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My bunny doesn't seem to be drinking

vickyjane

Young Bun
How much should a rabbit be drinking on a daily basis?

About two months ago we rescued two rabbits; a lionhead called Bobby, who is the more cautious and shy one, and a Polish (or maybe it's a netherland dwarf - I'm really awful when it comes to breeds!) called Dusty, who is dominant but cuddly.

Now we recently moved them both into much bigger hutches then what the woman we got them from gave us. But Dusty doesn't seem to be drinking alot. It was a hot day today but he only drank less than a quarter of his bottle. Is that normal?

When we changed his bedding this morning, we also found he'd had diarrhea during the night. That's the first time that's happened since we got them. I wanted to take him to the vet, and so did my mum, but my stepdad wouldn't let us.

Bobby, the other bun, seems to be fine. He loves his new house. But Dusty seems a bit uneasy. His heart was beating so fast when I gave him a cuddle before. Is it because we changed his hutch and he's just settling in? Should I gave him a bowl of water instead?

Please help!
 
It is hard to say if your rabbit is drinking enough without knowing the size of the bottle that he has drunk a quarter of and the size/weight of the rabbit.

Some rabbits prefer to drink from a bowl and it is certainly easier for them when they are poorly. If its hot and ours are in their runs I give them a bowl as well as their bottles and they always tuck in.

Also if your rabbits eat a fair amount of veg and or grass you may find they drink less as they get more moisture from this sort of food.

If your rabbit has had diarrhea I would be very careful as they can get dehydrated and go downhill very quickly.

Did you give a new veg or food which may have upset him?

If you didn't and he does have diarrhea and/or is not himself, or off his food I would certainly get him to a vet asap.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for replying.

It's a 600ml bottle. Not sure about his exact weight, but he isn't a huge rabbit. If he's calmed down tomorrow I'll try weighing him.

He didn't eat a lot at all yesterday, and then we found the diarrhea. But he's been eating a lot today so it looks like he's got his appetite back. It was just his drinking and the poop that worried me. We haven't tried him on any new food recently - everythings just been the same apart from the hutches. He doesn't seem to be sulking, and he was stretched out sleeping in the shade before, and then playing with his chew things.

I think I'm definitely going to use a bowl for the water tomorrow, as well as their bottles, and see how much they drink then. And if there's any diarrhea in his bed tomorrow I'll take him to the vet, regardless of my stepdad. Although I do need to find a new vet in the area - the local one doesn't seem to have a clue; he wanted to cut off my cats ear because she had a scab on it!

Thanks again!
 
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i hope he's feeling better this morning. i would definitely keep an eye on his poop and if it remains very runny, a trip to the vets would be best.

i have a small rabbit and he doesn't seem to drink a lot but he wee's fine (is your rabbit wee-ing?). when i first had him he drank from a bottle but whilst he was unwell, i gave him a bowl as an alternative and now he never bothers with the bottle, just the bowl.

hope bun's ok.

x
 
Is his diet compose of 90% hay?

Also, a bowl encourage a bun to drink more than a bottle. No animal enjoy inverting their head to suck some water out vs. drinking from a bowl. We also have numerous members who didn't realize the bottle suction mal-functions, as such, the water is not coming out, and the bun has no water to drink. I used to use bottle 10 yr. ago, I can't get rid of it fast enough
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Dusty's OK now. No more diarrhea.

We also got them both bowls but they only seem to use them when their in their runs. They won't use them in their hutches, so they each have a bottle and a bowl lol. Fussy rabbits.
 
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