. Sorry, didn't make them clickable.

 

[PhilNH5]

When we had rabbits I used small ceramic bowls for water in the winter. Replaced the bowl 3 times a day with fresh water - morning, after work and at bed time. Worked very well.

Phil

 

[gerard]

I'd go with bky's suggestion. Build a small box out of blue board that you can hang a small bulb in (40 watt should do it). Hang the waterer so only the tip sticks out enough for the rabbit to drink. If you want to get fancy buy a thermostat to plug the bulb into, put the probe IN THE BOX and it will only come on when needed and shut off after the temp rises enough. You'd be surprised how little heats needed if the box is well insulated.

 

[gerard]

Course if they don't mind drinking out of a bowl you could just get the electric dog dishes from any pet catalog but then you don't get to build anything!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Bird]

Fortunately, we don't have that much freezing weather in Texas, but when I was raising rabbits, there were more mornings than I wanted when I had to collect 15 of those bottles from the cages, take them in the house, thaw them out with warm water, refill, and replace them, usually only once a day, but occasionally twice./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

The light bulb idea might work, but for those unfamiliar with those bottles, the tip of the bottle has a steel ball bearing in the end for a check valve and that's what freezes first, so having the bottle in a box with a bulb and only leaving the tip sticking out might not do the trick.

Personally, I think the ceramic bowls (which I've also used), changed 3 times a day, might be the best way to go.

 

[I_am_the_Walrus]

Buy another 1 and put warm water in it.Bring the frozen one in at night and let it thaw,then in the morning rotate them again(put warm to hot water in it before you take it outside).If you are home during the day and it is freezing cold out rotate them again.If it freezes off for a while no big deal the rabbit will go for the other one as soon as you rotate them out if he/she is thirsty enough.They do not need to have water continously available 24 hours a day.We have rabbits/chickens that are kept outside and this is the best you can do when it is below freezing.

 

[jwstewar]

Don't want to use warm or hot water, I know this seems strange, but warm/hot water will actually freeze before cold water. I remember that from the days of watching Mr. Wizard on Nickelodeon. And they say TV isn't educational......./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>I remember that from the days of watching Mr. Wizard on Nickelodeon.</font color=blue>
Um, some of us remember watching <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1415.php>Watch Mr. Wizard</A> (Don Herbert) before there was a Nickelodeon. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

Broadcasting from Chicago, the original Watch Mr. Wizard ran on NBC for fourteen straight seasons from 1951-65, then left the air for several years. A one-season revival ran in 1971, but the show came back in force as Mr. Wizard's World on the fledgling cable network Nickelodeon in 1983. Seven new seasons were produced, stretching Mr. Wizard's legacy into its fifth decade. After his time on television, Herbert continued his educational work by writing a series of books on his favorite subject.