Tursaco Heated Water Bowls

In 2003 I sat down with my son (in 3rd year of Electronics at the time) and an older friend (working in mechanical/electrical manufacturing) and said, "there has to be an easier way". It had to do with my hobby of raising and showing rabbits. In the winter there is nothing worse than having to handle frozen water bowls. It's not good for the rabbits (no water then they don't eat) because they get out of condition and don't grow properly and it's no good for me because it's a painful chore in the cold weather.

We came up with an idea to heat the water bowls using low voltage making it safe. My son and I wired up a transformer, added the components to a metal water bowl and set it out side one January night in 2004. It was so primitive I only had a pail to cover the transformer from the elements. It was a cold night...at least -10 Celsius and behold the water was not frozen! I couldn't believe it.

From that early experiment, the following fall I set up all my cages (50) wiring up all the water bowls and installing the transformers. That first winter (2004-2005) I experimented with different types of bowls (plastic & metal) , different sizes and different amounts of power to the bowl to find the best working arrangement.

Cage showing a Tursaco Heated Water Bowl

By the winter of 2005 -2006 I had it working very well. Seldom does the water freeze. The average temperature in my area in January/February is -10 Celsius and the bowls don't start freezing till -15.

I have used this system for heating water bowls for my rabbits every year now since 2005 and it saves me a lot of hassle, pain and frustration.  I enjoy looking after my rabbits in the winter!

Another example of a Tursaco Heated Water Bowl