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I live in Europe and have rabbits who live exclusively outdoors.

How can I provide them with water in the winter without it freezing?

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  • where do you live,an answer will depend on where you live(if the temparature stay below freezing 24/7 you will need an other answer than if it is only at night it is cold)
    – trond hansen
    Dec 12, 2019 at 5:30
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    I life in near the Baltic Sea.
    – Allerleirauh
    Dec 12, 2019 at 12:41
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    ok you need something with heat 24/7 :) for 4-5months.
    – trond hansen
    Dec 12, 2019 at 16:26
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    In this moment I notice the Baltic Sea has north and south - I live on the south side. So there are only 3 - 4 month freezing temperatures.
    – Allerleirauh
    Dec 12, 2019 at 17:10

3 Answers 3

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We have a dog's water bowl that has a small heating coil built into the base of the bowl, making it safe to plug in and keep it from freezing. Search Amazon.com or your favorite pet supply store for "heated water bowl".

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    This is a nice idea but only for near plug socket. For rabbits and dogs the wire has to be covered against sharp teeth.
    – Allerleirauh
    Dec 12, 2019 at 17:12
  • @Allerleirauh These bowls are specifically designed for dogs. The wires are shielded against chewing.
    – Allison C
    Dec 12, 2019 at 17:15
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    I have seen some for "dogs and chicken" with the normal rubber-covered wire. So I only want to add this :)
    – Allerleirauh
    Dec 12, 2019 at 17:37
  • one need to use a ground fault switch when you use power outdoors and you can get them everywhere.
    – trond hansen
    Dec 12, 2019 at 19:17
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I have two bowls. They are some of the heavy ones.

I change the bowls every morning and evening. One is outside for the rabbits. The other is inside to warm up (room temperature). It gets warm enough to keep the water liquid for approx. 8 hours.

To avoid the surface of the water in the bowl freezing I add a table tennis ball. Because of the ball's movments the surface stays mostly liquid.

Drinking bottles are not suited for freezing temperatures. The water freezes in the pipe and the liquid from the bottle cannot get through. Licking at the (usually) metal part could hurt the rabbit's mouth. Wet things (like lips or tongue) freeze to cold metal. So the skin will be injured.

If it gets very cold one could add bottles with warm water under the water bowl. The water in the bowl should not be filled in warm because this could harm digestion of the rabbits.

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    if you put the waterbowl under some type of roof or put the bowl in some type of box you will limit the heat loss and the water will stay liquid for a longer time.
    – trond hansen
    May 19, 2020 at 16:29
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My baby rabbit, named Flopsy, lives on her own due to her sister having recently died. So I have to make sure I provide extra hay, straw and hideouts to make sure she stays warm.

I have not been able to get her to drink out of a bowl, so she has a bottle. I put old fluffy socks around the bottle to insulate it. I also check her water every morning and if it has frozen, I put it underneath a hot tap to thaw the ice. I think you can also buy covers that are made for the bottles if you look on Amazon.

Hope this helps.

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    You should add a second rabbit to yours. Especially in winters season they need each other to stay warm and animate each other to move and make their muscles warm.
    – Allerleirauh
    Jan 27, 2020 at 15:33

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