What Rabbits Do You Have? Show Off Your Rabbits Here!

[mara1]

Ok you got my attention. Any problems with the lines freezing? Got a diagram or a site for reference?

 

[mara1]

ok looked up edstrom(equipment brand). Familiar with the nipples and auto pressurized water systems we used when I worked at a lab not sure if its the same brand but same concept. How did you pipe and flow your system?

 

[winkle1234]

They did not freeze last winter even when it was -30 degrees Fahrenheit over night. As long as the pump and heater are working, and there is enough water in the source tank for the pump to move, the water in the pipes and nipples wont freeze. The water needs to be heated mostly to keep the small metal ends of the nipples from freezing. The aquarium heater I use is factory set to 72 degrees.

I buy my supplies from the bunnyrabbit dot com website. They have a link on the front page on the right that will bring you directly to the Edstrom parts page.

 

[mara1]

Duh? just looked and seen your in Maine. Well I have submersible pumps for my ponds(suggested ghp)/cooler/pvc laying around/pretty sure some heaters(what gallon?).so do you just pump from the cooler to the line then let it flow back into the cooler. Kinda like a waterfall system for a pond? plus the nipples in the line of course.

 

[winkle1234]

Yes like a waterfall but with the nipples in the line. 2 GPM or 120-150GPH pump should move enough water so that it is still warming the end of the pipe run. My original idea was used for chicken nipples in my coop. The idea came from my outdoor wood boiler which sits away from the house but feeds hot water through insulated pipes. We went on vacation a few years ago and the hose sitter neglected to put more wood in the boiler over the week we were gone. The pumps were still running and the water did get down to 45 degrees but none of my pipes or valves were frozen. Seems to work just as well for the chicken and rabbit nipples.

 

[yankeehill]

It would probably be around $165. The big difference between the auto system and individual bottles is the amount of water. My autowater system has lasted a week before needing to be refilled. I normally don't wait that long since they run out of free feed food but it does come in handy in the winter when it is either very cold or during a storm I don't have to go a disturb the rabbits to give them more water.
$55 = 10 x $5.50 per cage for nipple and PVC adapter
$25 = PVC pipe and connectors (elbows and joiners)
$20 = Fountain pump
$35 = cooler
$30 = 2 x $15 aquarium water heater


I have embedded a picture of how the nipple sits in the cage. My cages are setup back to back. My rabbits were trying to use them before I even had all the piping connected and they still had their water bottles.

SWEET setup! And at that price, I don't think it would cost too much more to add to it as the rabbitry increases in size! I spoke with my husband before seeing your breakdown, and he said "I don't see why we can't set that up for under $200." I was concerned that the water might still freeze, even with a warmer and circulating pump, but he says it shouldn't. MAKE ME HAPPY!!!! So I suppose this will be our winter water plan! I think the main advantage to this over the heated bottles is that the rabbits shouldn't ever run out of water, since we can use a 5 gallon bucket as the tank. (But you listed a cooler...I suppose a cooler would be the better option? More insulation for the water?)

If you would, could you show me a picture of the tank setup with the heater? Pretty please!

 

[yankeehill]

Alright Winkle - Central Maine - I bet you aren't too far from me! Thanks so much for the pictures! If I can, I'm going to copy and paste what you've shared here in an email to my husband to get his mind rolling. He's got a big camping trip this weekend to the North Maine Woods, but next Saturday, I'll see if he'll tackle this with me. Is there any reason I couldn't use this system in the summer, of course unplugging the heater and maybe adding a bit of ACV to prevent the water from getting yucky?

 

[winkle1234]

SWEET setup! And at that price, I don't think it would cost too much more to add to it as the rabbitry increases in size! I spoke with my husband before seeing your breakdown, and he said "I don't see why we can't set that up for under $200." I was concerned that the water might still freeze, even with a warmer and circulating pump, but he says it shouldn't. MAKE ME HAPPY!!!! So I suppose this will be our winter water plan! I think the main advantage to this over the heated bottles is that the rabbits shouldn't ever run out of water, since we can use a 5 gallon bucket as the tank. (But you listed a cooler...I suppose a cooler would be the better option? More insulation for the water?)

If you would, could you show me a picture of the tank setup with the heater? Pretty please!

Pictures of tank are in post #2525. I use a cooler because I wanted to try and saw a few bucks on electricity by not heating the outside air along with the water and also use a smaller heater since the heat loss is less. I use one of the large 150 quart coolers so I have about 25 gallons of usable water.

 

[winkle1234]

Alright Winkle - Central Maine - I bet you aren't too far from me! Thanks so much for the pictures! If I can, I'm going to copy and paste what you've shared here in an email to my husband to get his mind rolling. He's got a big camping trip this weekend to the North Maine Woods, but next Saturday, I'll see if he'll tackle this with me. Is there any reason I couldn't use this system in the summer, of course unplugging the heater and maybe adding a bit of ACV to prevent the water from getting yucky?

I use it in the summer. I don't use ACV because it will build up inside the pipes and pump and could cause failure. I put ice in the water in the cooler during summer to help keep the rabbits cool.

 

[yankeehill]

So the little black T thing attaches to one end of the brass nipple?

If I use these nipples that attach to PVC, do I still need to use the black hose? Couldn't the water just circulate through the PVC pipe?