Bun dumps water bowl after I refill it.

[BrittsBunny]

Wrangler now prefers to drink out of a bowl instead of a bottle...even though he does get fresh water daily. Don't ask me why. The only thing that annoys me is that just about everytime I refill his little porcelain bowl, he lifts it, drags it, and dumps it :grumpy:

My room is carpeted and I don't want mold to grow underneath (I do live in Florida).

Why the heck is he doing this? I tell him no and he runs off. Or if I see him try to attempt to dump his bowl, I'll give him "the look" or say to him "you better not!" and he dashes away.

He also used to do this with his little plastic feed bowl. He would lift the whole thing, dump the food,and throw it out of his box. His water bowl is outside of his box. Maybe I should just place it in his cage? (he is a free-roam bunny 24/7).

Oiy :rollseyes

 

[Happi Bun]

It seems like your bun finds it very amusing.

This is a problem that is easily fixed by purchasing a heavy and flat bottomed ceramic crock or one of those plastic bowls that attach to the cage bars.

 

[BrittsBunny]

Happi Bun wrote:

It seems like your bun finds it very amusing.

This is a problem that is easily fixed by purchasing a heavy and flat bottomed ceramic crock or one of those plastic bowls that attach to the cage bars.

The first one seems kind of deep :?

& the second one seems like it would be a pain to change daily. When I'm on the go, I like certain tasks to be quick!

 

[slavetoabunny]

The second one is very easy to use. The bowl just twists off. No need to unscrew the base from the cage. It is what I use for all my buns.

 

[BrittsBunny]

slavetoabunny wrote:

The second one is very easy to use. The bowl just twists off. No need to unscrew the base from the cage. It is what I use for all my buns.

Oh good deal! :biggrin2:I'll just have to maybe go get one now!

 

[Flirtycuddle]

I don't live near any pet stores and when I ordered stuff from petsmart it got all messed up and never got my crock that attaches to the cage so I went up to the hardware store near by and got the smallest c-clamp I could possibly find and use that to attach a glass dish I found at the grocery store lol. It stopped my bun from grabbing the dish and running around with it and dumping water all over the floor, since every time he moved it he dumped it outside the cage onto the carpet. I swear he did it just for fun cuz even when I would say no or stop he'd just do it faster lol.

 

[Runestonez]

All our bunns use water bottles now...
But when they were younger and we were still switching them over we just had plain old plastic food dish type water dishes.

We have NIC cages so we would drill small holes near the rim of the dish and use zipties to attach them to the bars so they couldn't be tipped or dumped...

If you are in a hurry plastic coated bagties would work really well too...
The dollarstore sells bagties for tying up plants outdoors...they are plastic covered...so far none of ours have ever rusted or broken! And if they are attached nice and tight...bunn won't be able to chew them with his teeth!

Eventually the fun wears off if you can't throw it anymore...and he moves on to tip and dump bigger and better things!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

all of ours have water bottles, thank you. Had to go with the attachable crocks to keep the bigger ones from using them as toys and dumping all their food though.

 

[slavetoabunny]

BrittsBunny wrote:

slavetoabunny wrote:

The second one is very easy to use. The bowl just twists off. No need to unscrew the base from the cage. It is what I use for all my buns.

Oh good deal! :biggrin2:I'll just have to maybe go get one now!

Let me know how it works. I use the lock and twist crocks for both food and water in all my pens. I have a bigger one for water and a smaller one for food. The small ones are usually in the small animal section of the pet store and the bigger ones are in the dog/cat section. They spoil all the fun for the bunnies!

 

[BrittsBunny]

slavetoabunny wrote:

Let me know how it works. I use the lock and twist crocks for both food and water in all my pens. I have a bigger one for water and a smaller one for food. The small ones are usually in the small animal section of the pet store and the bigger ones are in the dog/cat section. They spoil all the fun for the bunnies!

Haha I know they underestimate our buns! :biggrin:

Wrangler has always drank a lot of water...

 

[SDShorty]

When Dori is "mad" at something, she has that little habit of grabbing the bowl of water and flipping it. They have bowl that attaches to the side of the cage, but the bowl is hanging like on a metal circle thing, so you could actually just lift up the bowl to refill it, so she has learned to do this herself now, that whack job, just yesterday I was sopping up water from their cage cuz I guess she had a little fit because I wouldn't let her chew on one of my shoes LOL. I'm gonna have to rethink their bowl situation, probably get one of those you have to screw on and off.

 

[BrittsBunny]

SDShorty wrote:

When Dori is "mad" at something, she has that little habit of grabbing the bowl of water and flipping it. They have bowl that attaches to the side of the cage, but the bowl is hanging like on a metal circle thing, so you could actually just lift up the bowl to refill it, so she has learned to do this herself now, that whack job, just yesterday I was sopping up water from their cage cuz I guess she had a little fit because I wouldn't let her chew on one of my shoes LOL. I'm gonna have to rethink their bowl situation, probably get one of those you have to screw on and off.

LOL it amazes me how bunnies literally carry a grudge! :shock:Watch out! :lookaround

As for the screw on and off bowls...I bought one today and tried it...and took it right back. It was too high for my cage. He would have to stand on his hind legs to stick his head in the bowl. Plus those bowls are just way too deep. I had a feeling when I bought it that it wasn't going to work :rollseyesOh well, at least I tried! It was a good idea! I just wish they made them a little more lower and flatter aka not so deep!

 

[khaelbee]

i found one of those dual dishes at target for $1.00 that has the food and water together... Max knows if he dumps his food he doesn't eat all day... so he can't dump his water either. unfortunately yours doesn't care about dumping his food either... but for $1.00 its worth a try. they're kinda hard to flip over anyway.

 

[juliew19673]

LOL! I volunteer at a rabbit rescue shelter and "This" type of bun has to live on the bottom tier or a 3 tier bun condo.. I have found they do this for 3 reasons:

1. Their not fixed and become "aggressive/irritated" and need to throw things about their pen, destroy newspapers and poo/pee on everything to get attention(thus the need to live mopve them to the bottom, as the 2 other buns that would liveunder themdo not appereicate the mess that rains down on them).

2. The Bun is bored and trying to get your attention; they make a mess and you have to come and give them "extra attention". Yourbecoming their slave - buns are too smart.

3. Finally - IT IS JUST FUN to toss things - look at it from their perspective... Trythis simple trick - brown paper bag with just a few pellets and hay in it; they have the fun timeof tossing it about and destroying itwhile getting a reward. This works for a short period of time..

Good luck and hope to read what you figured out that works for you both.

 

[slavetoabunny]

BrittsBunny wrote:

As for the screw on and off bowls...I bought one today and tried it...and took it right back. It was too high for my cage. He would have to stand on his hind legs to stick his head in the bowl. Plus those bowls are just way too deep. I had a feeling when I bought it that it wasn't going to work :rollseyesOh well, at least I tried! It was a good idea! I just wish they made them a little more lower and flatter aka not so deep!

I use mine in pens and can place them very low. I've also found them too high in a cage.

 

[butsy]

i have the same problem .i bought the cutest bowls online, they are very heavy, but she still manages to knock em over ,

 

[BrittsBunny]

khaelbee wrote:

i found one of those dual dishes at target for $1.00 that has the food and water together... Max knows if he dumps his food he doesn't eat all day... so he can't dump his water either. unfortunately yours doesn't care about dumping his food either... but for $1.00 its worth a try. they're kinda hard to flip over anyway.

Yeah I saw those the other day and I thought about getting one...though if I put his food outside his cage, he'll probably poop outside as well...and we def. don't want that!

 

[BrittsBunny]

juliew19673 wrote:

LOL! I volunteer at a rabbit rescue shelter and "This" type of bun has to live on the bottom tier or a 3 tier bun condo.. I have found they do this for 3 reasons:

1. Their not fixed and become "aggressive/irritated" and need to throw things about their pen, destroy newspapers and poo/pee on everything to get attention (thus the need to live mopve them to the bottom, as the 2 other buns that would liveunder themdo not appereicate the mess that rains down on them).

lol that made me giggle poor bunnies getting rained on! as for my bun though, he is fixed...so I know that that is not the problem!

2. The Bun is bored and trying to get your attention; they make a mess and you have to come and give them "extra attention". Yourbecoming their slave - buns are too smart.

oh I know! my bun is very intelligent! now if he tries to flip his bowl, he gets squirted with the water bottle...talk about raining! he ducks and runs!

3. Finally - IT IS JUST FUN to toss things - look at it from their perspective... Trythis simple trick - brown paper bag with just a few pellets and hay in it; they have the fun timeof tossing it about and destroying itwhile getting a reward. This works for a short period of time..

hehe I will just have to try that!

Good luck and hope to read what you figured out that works for you both.

Thank you! I actually think I am going to get the automatic waterer that my grandparents' used for their cat (she doesn't like it for some reason)...it's small yet heavy enough that Wrangler can't flip it. When he was staying over there for several months, that's what we switched him too since it was hard for my grandmother to get in and out of the pen. My grandpa definitely could not get in and out for he has Parkinson's disease and is quite unstable. The automatic waterer is great because I never have to worry about him not having any water.

 

[BrittsBunny]

butsy wrote:

i have the same problem .i bought the cutest bowls online, they are very heavy, but she still manages to knock em over ,

Yeah I thought about getting a heavier bowl...but I'm afraid he'd still find a way to make a mess :rollseyesPlus the heavier bowls are usually deeper...and I can't picture a rabbit sticking his/her head down in it...I know that they have necks, and I've seen them stretch out...but for the most part, they just keep it unextended lol...IDK maybe I am wrong here and their necks are actually quite flexible...:?

 

[Nela]

I've never had problems with the deep dishes and bunnies being able to access them. However, my bunnies always managed to dump even the heavy crocks :rollseyesThey are quite strong and like to show it! Lol. I use bottles but I think the attached crocks are a better solution to be honest. I've had a rabbit break 4 bottles in the past. Don't ask me how. Plus, it can take a while before you find a bottle you are happy with.

:biggrin: