How much water does your bun drink?

[JK]

Hi all – I decided to start a new topic on this water consumption issue.  I am waiting to hear back from my vet on what the average water per day a 4lb. rabbit should drink.  I am very curious and I know others are too about how much water your rabbit drinks per day.  Mine is drinking about 48 ounces which is extreme.  That’s why I am taking the bun to the vet but until then what are your buns drinking a day????

[MarkBun]

Maryanne drinks very little actually. One of those large water bottles lasts her about two weeks.

[JK]

That’s unbelievable.  Is your rabbit getting plenty of hay?  Mine eats quite a bit of hay a day.  I wonder if this is the reason.

[babybunsmum]

Baby drinks about 2-4oz per day.  hard to say exactly since she supplements her water bottle water with the run-off water in her greens dish.  i’d say hay amount is very likely to affect water consumption.  Baby doesn’t eat huge amounts of hay & i’m hoping to increase it a bit by finding more variety.  i think she mostly nibbles when her pellets & greens are done.

[JK]

From what the rescue told me, rabbits should mainly be getting unlimited timothy hay and very little pellets – like 1/4 cup for a 4lb rabbit and 1-2 cups of greens and that’s it.  Also, carrots & fruit are supposed to be a treat and no more than just a tablespoon every other day.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Mark, are Maryann’s poops normal? I am just curious as it sounds like she is not drinking enough water.  I know that some rabbits snub the regular tap water because of how it is treated with some chemicals that are offensive to the bunny nose.  Maybe add a little bit of apple juice to encourage her?  Or maybe she doesn’t like a bottle, have you tried a crock instead?  Is the water bottle functioning properly? Sorry for all the questions.

[babybunsmum]

Posted By knowltons4 on 11/28/2007 7:18 PM

From what the rescue told me, rabbits should mainly be getting unlimited timothy hay and very little pellets – like 1/4 cup for a 4lb rabbit and 1-2 cups of greens and that’s it.  Also, carrots & fruit are supposed to be a treat and no more than just a tablespoon every other day.

i think that sounds about right.  Baby is 5.6 lbs and i give her 1/4 cup pellets plus 2 cups (tight packed) greens per day plus unlimited hay.  i guess she’s full enough from the greens to not eat more hay.  i heard that the fibre in the hay is really good for them & thought she could use more.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Binky Bunny recommends 1/4-1/2 cup pellets per six pounds of rabbit, so it sounds like yours might be getting a little too many, but is their weight O.K.? You can take a gander at the Diet Info Binky Bunny provides for comparison. The more hay the better, the fiber keeps their GI tracts moving which is vital for a rabbit. The HRS has a good article to read about The Importance of Fiber. So babybunsmum, how much hay is Baby eating now after her surgery? Has is lessened any?

[babybunsmum]

no i *think* she pretty much eats the same amount of hay as before but since i only recently restricted her pellets to 1/4 cup per day i thought she’d be eating more hay.  maybe she doesn’t need more?  unfotunately i don’t know how many pellets she was eating before since i just kept her trough-thingy full (oops )  so maybe a 1/4 cup per day is not much less than she was eating anyways.  the vet did say she was a wee bit too chubby.  so you think i could still cut down on her pellets some?

[JK]

Correction!!! A 4 lb rabbit should have 1/8 cup of pellets not 1/4 cup.  Sorry for the mistake!

[JessL]

How much are rabbits supposed to drink? Chief has a large bowl that’s always full so I’m not really monitoring it. When I do see him drinking he takes a good few licks from it.

[Spacehopper]

I have 2 large bottles, just to set my mind at ease that they have plenty of water. Some days they don’t seem to drink much at all, other days they get through loads, they also get plenty of the water i wash the veggies in, and also have 24-7 access to hay (I lovingly sat and watched Mr Bum in his litter box last night, rearring the hay, and picking his way through to the nicer bits. Has anyone else noticed that only a particular type of strand is edible enough?!

[Sarita]

My rabbits overall don’t drink a huge amount of water. I think being indoors makes a difference. I’ve never been overly concerned about it to tell the truth. All mine drink from bowls and I give them fresh water every morning. They get fresh greens every day too. I do agree that tap water is not always the most palatable water there is. I would start to be more concerned if they suddenly started consuming more than what they normally do though.

I also think that drinking out of bowls is more natural than water bottles too.  We use water bottles at the rescue I volunteer at but that is out of necessity. 

I know for us they recommend 8 oz. per day but that’s not based on weight as far as I know either.

[Beka27]

i think in the other thread i said Mead drinks about 4-8 oz… but looking at her bottle, i think it’s more likely between 2-4 oz.  i’m really bad at measurments and stuff… lol… but i dump MOST of the bottle out every day when i change her water. 

she always has a full bottle of fresh water… about an 1/8th cup of pellets [more or less… i don’t really measure, but there’s not much in there…] and a nice container of greens.

[JK]

Water Consumption Update!  Just got back from the vet and he says the average rabbit drinks 4 ounces a day of water! So you guys are all in the ballpark!

[babybunsmum]

good to know… thanks!  also read your other thread about Edson.  i’m glad your vet found encouraging signs.  hopefully the blood work will reveal what / if theres a problem.  there must be something a little ‘off’ for him to be drinking so much right? 

[Sarita]

That’s interesting. 48oz’s is alot of water. Keep us updated on what the vet says.

[Scarlet_Rose]

babybunsmum, how soon is recently that you reduced her pellets?  I would wait a few weeks to see if the weight decreases.

That’s good to know about the 4 oz. of water!

[babybunsmum]

Posted By Scarlet_Rose on 11/29/2007 4:42 PM

babybunsmum, how soon is recently that you reduced her pellets?  I would wait a few weeks to see if the weight decreases.

That’s good to know about the 4 oz. of water!

it was on nov 10th after my first vet appointment with the ‘new’ vet.  the info she gave me so happened to correspond with what i found out about on this site (joined the forum the same week).  i think i’ll wait a couple more weeks.  hopefully we canstick at 1/4cup/day… she’s ready & waiting for more each morning now

[Scarlet_Rose]

Ah, well also after her surgery and all I would really hate to change too much right now while she recovers.  How is the scar healing? Oh yes, the poor thing probably thinks she is starving to death and is sending an S.O.S. to every member here that mum is so cruel.  Has her mobility improved too? I am thinking she will get more exercise now as well.

[babybunsmum]

the scar is almost gone now & her hair is growing back in all sorts of funny patches.  the vet said rabbits fur grows in randomly like that   she moves around as before (she never seemed to favor the side with the mass) BUT she’s way more affectionate with me.  she doesn’t run away from me at all now… even after i’ve picked her up & prodded around.  today she even ran out to greet me with bunny grunts & binkys!!!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh too sweet! That is so great to hear and being greeted to boot!

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