How to keep water from freezing...

[Zephyr Farms]

I insulate the cage with old blankets/comforters, and try to put a little bit of the blanket over the bottle. It helps a little bit!

BTW- never have heard of heated rabbit water bottles!

 

[cutechick2010]

BTW- never have heard of heated rabbit water bottles!

Yup, they have them at my local Rural King. I hadn't really thought about there being such a thing either until I saw them.

 

[tortoise]

They're like $20 each! I don't think anyone with a herd could afford them. Crocks are seriously easy. I bang them on the cement floor to pop out any ice and refill. Even the plastic ones hold up just fine to this - and it's easier to get ice out of plastic dishes.

 

[dipence71]

the heated water bottles are great but expensive and dont hold nearly enough water(or my rabbits just drink way to much LOL). the plus is they dont freeze!!!!so I use them in the winter and regular in the summer

 

[1Chick Magnet]

my local agway has heated bottles.
I have chickens and bunnies. I made all the chicken pens heated bases out of cookie tins. they use a 40 watt bulb. I leave an extra heated base in the building to thaw ice cakes so I can leave water outside. these heaters will keep 3 gallons in a plastic container thawed. you could switch out dishes so one will always be liquid.

 

[elevan]

My only comment now would be not to fill waterers with hot water. It freezes faster than cold water, but tepid is okay

Basic thermodynamics. In order to freeze water must reach 32* or below.
If you start with hot water - pray tell - how do you think it freezes faster than cooler water?

For some reason I seem to hear this alot. My own mother even says it. Do an experiment and put two dishes in your freezer one hot and one tepid and see which one freezes first. It's gonna be the tepid one. However the hot water will freeze to a clearer consistency.


I don't have rabbits but I take hot water out to my chickens and goats twice per day in the winter. By the time I walk from the house to the barns with the water some of the heat has come off of it and it's just right for drinking.

 

[1Chick Magnet]

My only comment now would be not to fill waterers with hot water. It freezes faster than cold water, but tepid is okay

Basic thermodynamics. In order to freeze water must reach 32* or below.
If you start with hot water - pray tell - how do you think it freezes faster than cooler water?

For some reason I seem to hear this alot. My own mother even says it. Do an experiment and put two dishes in your freezer one hot and one tepid and see which one freezes first. It's gonna be the tepid one. However the hot water will freeze to a clearer consistency.


I don't have rabbits but I take hot water out to my chickens and goats twice per day in the winter. By the time I walk from the house to the barns with the water some of the heat has come off of it and it's just right for drinking.

I was wondering about that. thought it sounded strange. I live in NH. cold water freezes first.

 

[PattySh]

Being in cold Vermont, I use heated water bottles for my moms with a litter. I found them cheapest at www.jeffers.com I use crocks for individual rabbits and rubber bowls for groups of growing litters.

 

[terri9630]

My only comment now would be not to fill waterers with hot water. It freezes faster than cold water, but tepid is okay

Basic thermodynamics. In order to freeze water must reach 32* or below.
If you start with hot water - pray tell - how do you think it freezes faster than cooler water?

For some reason I seem to hear this alot. My own mother even says it. Do an experiment and put two dishes in your freezer one hot and one tepid and see which one freezes first. It's gonna be the tepid one. However the hot water will freeze to a clearer consistency.


I don't have rabbits but I take hot water out to my chickens and goats twice per day in the winter. By the time I walk from the house to the barns with the water some of the heat has come off of it and it's just right for drinking.

I was told that cold water boils faster than hot water when I was taking home economics in Jr high and got in so much trouble when I pointed out to the teacher that the water was already hot so the hot water had to boil first since the cold water was going to take time to heat up to the temp that the hot water was already at. Old Wives tales, some people just have to believe no matter how unlogical it is.

 

[Lorelai]

Well, our solution is a heated cable... you can get them at Lowes or Home Depot in the plumbing department. Ours is probably about 25 ft long, and it's enough to wrap around four bottles stretching across an 9 ft long hutch (plus, it has to reach to the plug-in). It works pretty well for us... granted, we are in NW Washington where it doesn't get below freezing too often or for too long, but this winter has been colder and we've got freezing temps right now. It keeps the bottles from freezing solid. Hope this is helpful!