Water Bowls?

[Louise3pigs]

My new boys were using a bottle at the rescue where I adopted them from, but I prefer a bowl for their water. I have four bowls which I rotate in pairs each day (each pig has a bowl each, changed each morning). Their hutch doesn't have hay throughout so no debris gets into the bowls. They love drinking from them and it seems more natural to me.

Any serious reasons why bowls aren't recommended over bottles?

 

[Lorcan]

I've had pooped and pee'd in bowls before, hay isn't the only thing that ends up in there!

 

[flowerfairy]

I think bowls are much better so I was amazed to find that my 7 all waaaay prefer bottles!

 

[VickiA]

For the first time in over 20 years of keeping piggies I have one who prefers a bowl over a bottle. I’m finding this a pain as it needs changing several times a day to keep it clean. I keep finding poop, food debris, hair and hay in it. But she does have the cutest drippy wet whiskers after having a drink.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

I use bowls for my piggies when they are out in their runs, they are shaded by the covers and more accessible for piggies who may feel a bit exposed having to go to the edge for a drink, also bottles in the sun go green very quickly.

I think they are fine to use in hutches/cages too so long as they are kept clean and refreshed, in fact they can be more hygienic than bottles if people don't regularly clean and sterilize the spouts,

Older animals often prefer a bowl as it is a more natural drinking position and more comfortable if you have a bit of a stiff, aging neck. This seems especially true of rabbits.

 

[Louise3pigs]

Hmmmm... I think I'll pop a bottle in tomorrow and see how they get on..

I hadn't thought about the fact that I wouldn't notice widdle in the bowl... Yuck!