change in eating and drinking habits

[somebunny]

hi guys, i’m litte concerned about hershey. i’ve noticed she has not had any water from her water bottle for about 1 day.

i tried to feed her with a syringe last night but she wasn’t interested.

she’s been eating her veges as per normal. but this morning i gave her a piece of bok choy and she still hasn’t eaten it…normal she would gobble it up.

otherwise she is her normal playful/naughty self. her poops are normal too ..i changed her litter yesterday and don’t see any pee in it this morning.

guess i’ll keep monitoring and maybe give my vet a call.

any advice?

[jerseygirl]

Hi naz
Maybe put a crock of water out for her as well. Some rabbits prefer drinking from a crock. If Hershey is not used to one, she might just be curious enough to give it a go. Also, keep providing wet greens. Maybe something she’s had before but not for a while. She may have lost interest in the regular greens. Jersey went thru a patch of drinking less thru the winter. I was assured she got enough fluid from her greens. She now drinks more again, but mostly from a metal bowl, not the ceramic one she always had. I think their habits can vary depending on season and general health. She may be going thru a light shed. They seem to poop more than pee, that’s for sure! If you’re really worried, try putting some diluted apple juice or other safe juice in a bowl for her to sip.

[KatnipCrzy]

I would rinse her water bottle thoroughly just to make sure there is nothing about the water itself that it deterring her, and clean the metal bottle tip too.  Since she is fine otherwise, just continue to monitor.  And test the bottle too, to make sure the ball bearings are not gunked up and not functional- although I would assume most rabbits would make a huge racket over a nonfunctional water bottle.

What is season like in Australia?  Here in the US it is getting into winter- and I know another US member remarked their bunny does not drink as much in the winter.

Keep us updated.

Julie

[Cassi&Charlie]

Coming into summer my buns have changed their dietry habits a bit and drinking habits as well. For some reason, opposite to Jersey, they’ll only drink out of the ceramic bowl and ignore the metal one. I keep both full of water but the metal one is out of favour currently.

Also – interestingly, bok choy is out of favour with mine. They wont touch the stuff! It used to be their favourite thinkg ever, but for some reason now they’re loving a slightly different variety of green.

It reminds me of just before winer, when they wouldn’t eat brocolli at all, even though it’s another one of their favourites. I don’t know whether the taste varies between seasons or if buns just get sick of the same things too often.

I put a tiny bit of apple juice in the bowl on hot days when they’re not drinking and they love it. Unfortunately this leads to disapointment when I dont do it lol…little pleading bunny eyes watching me as I drink apple juice & don’t give them any.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

You could also add a little bit of juice (100% juice-no sunny D lol) to her water. I’ll ditto checking the water bottle funcitoning and rinsing it out, might taste old and junky or might not be working. Keep monitoring! {{Hershey}}

[somebunny]

hey guys, well i just got home from and after reading your posts i decided to mix some sugar and water and feed her with the syringe again (since we don’t have any juice right now). anyway, she went for it, she was trying to pull the syringe out of my hand. then i thought that it might be a little too sweet, so i diluted it and fed it to her again….after which she decided it was no good and rejected me once again.

what a brat!

so this brat only likes tasty things…do i need to keep mixing a little juice in her water to for her to drink or will she get over it?

also she is shedding majorly as it is currently springtime in aus.

[Sarita]

I would not give her any sugar since that can be a problem for her gi tract – I’m sure she loves it though but you don’t want to get her used to this.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Yeh, no worries since you already gave her some sugar, but since she wanted it she must be doing OK. You could always add a little bit of juice to her water, like a thimble full for a large crock or bottle. Just equate how much juice your giving (size wise) to fruit, but double it. So say one ounce of juice is like two ounces of fruit (as theres more sugar in juice as it’s concentrated and less fibre)
Anywhooo it wouldn’t hurt to put a pinch in her water

[Author]

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