shaking the cage before drinking water

[Sweetie]

Well Sweetie has been shaking the cage before she drinks from the waterbottle. She does this everytime and I am trying to figure out why she does this. Prince does not shake the cage before he drinks from the waterbottle. He just drinks from the waterbottle just like a normal rabbit, with his head cocked to one side.

Has anyones rabbit done this before? She is a lionhead mix, 2 years old, will be 3 in October, and is in great health. So is Prince, but he wil turn 3 in November.

 

[plasticbunny]

Molly won't shake her cage, but she'll shake the bottle itself before she drinks. We thought it may be that her bottle wasn't giving her enough water at one time, so we bought a new, huge bottle made for dogs (she's a big girl), but she still does it anyway! She's always done it, since she was 10 weeks old. Because she's in her own room, the noise doesn't bother me, but if the noise bothers you you could always try her on a heavy crock instead.

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

I agree, I would try a heavy crock and if you want her to have the space in her cage you can do what I do. I use the crocks that attatch to the cage. All my bunnies prefer drinking from crocks. Bunnies drink a lot of water and they can drink easier from a crock and consume more. Sometimes the water just doesn't come out fast enough for as much water as they would like. Maybe she shakes the cage to get the bottle to start dripping before she drinks? Some water bottles take multiple licks before the water starts to come out. The ball sticks when it gets dry and needs some work before it will dispense water.

 

[Sweetie]

Must_Love_Pets wrote:

I agree, I would try a heavy crock and if you want her to have the space in her cage you can do what I do. I use the crocks that attatch to the cage. All my bunnies prefer drinking from crocks. Bunnies drink a lot of water and they can drink easier from a crock and consume more. Sometimes the water just doesn't come out fast enough for as much water as they would like. Maybe she shakes the cage to get the bottle to start dripping before she drinks? Some water bottles take multiple licks before the water starts to come out. The ball sticks when it gets dry and needs some work before it will dispense water.

I haven't thought about the ball sticking when it dries. Maybe that is what is going on.

She is in the cage with Prince so a heavy crock might not work, because I am afraid that Prince or Sweetie will soil it if/when they jump on top of it.

How can I prevent the ball from drying and sticking?

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

What brand of drinking bottle are you using now?

 

[Sweetie]

It is a rabbit drinking bottle. It is a 32oz and I have to fill it up every night because it gets low from Sweetie and Prince drinking from it all day.

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

Is it a lixit? I buy a certain BRAND for travel and lixit seems to be the best brand so far. They have bottles with no ball in them but is a learning curve for the bunnies. You may want to get one of these form this link. This is what I use when I take mine to shows.
http://www.bunnyrabbit.com/price/waterbottle.htm

 

[Sweetie]

I don't think that it is a lixit. I got it from petsmart long time ago. I will check next time I go to petsmart.

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

I bought a Petco water bottle before, it was horrible, leaked all over the place. The bottle was empty by the end of the day it leaked so bad. The ball would get stuck and kramer Thor would go nuts trying to get enough water out of it. I tossed that one real quick.

I would definatly changed brands :biggrin2:

 

[Sweetie]

This one doesn't leak though.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Sweetie wrote:

This one doesn't leak though.

Man, every bottle I ever had leaked badly! Went to crocks u attach to cage, love them!
Sounds like ur bun is very smart to shake the cage before drinking, like another person said theirs did, to get more water out. Maybe it doesn't work well enough for her liking, so she chooses this method, lol.

 

[Manda!]

My bunnies did shake their bottles always before drinking water! Then I solved the problem: I bought bigger bottles (Classis 1,1l)! Those bigger bottles have bigger "snouts", so there comes more water when bunny licks it!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Manda, just want to say I love your prof pic!

 

[Sweetie]

AngelnSnuffy wrote:

Sweetie wrote:

This one doesn't leak though.

Man, every bottle I ever had leaked badly! Went to crocks u attach to cage, love them!
Sounds like ur bun is very smart to shake the cage before drinking, like another person said theirs did, to get more water out. Maybe it doesn't work well enough for her liking, so she chooses this method, lol.

Yes she is very smart. I taught her to stay on command, and she does. Thank you!

 

[Sweetie]

Manda! wrote:

My bunnies did shake their bottles always before drinking water! Then I solved the problem: I bought bigger bottles (Classis 1,1l)! Those bigger bottles have bigger "snouts", so there comes more water when bunny licks it!

I will see if I can find a bigger one. The one I have is the biggest that I found at Petsmart.