my rabbit, oscar, has recently decreased the amount of water he drinks. I give him 2 cups of fresh veggies every day, is this ok as a source of water? obviously i won\'t remove his bottle he still drinks a little. his urine has not changed. is this normal?
Leslie: This is a good question to post. I am interested in this answer also because my Petey (who is about a year old), does not drink as much as he used to when we first got him. I have wondered if maybe he is getting some water from his veggies too. Petey gets about 1 cup of fresh veggies daily.
If I had to guess, I would say Petey drinks about 2 ozs a day. I have read some info suggesting rabbits need a lot of water, etc., and I know some rabbits are big drinkers while some are not.
oscar used to drink quite a bit of water, especially at night, i\'ve increased the variety and amount of veggies i give him, i hope this is the reason.
Rabbits are individuals in terms of their water consumption just like people are. The extra veggies could very well affect how much water is consumed. This is my opinion, but I\'d rather see a few less veggies and more water actually taken in. The nutritional value of the veggies is not as much as one might think. (Yes, they have natural vitamins and minerals, but they are, for the most part, composed of water.) I would prefer to limit the fresh veggies/fruit to what the rabbit can consume in 10 minutes.
I believe it is important to monitor water intake. This is difficult to do if fresh veggies are comprising the bulk of the water. You can expect a rabbit to consume about 2 oz per 1 lb. of weight (give or take a little). Does that are pregnant or lactating will consume more. Water intake will also increase during warmer weather if the water is kept cool.
You should be able to determine if your rabbit is taking in enough H2O if his skin has resiliency and the droppings are firm and well-shaped (not dry,misshapen, or unusually small).
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Midnght is our big drinker and has a larger water bottle than the others. Then again, she is our breeding doe. I have also noticed our younger rabbits (under 6 months) do drink more than our older ones (about 2 yrs old). Each ofour rabbits get a piece of carrot and two chunks of apple a day along with their pellets. When the peaches trees are producing, they also get a bit of fresh peach each day.
It makes sense that the younger rabbits drink more. Water is a necessary (and major) component of cell metabolism. All living things, young or old, have metabolism going on, but a young, growing animal is replacing cells at a higher rate - therefore, the need for water is even more critical for this age group.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
thanks a lot everyone, i\'ll reduce the veggies.
Petey seems to go in spurts. Some days I don\'t notice much gone from the water bottle, but now tonight when I cleaned his cage, he had consumed quite a bit today. I do notice if he is in his caged a lot during the day, he will drink more. If we are home, he has free roam of the room, and doesn\'t bother with it as much.
Fortunately, he appears quite healthy and his droppings, according to Charlcie\'s standards, are good.....
and to think that I thought I wouldn\'t have to monitor any more bowel movements once my babies got older...
