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Dusty will only drink stale water

Zarla

Alpha Buck
She hasn't drunk from her bottle or a bowl for six months. Usually I change the water every day anyway but last week I forgot and after four days she started drinking and has drunk about an inch over two days. Weird. Nothing wrong with her health.
 
Try giving her cooled boiled water
Does she have a lot of fresh veg and grass etc ? Rabbits don’t drink as much if they have daily access to grass and fresh food types.
 
Yes, she has quite a lot of fresh dark mixed lettuce leaves (more since she stopped drinking).
 
She hasn't drunk from her bottle or a bowl for six months. Usually I change the water every day anyway but last week I forgot and after four days she started drinking and has drunk about an inch over two days. Weird. Nothing wrong with her health.

First off I would ditch the drinking bottle and just have the water bowl. It could be that your water needs to be neutralized, maybe your rabbit detects the chlorine in the water. What you could do is fill a clean container up with tap water and leave it sitting over night or add a drop or two of lemon juice into the water from a fresh lemon.
 
First off I would ditch the drinking bottle and just have the water bowl. It could be that your water needs to be neutralized, maybe your rabbit detects the chlorine in the water. What you could do is fill a clean container up with tap water and leave it sitting over night or add a drop or two of lemon juice into the water from a fresh lemon.

I've tried her with a bowl but no luck. During the 40c heatwave, Jane suggested a few drops of unsweetened apple juice but this didn't tempt her either. I had this issue with my last rabbit Stakki but only for 5 months out of his entire 10 year life span. Back then people here said they had rabbits who didn't drink water either but had a lot of fresh food so I just let it go.
 
I've tried her with a bowl but no luck. During the 40c heatwave, Jane suggested a few drops of unsweetened apple juice but this didn't tempt her either. I had this issue with my last rabbit Stakki but only for 5 months out of his entire 10 year life span. Back then people here said they had rabbits who didn't drink water either but had a lot of fresh food so I just let it go.

The only thing I can think of is that she may have an issue with swallowing liquids. Has she had a vet check up yet?

Maybe give her some apple so that she is still getting some water from that.
 
First off I would ditch the drinking bottle and just have the water bowl. It could be that your water needs to be neutralized, maybe your rabbit detects the chlorine in the water. What you could do is fill a clean container up with tap water and leave it sitting over night or add a drop or two of lemon juice into the water from a fresh lemon.

I agree on the chlorine. Chlorine tastes bad, so leaving the water out in a jug for a while before filling the bottle can also help it taste nicer.
 
The only thing I can think of is that she may have an issue with swallowing liquids. Has she had a vet check up yet?

Maybe give her some apple so that she is still getting some water from that.

She's been to the vet about it but they said she was fine and getting her hydration from the dark lettuce leaves she chomps through. She does have a couple of slices of apple every other day too. She's actually started drinking fresh water again this week - not much but more than she did before.
 
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