How much water daily should my buns be drinking

[Buttercup0215]

Hi guys. I purchased a baby lionhead on Sunday. She seems to be adapting very well to the family and has a great personality. I am concerned about her not drinking enough. I filled up her water bottle on Sunday when I got her and there is barely any missing. I put a bowl of water in her cage this evening. She has been urinating. She actually pee pee'd on my son's shirt this evening and she pee'd on my couch and me and then once on the kitchen floor. It does smell very strong, but then again I am not sure how strong it is supposed to smell.

I am hoping the potty training will get better. I just have to learn how often she urinates. I want to be able to let her out often without urinating all over : )


Deb

 

[lionheadbunny21]

Mine took a while to drink her water too ... or eat. Hmmm Sunday though.. IDK! I know it takes a while for buns to feel comfortable to eat and drink. I had to try a little crock bowl as well.

Just moniter. Mine still don't drink, in my opinion, enough water.

My younger bunny is actually doing AWESOME with training and my 7 month old will pee and poo EVERYWHERE!! hmmm...

Sorry I'm no help, but I hope she starts drinking more Congrats on the new bunny as well

 

[kirbyultra]

Giving him the option of using a water bottle and a water dish is a good start. Some buns just don't drink a lot. He is eating hay and pellets normally though?

 

[Buttercup0215]

She is eating good. She eats her hay, but keeps knocking over her pellets. She eats all the broccoli and carrots that I give her. I guess I will continue to offer her both drinking options until I can make sure she is drinking.

Tomorrow I am going to clean out all of the pellet bedding on the bottom of her cage and line it with a baby blanket and just use the bedding in her litter box so I can tell where she is eliminating. I think this will help with her litter training.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[kirbyultra]

How old is she?

Buns can get a lot of their water from vegetables, and it may appear like they never consume any actual water. They may not need to drink pure water if they get enough from other sources.

Are you feeding her other vegs besides broccoli and carrots? Carrots are too sweet to be a staple veggie. Too much sugar can be risky for a baby bun's tummy, too much sugar in general can lead to an overweight bunny. Pieces of carrots are fine treats to give, though.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

Buttercup0215 wrote:

Hi guys. I purchased a baby lionhead on Sunday. She seems to be adapting very well to the family and has a great personality. I am concerned about her not drinking enough. I filled up her water bottle on Sunday when I got her and there is barely any missing. I put a bowl of water in her cage this evening. She has been urinating. She actually pee pee'd on my son's shirt this evening and she pee'd on my couch and me and then once on the kitchen floor. It does smell very strong, but then again I am not sure how strong it is supposed to smell.

I am hoping the potty training will get better. I just have to learn how often she urinates. I want to be able to let her out often without urinating all over : )


Deb

i generally don,t worry about how much-water,,they drink-(barring medical probl.)-i monitor the fact they dodrink...,and offering both bottle and bowl like you do ,,is very good.//.little lionhead needs help being potty trained,,use timothy grass in the poop box,and haybinfor starters,,try to draw them to the box-it will be tempting because they can eat and do their thing in one spot..sincerely james waller:big wink:

 

[Pipp]

The urine shouldn't smell too strong, strong smelling, dark urine is a sign of dehydration.

A bunny that doesn't drink won't eat, though, so I'm sure she is getting some fluids. But it would be good to step it up a bit just in case she's got a urinary tract infection.

Babies do pee a lot in inappropriate places, but its possible there's more too it. Rabbits never act sick until they're really sick, so you have to watch for the tiniest signs of illness.

Any idea what she was eating before you got her? You can't change their diets too abruptly (at all), but if she's used to veggies, maybe soak some parsley or dandelion in water for awhile to make sure she's getting fluids.

Usually eating hay makes them thirstier. The more hay mine eat, the more they drink, and I'm filling water bowls three times a day for my big hay eaters.

But my all-veggie bunny doesn't drink at all.

Good advice from James re: the hay in the litterbox. It's like a bunny bathroom magazine -- munch, poop, munch, poop...


sas :bunnydance:

 

[Buttercup0215]

It seems she likes the bowl over the bottle. I just filled up a bigger bowl this morning and put it in her cage and she went right to it and started drinking. So I will get her a crock. I am also going to get her some other veggies besides carrots and broccoli today. I will definitely cut back on the carrots. Thanks for the advice!

 

[elrohwen]

I rarely see my two drink - maybe once a week? They get a lot of water from their veggies, and I know they must be drinking while I'm not looking because both have nice light yellow pee.