RAC Paws DIY Sip Station Watering System Mini Kit for Small Animals

Update - taking a star off:
Periodically getting some leaks at the fittings. Had to tighten things up a few times now.
I must have put too much torque on the plastic tee fitting and it cracked, now it's leaking out. Went to the hardware store and bought a brass Tee (Home Depot had an 3/8 barbed tee in the PEX section), hose clamps and fixed everything up. (See last picture)

Original review:
Our bunnies love these! Bowls are clean and always filled with fresh water. Having the little bowls up and suspended keeps the bunnies from stepping in and kicking up dust into the bowls.

- the instructions are unclear, putting the silicon washer on the OUTSIDE of the water tank prevents it from leaking.
- the hoses are high quality but stiff so getting the routing right without torquing the cups take a few minutes.

Update - taking a star off:Periodically getting some leaks at the fittings. Had to tighten things up a few times now.I must have put too much torque on the plastic tee fitting and it cracked, now it's leaking out. Went to the hardware store and bought a brass Tee (Home Depot had an 3/8 barbed tee in the PEX section), hose clamps and fixed everything up. (See last picture)Original review:Our bunnies love these! Bowls are clean and always filled with fresh water. Having the little bowls up and suspended keeps the bunnies from stepping in and kicking up dust into the bowls.- the instructions are unclear, putting the silicon washer on the OUTSIDE of the water tank prevents it from leaking.- the hoses are high quality but stiff so getting the routing right without torquing the cups take a few minutes.

The RentACoop DIY Sip Station Watering System Mini Kit has exceeded my expectations! The kit includes everything you need. It comes with tubing, brass nozzles, metal auto-fill cups, tubing adapters, and T-connectors. The setup is incredibly straightforward and easy to install. I had it all put together and installed on my cage within 10 minutes. The 64oz bottle provides a great water supply for my quail, ensuring they stay hydrated without me having to constantly refill it. The watering system is a quality system. All the materials feel well made especially the metal cups, which feel durable and built to last in comparison to the thin plastic ones I have used previously. The tubing is thick. Everything fits together snug and well. My quail have taken to this system immediately, and I’ve even noticed a reduction in water spills with the metal cups. This system is quality made, efficient and best of all it makes my life a little easier.

I have a variety of RentACoop products and I’m pretty happy overall with this brand. However, this is my first using their DIY tubing and adapters. I like the option of adding 2 drinking cups from a single reservoir, however I see some areas of improvement.

What’s great:
• All necessary parts included for fairly quick install and immediate use
• Multi-options with cups and spouts
• Customizable placement of drinking spouts. Having lengthy tubing allows for cutting to proper length and placing cups exactly where needed while keeping water bottle up higher.
• Easy mounting options for inside or outside of cage
• Insulated tubing for cold and hot weather
• Double mounting points of the main unit to ensure secure, but still very easy for removal. The steel bar wraps perfectly and the spring band is easy to connect or remove for adjustment or cleaning.

What could be improved:
• Reservoir needs larger capacity. 64 ounces may sound like a lot but goes pretty quickly. Especially with 2 drinking spouts.
• The adapter for connecting drink cups to fence is way too big and clunky (see pic). The black portion sticks out a good inch from the fence and the base of the cup extends even further, so animals bump the cup. All other cup attachments I’ve used secure right at the joint of the cup.
• The lid to the main reservoir doesn’t lock well so it seems to be slipping off on occasion

Please note: My review is part of Amazon's Vine Program which provides products at a reduced cost in exchange for honest, accurate reviews. Not all products are fully gratis, as the value is taxed as income. I try, use, and test all reviewed products and the above statements are my own and will not be influenced by others' experiences or feedback by sellers. Thank you for reading and I hope you find this review helpful in making a purchasing decision.

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I have a variety of RentACoop products and I’m pretty happy overall with this brand. However, this is my first using their DIY tubing and adapters. I like the option of adding 2 drinking cups from a single reservoir, however I see some areas of improvement.What’s great:• All necessary parts included for fairly quick install and immediate use• Multi-options with cups and spouts• Customizable placement of drinking spouts. Having lengthy tubing allows for cutting to proper length and placing cups exactly where needed while keeping water bottle up higher.• Easy mounting options for inside or outside of cage• Insulated tubing for cold and hot weather• Double mounting points of the main unit to ensure secure, but still very easy for removal. The steel bar wraps perfectly and the spring band is easy to connect or remove for adjustment or cleaning.What could be improved:• Reservoir needs larger capacity. 64 ounces may sound like a lot but goes pretty quickly. Especially with 2 drinking spouts.• The adapter for connecting drink cups to fence is way too big and clunky (see pic). The black portion sticks out a good inch from the fence and the base of the cup extends even further, so animals bump the cup. All other cup attachments I’ve used secure right at the joint of the cup.• The lid to the main reservoir doesn’t lock well so it seems to be slipping off on occasionPlease note: My review is part of Amazon's Vine Program which provides products at a reduced cost in exchange for honest, accurate reviews. Not all products are fully gratis, as the value is taxed as income. I try, use, and test all reviewed products and the above statements are my own and will not be influenced by others' experiences or feedback by sellers. Thank you for reading and I hope you find this review helpful in making a purchasing decision.

I have caged areas in the barn for my young chickens which are in the stage of growth between peep and when they get their first feathers (we have a homestead and raise a small flock each year). I installed this system on the cage and it works great. It makes my time watering super efficient. I had no issues installing and I had no leaks. It’s very easy to install. However, the main reservoir is thin plastic and the metal holder is not very good and kind of thin. I ended up using a bungee to keep the reservoir more stable and attached to the cage side.

I will mention that I also tried the system with baby ducks. THAT WAS A BIG MISTAKE! The ducks took the next hour after installation to completely empty the water and splash it onto the floor to make a puddle! You will not keep the reservoir filled with ducklings!

I will continue to use the system for the young chickens. I don’t think I will use it on older birds as I don’t see it being able to absorb the abuse of the larger bird. If the plastic seemed a little more durable or if I only had one or two birds, it might be doable. I do really like the concept and it does keep the water cleaner than some of my other systems. To me, if the plastic parts were a little beefier, the system would be much nicer.

I have caged areas in the barn for my young chickens which are in the stage of growth between peep and when they get their first feathers (we have a homestead and raise a small flock each year). I installed this system on the cage and it works great. It makes my time watering super efficient. I had no issues installing and I had no leaks. It’s very easy to install. However, the main reservoir is thin plastic and the metal holder is not very good and kind of thin. I ended up using a bungee to keep the reservoir more stable and attached to the cage side.I will mention that I also tried the system with baby ducks. THAT WAS A BIG MISTAKE! The ducks took the next hour after installation to completely empty the water and splash it onto the floor to make a puddle! You will not keep the reservoir filled with ducklings!I will continue to use the system for the young chickens. I don’t think I will use it on older birds as I don’t see it being able to absorb the abuse of the larger bird. If the plastic seemed a little more durable or if I only had one or two birds, it might be doable. I do really like the concept and it does keep the water cleaner than some of my other systems. To me, if the plastic parts were a little beefier, the system would be much nicer.

The hose quality is what separates this from the rest. Very thick hose and great for water with no smells or chemicals. The price is a bit much for what you get.

The hose quality is what separates this from the rest. Very thick hose and great for water with no smells or chemicals. The price is a bit much for what you get.

Changes the Rating:

Size of what the water is stored in is simply too small and you cannot attach the cups to a bucket later if you chose too. If they had done that, you could upgrade from chicks to an adult setup for mere pennys by them offering plastic nuts.

Changes the Rating:Size of what the water is stored in is simply too small and you cannot attach the cups to a bucket later if you chose too. If they had done that, you could upgrade from chicks to an adult setup for mere pennys by them offering plastic nuts.

Nice design for watering your chicks or even adult birds. Easy to set up, and functions well. Only thing is, the insulated water tubing isn't going to help you in wintertime. Get some electric pipe wrap and wrap the container and the lines other wise you will have frozen lines like I did. All in all, I would recommend this.

This is a great kit for small animals. It makes watering animals easier and cleaner. This is a trusted brand.

To preface this review, I GET that the kit is called a "DIY" system, but that being said, it would have been nice if there had been some basic instructions on a few different ways that you can set up this kit, since there are a variety of parts included.Other than that, the pieces themselves are high quality, and the system is unique. The container for water is VERY small, so I'm not actually using that part of the setup at all. At the moment I am only using the refillable cups attached to my bigger water container. The water cup does refill itself appropriately, which is great. At some point I would like to train my hens to use the nipple system as it's more hygienic, but that will be a process.The parts included are nice, but I think that either my son grabbed and lost one of the threaded twist lock things, or it didn't include enough of them to be able to set up every water dispensing tip in the system. Either way, it is nice to have a variety of options, but again, some direction would have been great.

Rabbits drink a LOT and stay hydrated best from bowls. It's not always easy to have bowls large enough to keep them hydrated well, or to repeatedly refill through the day. This is the PERFECT solution! I was able to get 6 bunnies set up in about 45 minutes. It would have taken me even less time except I needed Go-Go-Gadget arms and I was completing the project solo, so I had to troubleshoot getting tubing from one hard-to-reach place to another. Once in place, the bowls all filled like magic. I did end up using a 5 gallon bucket instead of the included container just because I knew multiple bunnies would need a bigger reservoir when it got hot again. It was super easy to connect to a bucket and now instead of 6 individual bowls or bottles, I just fill the one container. This will also make medication dosing and cleaning easier. The metal bowls are also chew proof and my big plastic twist-on bowls were not! I will absolutely be ordering more parts for more buckets for the rest of my bunny barn! I can't stress enough how much I love Rent-A-Coop products for my critters!

Rabbits drink a LOT and stay hydrated best from bowls. It's not always easy to have bowls large enough to keep them hydrated well, or to repeatedly refill through the day. This is the PERFECT solution! I was able to get 6 bunnies set up in about 45 minutes. It would have taken me even less time except I needed Go-Go-Gadget arms and I was completing the project solo, so I had to troubleshoot getting tubing from one hard-to-reach place to another. Once in place, the bowls all filled like magic. I did end up using a 5 gallon bucket instead of the included container just because I knew multiple bunnies would need a bigger reservoir when it got hot again. It was super easy to connect to a bucket and now instead of 6 individual bowls or bottles, I just fill the one container. This will also make medication dosing and cleaning easier. The metal bowls are also chew proof and my big plastic twist-on bowls were not! I will absolutely be ordering more parts for more buckets for the rest of my bunny barn! I can't stress enough how much I love Rent-A-Coop products for my critters!

I have a few of these kits from RentACoop - they always deliver. My last kit is exactly the same except that the watering cups are fully made of plastic. These ones here have a metal cup. It seems to be more sturdy, but I don't know if it is very useful to have metal cup as the bracket where the cup sits in and attaches to the tubing is still made of plastic. I guess the advantage here is that in a metal cup there's no leaching of plastic particles into the water. But these cups are quite small, I doubt that water is in there long enough to actually leach much plastic.... but who knows! Anyway, it's fantastic (as all items from RentACoop are) and I definitely recommend this! I use it for quails and chickens, and will probably try this set with the metal cups on my rabbits. Thank you for these awesome watering kits!!!