I have 3 rabbits, and 2 of them do not seem to drink enough water.

They all drink from water dishes/bowls, which we clean and refill each night when we feed them dinner (veggies). I had to take one of them to the vet several months back because she was going through a GI stasis issue and wasn’t eating, pooping, or moving. When I asked them what the root cause could be, they suggested higher fiber/hay intake, and more water intake.

Per my vet’s suggestions for increased water intake, I then kept both a water dish, and a water bottle in her bunny condo, but she never touched the bottle. I also switched to filtered water, in case she just didn’t like the taste of the tap water. I haven’t seen much of a difference, if any at all; and now her brother is going through a similar issue. He’s still eating (albeit a little less than usual) and now he’s not running around much (past 2 days he’s been loaf-ish and not wanting to move around / run / play like usual), and his poops are super small (about 1/2 to 1/4 the size they should be).

I can’t seem to pin-point the root cause behind the issue except the fact that they might not be drinking enough water. I see my other rabbit drinking water occasionally, but never these 2. Granted, I am not out watching them 24/7, so I can’t say 100% for sure – but I thought after having them for 5 years, and never seeing them drink, this has got to be an issue.

I’ve been giving belly massage often, giving fiber supplements, and trying to encourage him to eat more hay (I’ve purchased several kinds of hay: timothy, oat, alfalfa). I also have tried giving them wet veggies @ dinner time – though when I feed them veggies that are really wet, they won’t touch them! So I stopped, as eating dry veggies is better than not eating anything at all.

I’m completely stumped. I’ve made an appointment w/ my vet again, but the earliest they can get him in is on Friday. I’m fairly certain that this can be resolved by getting him to drink more water – but I have no idea how I’m going to accomplish this. I’ve seen several people suggest putting juice in their water, but I’m hesitant about this because I don’t want to introduce more sugar to their GI than I absolutely have to, and I don’t want them to become used to this as their usual drinking supply. I’ve tried syringe feeding them water, very little at a time, gently, and to the side of their mouth – but they absolutely hate me for this and run and hide when I even get close to their mouth with it. I really don’t want to stress him out doing this, either.

Any suggestions, ideas, thoughts, and/or opinions on this would be GREATLY appreciated.