Drinking

[Beanie Bunny]

We have only had our bunny three days but have hardly seen him drink. Is this normal? He has a bottle and has visited it only a couple of times. We have tried in a plastic bowl too but he doesn’t seem interest. Just worried he isn’t getting enough to drink.

[HerculesandMolasses]

If he’s peeing then he may just be drinking when you aren’t looking.

[Beanie Bunny]

Yes he is. We are litter training him and his tray is always messy. I am just wetting his veg before he eats just to make sure he is getting some water. I was just concerned he didn’t like the bottle or it wasn’t working properly.

[Bam]

I have a ceramic water-bowl + a bottle for my buns. They seem to prefer the bowls, but it’s not been like that always, up until this summer my Bam always used his bottle and I had to refill it a lot. Then, for some reason known only to rabbits, he started favouring a bowl instead (after 3,5 ys!)
So, I agree with Vanessa. If he’s peeing like he should and his poop looks fine, he’s getting water somehow, from somewhere.

[Gina.Jenny]

When we first caught our two rescue girls, neither knew how to drink from a bottle, and I used a bowl. Gina soon switched to the bottle after watching our boy buns, but Jenny stuck exclusively to the bowl. We got her one of the metal ones that attach to the side of the cage, and she seemed happy with that.

Post spay, Jenny’s water consumption dropped to a worrying low amount, and I used the wet greens approach to getting water into her, and also syringed some. I used puppy training pads across the whole base of both girls’ cages, so I could see just how much they did pee, and I’m glad I did, as I could see straight away when they did go.

A few days ago, Jenny mastered the knack of the water bottle, and was like a child with a new toy, as in she just stood by it and drank and drank and drank. So I went from worrying she wasn’t drinking enough, to worrying she was drinking too much.

So, I would say, if you can, leave the bottle, and the bowl, and if you can see he is peeing in the litter tray, then he is getting enough. Lots of leafy greens will give water, and I also used a few slices of cucumber when Jenny wasn’t drinking. Melon is also good for getting fluid through, though maybe a bit high in sugar for too often?

[Beanie Bunny]

I might try a ceramic bowl. Everything toileting wise seems ok but I have never owned a rabbit before so not sure what ‘normal’ is. Through reading different posts I see that they all have their little quirks and preferences- wish they could just tell us He likes cucumber so I could try a thin slice of that a day with he breakfast just to make sure. Thank you for your help and advice so far!

[Beanie Bunny]

Finally we have bottle drinking. Yay! Thank you so much for all your help and advice!!

[Author]

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