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Lack of drinking????

S

Snowflake-George

Alpha Buck
Just after a bit of advice. Hershel started to use a water bowl whilst on holiday at Tuckerbunnies :thumb: :thumb:

Since he has come home, but he doesn't seem to appear to be drinking much.
He would generally on average drink around 100ml from his bottle a day, and I can't really gauge how much he is drinking out of his bowl now.
His water bowl is one of the those pot Mason Cash bowls, it's the standard size (4inch?). We fill it to the brim and it is hardly drops (maybe a couple of millimetres)

He doesn't seem to be out of sorts, pooping and eating is okay, although he is going through a big moult at the moment. So I am getting quite concerned that he doesn't seem to be drinking much, especially in this heat. We've added probotics to his water as he normally drinks more when we give them it. I'm not sure if adding the probotics have worked as I leave for work early, and my sister normally attends to the bunnies on mornings.
Also we only give him a small amount of fresh veg a day as it tends to make him a bit loose poop wise, if we give him too much.

So how much does a Mini Lop need to drink on average daily?
 
Maybe someone else is refilling his bowl? You can gauge the amount he's drunk from the bowl by pouring in a certain amount from a measuring jug, then when you want to check the amount you can pour it back into the jug to measure what is left. Or just fill to the brim, and calculate how much it takes to refill it back up from a jug. Also when you are using bottles they often seem to drip so it can look like they have drunk a lot from them.

I've managed to get my quad to use water bowls now, and I'm certain they drink more from them than bottles.

I think it varies wildly from rabbit to rabbit how much they drink, and how much hay they eat too. My bridge bun had to have 2 large water bottles as she would drink a whole one in a day sometimes :shock:
 
Thank for the reply Zoobec.

Zoobec said:
Maybe someone else is refilling his bowl?
Click to expand...

No...I care for the rabbits jointly care with my sister, so we work as a team and discuss any problems with them. Also as I still live at home I've discussed this with my parents and they would have said if they have given him anything, as they know I am starting to worry about it.


Zoobec said:
You can gauge the amount he's drunk from the bowl by pouring in a certain amount from a measuring jug, then when you want to check the amount you can pour it back into the jug to measure what is left. Or just fill to the brim, and calculate how much it takes to refill it back up from a jug.
Click to expand...

I will have to do this tonight, especially if the probiotics haven't worked. Normally when I give him probiotics you can visibly tell he has drunk more, he must like the taste!


Zoobec said:
Also when you are using bottles they often seem to drip so it can look like they have drunk a lot from them.
Click to expand...

This is actually a good point. His bottle does leak (like they always do) so it could be that he is just drinking as normal and I am panicking because of the warmer weather.

As I said he isn't showing any signs of illness or distress but we all know how well they can hide it. I think with him new to using the bowl and with this hot weather I am just over-worrying.
 
Good news, when my sister did the breakfast feed he had drunk approx. half of his water bowl. The probiotics definitely worked. :thumb: :thumb:
 
that's good news, I was also going to suggest had he eaten any greens containing water ie cucumbers contain a lot of water
 
What probiotic so you use?
As I think waffles and DP could do with drinking more but they were unimpressed with having apple or cranberry juice on their water!
Thanks
 
Rabbits don't sweat/pant so their fluid intake in hot weather doesn't go up as much as some animals/humans.

As long as he's eating normally and acting normally, I wouldn't be particularly concerned.
 
dumblepaws said:
What probiotic so you use?
As I think waffles and DP could do with drinking more but they were unimpressed with having apple or cranberry juice on their water!
Thanks
Click to expand...

It's Vetark Pro C Probiotics. http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/pro-c-probiotic.html We tend to give them it during moulting to help them.


Tamsin said:
Rabbits don't sweat/pant so their fluid intake in hot weather doesn't go up as much as some animals/humans.

As long as he's eating normally and acting normally, I wouldn't be particularly concerned.
Click to expand...

I think I have been panicking because of the weather so that's good to know. His water intake seems to be back to normal now. Although all 3 bunnies seemed to be wilting in the heat today so we had to put my dad's fishing umbrella up to cover the run and set up a fan to circulate air. They are a lot happier now it has cooled down.
 
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