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Increasing water intake

S

sillyrabbit

Wise Old Thumper
Anyone have any tips?

I've tried pineapple juice, but not sure it's a good idea to be constantly giving them something high in sugar :? I also find it difficult to establish exactly how much water they are each drinking, Scarlett refuses to drink out of a bottle so they just have a big bowl, that makes it difficult to measure the amount consumed each day, but even if I did how would I know which bunny has had what. I don't know what else to try. I do cover their veg in water each day

Scarlett is on a low calcium diet, I know a lot of greens have a high water content but they are also high in calcium :? So confusing knowing what's the right thing to do
 
sillyrabbit said:
Anyone have any tips?

I've tried pineapple juice, but not sure it's a good idea to be constantly giving them something high in sugar :? I also find it difficult to establish exactly how much water they are each drinking, Scarlett refuses to drink out of a bottle so they just have a big bowl, that makes it difficult to measure the amount consumed each day, but even if I did how would I know which bunny has had what. I don't know what else to try. I do cover their veg in water each day

Scarlett is on a low calcium diet, I know a lot of greens have a high water content but they are also high in calcium :? So confusing knowing what's the right thing to do
Click to expand...

Highly controversial I know ;) .. but there is the dreaded lettuce :shock: Cucumber as well ...

I have a juicer, so I can provide low calcium juices to go alongside veggies. They kill for the juices :lol: (I don't do this all the time, only when there's a need. I think it's best they stick with plain water whenever possible)
 
Are you using a low calcium bottled water? As well as ensuring the low calcium content, it might taste nicer to her too.

With veggies, the rule is pretty much that the leafier the veg, the more calcium.
 
Yeah I worry with things like lettuce about her getting a mucky bum or upset tummy. I will try a piece of cucumber tonight though and see if she goes for it

I hadn't even thought about juices. But yeah like you said that's exact why I'm wary of adding things to her water

She drinks volvic, I know it's not the lowest calcium content compared to some other bottled waters but it's the lowest I can source

Yeah that's right leafy veg is generally higher in calcium, that's why I'm reluctant to feed it anymore
 
Volvic is pretty low, so should be OK unless there is a huge calcium problem, I'd have thought. That one should taste nice anyway. Fussy bunny! :D
 
A bit of peppermint tea maybe? Some bunnies seem to love it, some hate it. Or echinacea in the water?
 
Otis loves probiotics in his water. He drinks more than double with those in his water compared to plain water. I trued adding juice and he just tipped it over himself!
 
Yeah I'm not sure she was overly interested in the juice to be honest. The other issue with sugar is that Binky is getting a bit chubby! It's so hard to try and get weight up on one yet control how much the other is eating, if I try to separate them it's like they both think they are missing out on something and neither of them eat anything :roll: :lol:

I will try the probiotics, which ones do you use?
 
Last night I made them a kind of tea with boiling water and Timothy hay, took the hay out and let it cool and they loved it :D just thought I would mention incase it helps anyone else struggling with the same issue
 
I had no tea bags :lol:

I was going to use fresh mint at first, but it's on my list of safe foods as a high calcium provider so I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Then I was like ok hay it is :lol:
 
sillyrabbit said:
I had no tea bags :lol:

I was going to use fresh mint at first, but it's on my list of safe foods as a high calcium provider so I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Then I was like ok hay it is :lol:
Click to expand...

Yes, mint *is* high in calcium. I had to cut it out as well ...

I was amused by your 'hay tea' :D What a brilliant idea! Perhaps it could catch on with us humans too? :lol:
 
When I went to my specialist talk he was saying instead of syringing just plain water when buns are ill and dehydrated to flavour it with a bit of critical care. That's if they like critical care but he was saying annoyingly they do apple and banana flavour in the US and all buns like that flavour! You could perhaps just sprinkle a bit in their water until it dissolves.
 
Hiya
We use pro c probiotic from pets at home and our buns love it! They have four bottles on their cage ( two plain water and two pro c) and the pro c has to be filled every other day. They love it. 😃
 
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