Water drinking issues

[amigo1019]

Hey, my bunny amigo , doesn't drink water at all. I got him when he was few days old and I had provided him with the bottle in the cage. Now that he's 7 months old I have kept a water bowl also . But I only once in 7 months saw him drinking water that too very less . Once I even forced him to drink water but he doesn't. Is it normal ? If not what should I do. Also is milk ok for em if once in two months kinda thing ?

 

[Blue eyes]

Absolutely no milk whatsoever. Here's an article on that:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/yogurt.htm

Are you feeding hay? I have found that the more hay my bunnies get, the more they drink. Is he getting water-soaked veggies that may be providing water instead of the water bowl?
What is his current diet?

 

[amigo1019]

I feed pretty less hay . I haven't in past 2 weeks now .
His current diet is carrot, spinach , cabbage and rabbit food which has a mixture of pellets hay etc sometimes banana and apple.
And yeah sometimes I put little water in the bowl from where he eats along with veggies but not sure if he gets it

 

[lovelops]

MY two agouti's would not drink water and I had to keep giving them Kitten replacment milk some times because I thought they were going to get dehydrated. Unless your bunny was given alot of kitten replacement milk when you first got him young like I did with my bunnies 4 days old, they seem not to like water after having kitten replacement milk. During very hot times I would give it to them to keep them hydrated, but not all the time. Have you talked to your vet?

Vanessa

 

[JBun]

If your rabbit is continuing to eat it's regular amounts each day, is maintaining it's weight and is healthy, and water is available to it, then it is getting fluids. Either from drinking or from it's veggies. A rabbit that isn't drinking or getting adequate fluids, will either stop eating or won't be eating very much. If not eating and drinking enough, your rabbit will also get dehydrated and start losing weight.

If you provide a water bowl and have to refill it, then your bun is drinking. If the water level isn't going down, then the veggies may be providing enough fluids to your bun. A rabbit simply couldn't survive for 7 months without getting adequate amounts of fluid in that whole time.

Now if your bun is very skinny and doesn't seem well, then there may be something wrong.

Just to reiterate, DO NOT give your bun milk. They quickly loose the ability to digest lactose as they get older and are weaned from nursing.

 

[Blue eyes]

I feed pretty less hay . I haven't in past 2 weeks now .
His current diet is carrot, spinach , cabbage and rabbit food which has a mixture of pellets hay etc sometimes banana and apple.
And yeah sometimes I put little water in the bowl from where he eats along with veggies but not sure if he gets it

His current diet is not ideal. He should be getting unlimited amounts of hay. That should make up the bulk of his diet.

Next would be the greens. Carrots are considered a treat so he shouldn't get more than a 1" slice at most per day. Spinach is high in oxalates and shouldn't be fed every day either. Cabbage can cause gas. Think more in terms of greens (romaine lettuce, green or red leaf lettuce, basil, cilantro)

The pellets should be plain timothy-based pellets. The pellets with colorful add-ins are bunny junk food. Oxbow Essentials adult food is a good choice. But you'll need to transition him to the healthier food slowly. You simply mix 3 parts of your current pellets with one part of the new pellet. Feed that for a couple days. Then mix equal parts of each type and feed that for another few days. Then it will be 1 part old food to 3 parts new. Again for a few days.

Bananas, apples or carrots all fall into the treat category. None are necessary. But small amount (one slice) of one of those per day is ok and sure to be a big hit.

Hay is so important because it is loaded with necessary fiber and keeps his gut moving. It also encourages drinking water -- another plus.

 

[bunbunmommy]

I feed pretty less hay . I haven't in past 2 weeks now .
His current diet is carrot, spinach , cabbage and rabbit food which has a mixture of pellets hay etc sometimes banana and apple.
And yeah sometimes I put little water in the bowl from where he eats along with veggies but not sure if he gets it

That doesn't sound like a very good diet for a bunny :/

 

[MustNotBuyMore]

If the rabbit is still alive and healthy, he is drinking. If he's still healthy, honestly I would not worry. You could give him sooner veggies though just fire the water content.

 

[amigo1019]

Hmmm. Thanks guys .I Will change his diet today . He is still fluffy and healthy and very active though. My vet had said too much of greens can also upset his stomach. Is it true ? and the hay..I haven't found the green timothy hay is it .. anywhere around my place . I have the golden/yellow once which I used for his bedding . He eats that happily .

 

[JBun]

Some rabbits can be sensitive to too many veggies, or a particular veggie, but it just depends on the rabbit and what veggies are being fed. A sign of problems would be mushy runny poop, or signs of discomfort from gas.

If you change a rabbits pellets or veggies, it should be done gradually to avoid digestive upset. New foods should always be introduced one at a time, starting with small amounts, and gradually increasing over at least a week. It is usually fine to just give grass hay immediately, as it rarely will cause any digestive upset. Any good grass hay is fine(timothy, Bermuda, orchard, meadow, coastal). Grain hays like oat, should have seed heads removed, and even then some rabbits can be sensitive to it.

If you reduce the veggie amount at all, then you will want to keep an eye on your buns water levels to ensure that he is drinking water as you reduce the fluids he is getting from veggies.

http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/

Depending on where you are located, what you are able to feed your bun may be somewhat dependent on that factor. You may not be able to get the type of hay that some of us normally feed our rabbits. Yellow hay is fine for fiber and roughage, but won't have many nutrients in it, so you would need to also make sure your bun was getting enough pellets/veggies to supply that and keep him at a healthy weight.

 

[amigo1019]

These days his poop and urine smells a lot. I had read it on a site that lettuce can be poisonous . :/
Basil he eats from the backyard hehe

 

[JBun]

No, lettuce isn't poisonous, unless there happens to be harmful pesticides on it that might be. But dark leafy lettuce is just fine for most rabbits. Light colored iceberg lettuce shouldn't be fed to rabbits though, as it can cause diarrhea which can sometimes prove fatal. Basil is perfectly fine too, as long as it doesn't cause mushy poop.

Here is what normal rabbit poop should look like, and also some abnormal rabbit poop.
http://imgur.com/a/5N4lD
Typically you will never see a rabbits cecotropes as they reingest them. If you are seeing cecotropes on a regular basis, or you are seeing semiformed or unformed mushy cecotropes smooshed onto the floor or into your buns fur along with normal round fecal poop, then there is likely a digestive problem going on, probably due to diet. The mushy poop will also be quite smelly from a bacterial imbalance in your rabbits cecum.

Smelly pee can just be due to a rabbit fully maturing. As they become hormonal, their pee also usually gets quite strong. Urinary tract infections can also cause pee to smell wrong, but that will also be accompanied by other symptoms such as urinary incontinence.

 

[amigo1019]

Oh that was helpful. Thanks a lot