OK to give rabbits?

I normally boil carrots once a week and give the water to my rabbits as a treat once it has cooled down. However i had turnip and carrot together in the same water when i was making tea last night and i'm not sure if it will still be OK to give the water to the rabbits?

I wouldn't give any boiled then cooled water to the rabbits, if I'm honest.

Boiling the water does get rid of certain minerals in the water which are vital for good health. Same as you wouldn't put boiled then cooled water in a fish tank (which people commonly think is a good idea) as it does get rid of minerals. Boiling does kill off the Kh and Gh of your water (GH is your mineral level, including calcium!) which is why you get limescale etc in your kettle.

Just my two pennies worth. x

Don't see why you couldn't give it to them - as long as you haven't added salt, etc during the cooking.
Personally, I would just give straight tap water.

oh i see, I did not think of it like that!

It isn't a everyday thing, They get tap water 99% of the time its just as a treat, Bear takes no prisoners with it either he loves it, Guess i better stop then

Brad-14 said:

oh i see, I did not think of it like that!

It isn't a everyday thing, They get tap water 99% of the time its just as a treat, Bear takes no prisoners with it either he loves it, Guess i better stop then

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Once in a while is fine :wave: I got the impression it was every day. As long as it's a small amount now and again you should be fine Obviously the mineral problem is a more long term issue!

JessBun said:

I wouldn't give any boiled then cooled water to the rabbits, if I'm honest.

Boiling the water does get rid of certain minerals in the water which are vital for good health. Same as you wouldn't put boiled then cooled water in a fish tank (which people commonly think is a good idea) as it does get rid of minerals. Boiling does kill off the Kh and Gh of your water (GH is your mineral level, including calcium!) which is why you get limescale etc in your kettle.

Just my two pennies worth. x

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Could you let me have a link to your source for this information please. I would be interested to read it.

I'm thinking about the water that we boil for cups of tea and coffee for ourselves :? During the very cold weather we also regularly give both our rabbits and our chickens slightly cooled boiled water. The mineral content of water is also going to vary anyway I think depending where you live and the hardness of your tapwater.

However, I know nothing about keeping fish in tanks and so can well appreciate there could be issues for fish.

Interesting thread. Tbh I have never thought of giving rabbits the water from boiling vegetables, but I would also never have imagined that by doing so that would deprive them of minerals from the water.

Omi said:

Could you let me have a link to your source for this information please. I would be interested to read it.

I'm thinking about the water that we boil for cups of tea and coffee for ourselves :? During the very cold weather we also regularly give both our rabbits and our chickens slightly cooled boiled water. The mineral content of water is also going to vary anyway I think depending where you live and the hardness of your tapwater.

However, I know nothing about keeping fish in tanks and so can well appreciate there could be issues for fish.

Interesting thread. Tbh I have never thought of giving rabbits the water from boiling vegetables, but I would also never have imagined that by doing so that would deprive them of minerals from the water.

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Hi, this was something I did heavy research into a few years back due to studies in Animal Management and my job at an aquatics, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while for me to dig up any scientific papers (feel free to give me a nudge though if you're interested as they are about!). You will also find them online if you're really interested, and of course being scientific papers you're sure they can then be trusted. As I say though, give me a nudge if I do forget.

Simple water testing yourself however will show you the effects of boiling water. TDS readings and more simply, Gh testing will show you the results of your tap water, and then boiled, but cooled water. You can pick these up at either aquatics, or, from pharmacists etc.

Yes, water does vary widely in what area you're from, but all have trace elements in them. Magnesium, calcium, potassium etc, you can even find this information on your local water board online, very easily. Nitrates, nitrites etc are usually more variable - but you will find variation in anything area to area. In England, our local water had a steady Ph of 7.6 but oddly enough, a low KH of 2 dKH and very low Gh (dGH) to boot. Here, we have a Ph of about 6 (though it does go up at times) with 0 dKH and 1-2 dGH.

When boiled, the Kh will be pretty non existant, meaning fluctuation in PH - which is tied in with your GH anyway (although KH is mainly responsible). Boiling however, will remove Chlorines, which is why so many people do it. But simply standing water for 24 hours will achieve the same effect anyway.

I remember getting into this discussion about Giant African Land snails as someone was boiling any water used (for misting, drinking etc) before use. As snails in particular rely heavily on calcium and other trace elements, I was very much against it. Of course calcium was supplemented in the diet anyway, but potassium, magnesium etc etc was not.

Anyway in summary, I'm far from a water expert, but like to think I know enough about it to know heavily filtered (almost to the point of Reverse Osmosis) and boiled water isn't ideal - at least, I feel I've come to an informed decision on that myself enough to recommend others don't do it either. You'd be much better off giving bottled water to your buns rather than boiled/cooled - all still have these trace elements in, and list them on the bottle.

Drinking coffee/tea isn't the same - you're adding things back into the water, with trace elements themselves anyway. So unless you buffered the boiled then cooled bun water with something, it just isn't the same, all they are getting is that plain water. Also, you're drinking that water in a short space of time. Boiled water becomes very unstable, if you left it to stand for just a day the PH alone would change, which also means your Kh and Gh does.. so it then does make you wander for those who use bottled, even changed twice a day.

All this being said - most pellet diets supply these trace elements anyway so it may not particularly cause an issue, then again IMPO it might, over long term. Then again, to be on the safe side for the reasons mentioned, it's not something I'd do as I like them to get some nutrition from the water rather than just hydration (water and it's minerals is heavily involved with digestion and absorption of various vitamins) so it is me being on the safe side.

Will get on digging a few articles up over the next few days :wave: It is indeed an interesting topic - I love it

Also (just to geek some more) you touched on the vegetable water. I believe even for humans it's advised to eat raw or even just blanched vegetables where possible, because boiling the vegetables changes the nutrition of the vegetables in a negative way. So what's left in the water afterwards, isn't going to be very good.

In essence - there's a reason it's recommended to boil water in areas where you can get sick from the water (for us who are not used to it) - because it does change the water, in various ways. Amazing stuff

JessBun said:

Also (just to geek some more) you touched on the vegetable water. I believe even for humans it's advised to eat raw or even just blanched vegetables where possible, because boiling the vegetables changes the nutrition of the vegetables in a negative way. So what's left in the water afterwards, isn't going to be very good.

In essence - there's a reason it's recommended to boil water in areas where you can get sick from the water (for us who are not used to it) - because it does change the water, in various ways. Amazing stuff

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Yes, I knew this I nearly added to my post that we don't boil vegetables ourselves, but thought it not very relevant to the debate.

Thanks for the other info.