Water bowl questions

[LassieBunBun]

I hope this the right thread for this....

Hey party people! (I'm trying to be funny, sorry) It's been a while since I was last here, I really need to check up here more often. Anyway I have a few questions, the first being how often should I clean Blossom and Thumper's water bowls?
Just before I first got them (like 3 or 4 days before I got them) the research I did said to just rise and wipe out their water bowls twice a day which I have been doing but I found out people deep clean the water bowls and I want to do that but I don't know how often I should.
Second question, how should I deep clean them? Do I use some kind of dish soap or just water and vinegar? (I heard some people do just water and vinegar but I also heard some people use dish soap.) If I should use dish soap what kind would be safe?

 

[Blue eyes]

Rinsing and wiping out the bowls twice a day is more than adequate. Even once per day is fine. How often to do a thorough cleaning is going to depend on how well the bowls are wiped out each day. Water bowls tend to get a slimy coating on them if not wiped out. That is what the daily wiping is getting off.

For thorough cleaning, no need to overthink it. Whenever you feel the bowl could use a thorough cleaning, do it then. Vinegar or dish soap doesn't really matter. Just be sure to rinse it well. Rabbits don't like vinegar so either vinegar or any dish soap should be thoroughly rinsed away.

 

[brerrabbit]

I've not heard of deep cleaning the bowls, but I'm a rabbit newbie. I guess you could check if they're dishwasher safe and that will deep clean them.

I think of it the same as my own regular drinking glass and just empty, wipe and swish with water, then refill.

 

[Preitler]

Since mine drink from puddles, the brook and whatever they find outside too I'm rather relaxed about cleaning their bowls, I change the water about every second day and wipe out the bowls once or twice a week, unless there is visible dirt or biofilm. in summer more often than in winter.

 

[overhear]

I think you're overthinking it lol. I just use dish soap and water.

Soap is a surfactant. That means it works by surrounding dirt molecules and allowing them to be removed more easily. In the end, after you've washed something you're rinsing away both the contaminants and the soap so there's nothing left to worry about.