How to get duffy to drink?

[Duffy]

Hi , can anyone out there advise me how to get mybunny to drink? Previously i just used a bowl for his supply of water.After I changed to a water bottle, I noticed duffy hardly drink. Itried several times to make him drink. Well, sometimes it workssometimes it doesn't. can anyone out there advise?

 

[Carolyn]

Welcome Duffy,

He may just not like the waterbottle. You may want to put thebowl back in there. Are you sure the waterbottle isfunctioning properly? Is it at a good height for him to reachit and drink out of it comfortably?

Be careful of him dehydrating himself. Dehydration is extremely dangerous for a rabbit.

-Carolyn

 

[dajeti2]

Hello and Welcome.

Check that the bottle is working like Carolyn said. If it is check the rest of what she said.

Now if Duffy still won't drink I may be able to help you. Iwent through this with my guy. I had to switch from bowl to bottle andhe was not happy.

Try buying different bottles. Believe it or not some rabbitsprefer a certain color bottle. If Duffy won't drink from any of them ,now he really sounds like my Apollo.

Try rubbing a piece of fruit on the part he drinks from. I putVanilla in Apollo's water. He loves it and now use a water bottle allthe time.

Try these ideas. If none of it works I'll try and find the post I had about this with Apollo.

Tina

 

[Fergi]

Yep, I bought one of the flip top, steel rod,water bottles (they don't have the ball at the end) and Diva will nottouch it at all. What a bummer cause I really like the design and itworks well for my other rabbits.

They sure can be stubborn eh?!!

Fergi's mom

 

[Pet_Bunny]

I don't think Pebbles is drinking as much as sheshould be too. We use a bowl, but at the end of the day it isstill quite full. I think she gets her fluids from the vegsshe eats. How much vanilla can I use, and is itsafe if they had too much vanilla? Is there anyother ideas to coax them to drink more? Thank-you.

Rainbows!

 

[lyndsy]

Hello Duffy!

My boys drank from a bottle at the breeders, but when I got them home,it was a different story! They refused to use the bottles, so I had anextra dish, filled it up, and they've never had a problem since...Maybe he just doesn't like the bottle, or he's unsure how to use it????I'm not sure, but I do agree with Carolyn, make sure he does in factdrink.

Good luck,

Lyndsy

 

[Carolyn]

Pet Bunny,

As written by Buck Jones who has said before that his rabbits do enjoythe favored water and seem to drink more when they have it.Of course, my Tucker is the opposite, but he's usually the oddball asto what all other bunnies enjoy. You can only try it and seehow it goes!

[align=center]Preventing FlyStrike with Vanilla Extract[/align]
I add approximately one teaspoon of vanillaflavoring extract,real or artificial, to one gallon of drinking water in an effort toreduce fly strike and warbles by reducing the number of flies in andabout our rabbits. Seems that the vanillaodorwithin the urine andstool is repugnant to flies and tends todrive them away.

The measurement is not terribly critical and more often thannot, I just eyeball the amount added to the water until it changescolor. Most people won't accept such an unspecified amount,so I give the "exact" measurement to make them feel at ease with it.

Vanillaflavoring also serves to encourage buns to drink more water, which is a coincidental positive factor.

I learned of this practice years ago on the old Rabbit Web MessageBoard, so I would not want to take credit as the initiator of thepractice, though I doubt one could ever find such a person,anyway. It has probably been part and parcel of good rabbithusbandry for years in the past, as it is a homeopathic remedy, afterall.

--Buck Jones

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Thank-you Carolyn,

I'm going to wake Pebbles up right now, (she sleeps duringthe day) and see if she will drink the vanillafavored water.

WAKE UP BUNNIES !!!

Rainbows!

 

[JimD]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

Thank-you Carolyn,

I'm going to wake Pebbles up right now, (she sleeps duringthe day) and see if she will drink the vanillafavored water.

WAKE UP BUNNIES !!!

Rainbows!

I love to wake up my bunnies

 

[Pet_Bunny]

No such luck.......got Pebbles to come out, only to lick me and look for treats:



Rainbows!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Didn't even take a sniff at the vanilla water.........I don't think she likes to be woke up.



Rainbows!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

And jumped back into her den......faster than a groundhog. :X



Dose that mean we get 7 more weeks of winter!!!:shock::shock::shock:

Rainbows!

 

[Duffy]

Thank you all (esp Carolyn) for the welcoming.
here are some of the answers I have pertaining to your qns.
The bottle works fine. I actually try to bring him to the bottleseveral times & squirt the bottle so that he's enticed to the drip.Well, it works. But stimes, when he is being stubborn, he simplyrefused to drink & the whole day, i noticed the water mark hardlymoved.
That's when i became worried.
I will try the few mtds suggested & see what happens the next few days. Thank you so much.
This is the 2nd bottle I have invested in. The 1st one didn't work. The reason why I wanna use the bottle instead of bowl is cos Duffyalways spills and wets the cage. & I dun wanna him to be wet whileresting in his cage so that's why I got this 2nd bottle.
Wish me luck with the methods suggested. Will revert. Stay tuned.

 

[dajeti2]

Good Luck.

That's why I had to convert Apollo. He would spill too. Plus hewuld play in it too. So I was constantly chasing him around the houseso I could wipe his chin and throat off. It took a little while andsome Vanilla but he's uses it.

Tina

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Pebbles still doesn't seem to drinkmuch.....maybe that's the way she is. I put two bowls ofwater in her cage now ( one vanilla favor, and the otherbottled water ), but the levels haven'tchanged. She's not dehydrated, is eatingwell, active, and pooping fine.

Rainbows!

 

[JimD]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

Pebbles still doesn't seem to drink much.....maybe that'sthe way she is. I put two bowls of water in her cagenow ( one vanilla favor, and the other bottled water), but the levels haven't changed. She'snot dehydrated, is eating well, active, and poopingfine.

Rainbows!

Hi Rainbows!

Is she peeing??

Is there anything else in her diet that might be hydrating her? Inotice that my buns drink less if I'm giving them a good amount ofdaily greens.

~Jim

 

[Pet_Bunny]

JimD wrote:

Is she peeing??

Hi Jim,

Yes Pebbles is peeing......... She can give the Woody Pet a good soaking..lol

She seems very healthy and active, but she only sips very little water when she does.

Rainbows!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

It worked.........I was making some tea withhoney, and I gave Pebbles a taste of some diluted tea and shereally enjoyed it. She begged for more,:shock: but I have to watch how she reacts to itfirst.

Rainbows!