# how to teach a bunny to use a water bottle



## Heather Designs

I have a very young angora bunny who has never seen a water bottle before. I would prefer she drink from the bottle instead of a bowl but I don't know how to teach her to do so. When I bred rabbits I started out with adults who used bottles and the babies learned from mom. 

Does anyone have any suggestions for teaching her to use a water bottle? I've heard of using molasses for older rabbits but Twist is only 5 weeks old and I'm not sure that is good for such a young bunny.

I know she is very young to be weaned and sold I know but the woman I got her from was going to sell her anyway and was not willing to keep her around any longer. I figured I might as well take her since I know how to care for babies. I just never had to consciously train one to use a water bottle before


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## Azerane

One way is to dab something tasty on the end, even the tiniest bit of mashed up banana would do the trick, or even hold a piece of hay at the spot and encourage Twist to lick at it. Alternatively, you can hold her up and press her lips gently against it to get a couple of drops out. You can also dab the end with your finger then offer the water drops from your finger, but sometimes they don't make the connection.


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## JBun

It would probably be best to just let her use a water dish until she is a little older before trying to dab sugary substances to get her to try it. That is really young and adding a lot of sugar into her diet right now could really mess up her GI flora. It would be best to wait until she is at least 8 weeks old, 12 weeks would be even better, and then you don't want to be using too much sugar. I agree that a little mushed banana might be a good one to try.


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## Heather Designs

Thanks for the suggestions.

I was thinking she might be to young for sugary options so I will hold off on the banana. However the hay suggestion gave me an idea. She adores carrot tops so I could hang carrot tops in front of the spout and see if she figures it out that way.

If by 3-4 months she doesn't figure it out then I will try the banana. As of right now she hasn't had any sort of fruit at all, just greens, pellets, and as much hay as she can cram into that little body.


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## Blue eyes

I realize you like water bottles, but have you seen these bowls?

I've been using them for years now -- ever since I had one rabbit who seemed to just hate the water bottle. He would angrily chew on it and just seemed so frustrated. I got him a bowl and I was stunned to see how much more water he would drink. 
It was this experience that caused me to switch to bowls. And since then I noticed how much more water all of my rabbits would drink. 
I especially like the way these bowls just can't be spilled and are still so easy to just twist off to clean and refill.


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## Heather Designs

Yup, I actually have one of those bowls for the large enclosure for food. I can't use them in the baby cage though because of how tall the sides of the plastic bottom are. She wouldn't be able to reach into the bowl to drink from it. She's got a ceramic dish now. I prefer the water bottles because it keeps hair and other stuff from being thrown into the water during the day so I don't have to change the water multiple times a day.


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## Blue eyes

Ahh... I can see why you wouldn't want it for the babies.
I haven't had a problem with the water getting stuff in it. Once a day, when I change it, there are just a few hairs on top. That's it.


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## Heather Designs

This baby is an angora, even at 5 weeks old she is shedding like a house on fire. The water bowl idea just isn't the best option for this breed. I will leave the water bottle in the cage and if she hasn't figured it out in a month or two I'll try adding a touch of vanilla to the water or maybe smearing a bit of banana on the nozzle.


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## Zeroshero

I never did get my bun to drink from the water bottle but I admit I only tried twice LOL. He loves simethicone and still gets it regularly so I would put it on the spout, he drank a little bit but I was never comfortable with that being his only source for water. Perhaps even soaking some alfalfa pellets and making a little mash to dab on the spout would work?


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## ZoeStevens

Heather Designs said:


> This baby is an angora, even at 5 weeks old she is shedding like a house on fire. The water bowl idea just isn't the best option for this breed. I will leave the water bottle in the cage and if she hasn't figured it out in a month or two I'll try adding a touch of vanilla to the water or maybe smearing a bit of banana on the nozzle.



I have an angora and use a water dish with no issues. I MUCH prefer it for myriad reasons, not least of which is that I know he drinks a lot more from the dish than from the bottle. He does get little mats on his front paws and chin from the wetness, but not a big deal.

From time to time a bit of hay or poop will be flicked into the water but I refill it twice a day anyway and usually wash it at least once a day, which is more work than a bottle, but only by a few seconds


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## Heather Designs

As she's getting older its becoming clear the water dish is not going to be a good life long solution. She's started trying to swim/bathe/I don't even know, in it. LOL


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## whiskylollipop

I wouldn't stress out too much about it, bunnies are incredibly curious and smart little buggers. Chances are she will figure it out sooner or later! I had the exact same problem when I first got my bunnies, had the water bottle in their cage but didn't know how to teach them to use it. I ended up giving them a weighted water bowl to drink from, and I just left the bottle hanging there in the vague hope that one day I'll figure out how to make them use it.

What do you know, I didn't have to do anything. Within a couple weeks, I suddenly heard the "clickclickclick" sound from their cage. One of them had worked it out! The other quickly followed, and I was able to remove the bowl from their cage and be sure they were still getting access to water. I still leave a water bowl out when they're out of the cage, just in case they might be persuaded to drink a bit more, but they use the water bottle a lot now. The noise is getting kind of annoying.


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## Heather Designs

Yup, she figured the bottle out last week without me interfering. I did the same as you, I gave her a water bowl but left the bottle in there to see if she'd catch on. And last week I noticed the water bottle was half full. I've only seen her use it twice since then but she is draining a 32oz bottle every three days so she's obviously happy with it.


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