algae

[Michele Satanove]

Okay, *mostly* we have the water bottles under control at the SPCA,
especially with Deb back and helping me keep things clean.

I'm just wondering if the algae is in any way harmful to the critters or
if it's "just" ugly and makes the water less appetizing.

Michele

[Flops, Sofia and Erik]

I don't know if it's bad or not, but why don't you try a bowl just in case?

Sofia, Erik and Flopsy
"Michele Satanove" <cad...@direct.SPAMAWAY.ca> wrote in message
news:39D3F4...@direct.SPAMAWAY.ca...

[Cheryl G]

Hi Michele,

I have all crock type bowls now for my rabbits, cause I just don't trust
those little ball things in the water bottles to keep working. But when I
had all bottles, I used to pour straight Clorox in them halfway up the
bottle and then add a little water, and put the lid back on and shake it up
and down a whole bunch with your finger over the bottle nipple of course.
That algae instantly disappeared, and then I would take the bleach in the
first bottle and pour it in to the next bottle. I cleaned all 12 bottles
with about 1 cup of bleach, and then pour the bleach down the sink where it
cleans your drains. Then rinse the bottles thoroughly with water, so there
is no strong bleach smell. It worked great, and I never had algae.

As for being harmful, I don't know. I know when I went to the Cochise
County Fair, everybody used to talk about the rabbit show people who didn't
have clean bottles. I mean they would say that their rabbits were not well
taken care of and stuff like that.

Hope this helps, and hope it makes sense.
Cheryl Gehrke

[Suzmyers]

I'm an aquarist as well as a bunny-mom, and from my aquarium experience, I have
learned that algae requires nitrites or nitrates to grow. These organic
chemicals are produced by fish "droppings" in aquariums.
Now, some water supplies have sources of nitrates in them already, but most
don't allow it. Therefore, if you have algae growing in a rabbit water bottle,
the nitrates must be coming from somewhere . . .perhaps the bunnies are
"spitting" back into the bottle (I know guinea pigs are famous for this) and
bacteria grows, producing nitrates, or perhaps the bottles are dirty for some
other reason.
In any case, I wouldn't think it would be healthy for a bunny to drink out
of a water bottle with algae growing in it - not because of the algae, but
because of the reason why the algae has begun to grow (does this make sense? I
hope so).
Sue
Sue
To respond by e-mail, remove "NOSPAM" from my address.

[Michele Satanove]

Okay... maybe it isn't algae. This is City of Kelowna tap water we're using
(I've considered suggesting we use bottled water, but I'm not sure how far I
can push at the SPCA).

A green film forms on the bottom (and sometimes the sides) of the bottle when
the bottles haven't been scrubbed out regularly or well. I thought this was
algae.

I've seen it really bad but the rabbits don't seem to have been harmed by it.

Michele

[Michele Satanove]

Flops, Sofia and Erik wrote:
>
> I don't know if it's bad or not, but why don't you try a bowl just in case?

These are shelter rabbits who get decent attention *only* when certain
volunteers are around. They are also confined to their cages. If we used
crocks, besides having even less space, the bunnies would never have clean
water because everybody at the SPCA is just too busy to clean out the litter
and other debris from the crocks every half hour.

Michele

[Michele Satanove]

Yes, it makes sense.

How often did you bleach the bottles?

Michele

[Cheryl G]

Hi Michele,

Yes, it is indeed algae. You were right. I bleached the bottles at least
every Saturday, but I found that the bleach seemed to have a residual effect
and I could go 9 or 10 days between bleaching. The tiny amount of chlorine
that is still in the bottle won't hurt the rabbits. In fact In the book Lop
Rabbits by Sandy Crook, she tells about putting a tiny amount of bleach in
the drinking water of rabbits who have enteric diseases. One fourth Tsp per
quart of water. She even uses bleach for healthy rabbits to keep bacteria
down. She says "a small amount of bleach (1 tsp. per gallon) added to the
drinking water will keep bacteria minimal. Even though well water may be
tested and found safe for humans, it may still cause problems for the Lops
due to the bacteria present."

I have used the bleach in my rabbits drinking water, especially the snuffley
ones. It does seem to help, so it won't hurt your SPCA buns.

Good luck with the algae
Cheryl Gehrke

Michele Satanove" <cad...@direct.SPAMAWAY.ca> wrote in message

news:39D50C...@direct.SPAMAWAY.ca...

[Michele Satanove]

Thanks. I think I'll go that route. It should be fairly simple to implement
a once weekly bleaching of the bottles.

We *used* to bleach the bottles, but a few months ago they put in a new
dispenser for the cleaning liquids, and... no bleach!

But I have supplied them with a spray bottle for vinegar. I'll figure out
something for the bleach...

Michele

Cheryl G wrote:

> Yes, it is indeed algae. You were right. I bleached the bottles at least
> every Saturday, but I found that the bleach seemed to have a residual effect
> and I could go 9 or 10 days between bleaching. The tiny amount of chlorine
> that is still in the bottle won't hurt the rabbits. In fact In the book Lop
> Rabbits by Sandy Crook, she tells about putting a tiny amount of bleach in
> the drinking water of rabbits who have enteric diseases. One fourth Tsp per
> quart of water. She even uses bleach for healthy rabbits to keep bacteria
> down. She says "a small amount of bleach (1 tsp. per gallon) added to the
> drinking water will keep bacteria minimal. Even though well water may be
> tested and found safe for humans, it may still cause problems for the Lops
> due to the bacteria present."
>
> I have used the bleach in my rabbits drinking water, especially the snuffley
> ones. It does seem to help, so it won't hurt your SPCA buns.
>
> Good luck with the algae
> Cheryl Gehrke
>
> Michele Satanove" <cad...@direct.SPAMAWAY.ca> wrote in message
> news:39D50C...@direct.SPAMAWAY.ca..