Bunnies aren’t drinking water.

[Adam]

I’m becoming concerned.  Have 2 young bunnies (not babies, but small), they used to drink a lot, now the last day and a half, hardly anything.

 

Should I be concerned?

 

I just got them 9 days ago.  They have come into contact with romaine lettuce, timothy hay, yogurt drops, and these one treat things (forgot off the top of my head), but 90% hay and 9% lettuce so far. 

 Bedding is pine pellets, yesterday’s news, also have a second box just for litter that has cat litter in it they use occasionally. 

 

I couldn’t get them to drink from a bottle, so it’s just in a bowl, and really up until now they couldn’t get enough.

 

At least one of them urinated yesterday.  Since it’s usually done in their cage I can’t always tell.

 

Thanks for any insight.

[Sarita]

Not necessarily. Sometimes it can be difficult to gauge just how much each rabbit is drinking.

Also, do you have bedding all over the bottom of the cage? Or do you just have litter boxes for them (this is all that is needed)….

[ZoeS]

My rabbits also drink out of a bowl of water and it’s not always easy to tell how much they have consumed, since a fair amount is lost to evaporation, or them jump through the water dish. And on days where I feed lots of just-rinsed veg, water dish consumption goes down.

So, yes it is potentially concerning, but it could be nothing. How are their poops? If they are coming out at the rate and are soft and moist (and not dessicated and small), I wouldn’t worry now.

To echo Sarita, remove the bedding from their cage bottom if they have some, and clean out the litter daily (for now). Don’t scrub it or anything, just dump it so you can monitor their daily contributions.

Also, I would omit the romaine and the yogurt drops and add in more varied and better greens (dandelion and wild plantain are “in season”; kale, collared greens, etc – romaine is fine but far from ideal as the main green) and 1/4 cup (ish) of timothy pellets.

[Adam]

I’m quite sure they are drinking a lot less. their pills have never been moist or soft that I’ve seen, but they’ve stayed consistent, not particularly dry unless left out for a while. But this did start after feeding them lettuce.

The bedding is all over the bottom, I thought maybe they would not like walking on plastic all day. I know there’s lots of great things to feed them, I am trying. I never buy vegetables, never eat them myself, and am very frugal and like to keep things simple and routine. Thanks for the information.

[Sarita]

I absolutely agree about being cost conscious! I think there are other things too that are more cost effective too than bedding at the bottom of the cage….like a carpet that can be washed or some grass matts. Trying to empty a cage with a bunch of bedding is not fun either…and it would help keep costs down.

Also for the diet – rabbits need a varied diets as far as greens go so adding more greens in is better than just sticking with one green. And I would cut out the yogurt drops – don’t know why they sell those, but they aren’t good for rabbits.

I would keep trying with the bowl and I’m not sure how often you change out the water, but at least twice a day is better.

I will tell you that my rabbit Bobby drinks very little water – he is indoor and free roam.

[ZoeS]

Posted By Adam on 5/11/2015 3:11 PM

I’m quite sure they are drinking a lot less. their pills have never been moist or soft that I’ve seen, but they’ve stayed consistent, not particularly dry unless left out for a while. But this did start after feeding them lettuce.

The bedding is all over the bottom, I thought maybe they would not like walking on plastic all day. I know there’s lots of great things to feed them, I am trying. I never buy vegetables, never eat them myself, and am very frugal and like to keep things simple and routine. Thanks for the information.

Definitely not soft, but when my rabbits are dehydrated I can’t crush them between my fingers. When they are normal, they sort of compress and crumble.

You can have bedding all over, but it isn’t necessary.  I found I had to completely get rid of bedding lest they use the whole thing as a litter box. You can give them a felt blanket or a memory-foam type dog bed for them to lie on, or even pieces of cardboard.

In the spring and summer, I pick my own greens to save on money.  Around here (Ottawa Canada, Zone 5) we get an abundance of dandelions and wild plantain, which are both great for buns, and wild spinach. Many herbs are super easy to grow (parsley and coriander and mint will grow like crazy if you let them) and I supplement a few other greens, but my spending on veg is minimal in the summer.

During the winter it is more – hit up the discount racks at produce stores. Greens just on the verge of getting wilty (but NOT moldy obviously) can be preserved in the fridge and fed over a week. I rinse them and separate into bunches and roll them (still damp) into the dish towels (like a burrito, closed on both ends) and stack them in the crisper in the fridge. The greens will last all week when I do that.

I have also told friends/family/coworkers to bring me any greens they are about to throw away (amazing what people will throw out).

 

I will say though that my rabbits are the most expensive pets I have, because I buy small bags of hay (I don’t drive, so 6$ square bales that last 6 months are a thing of the past!) and in the winter, the greens add up. But if you get what’s on sale / best value, it’s manageable.

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