3 month old rabbit drinking a TON of water!?

[mschoonover11]

I currently have a 3 month old Holland Lop and lately, I’ve noticed that he’s been drinking a ton of water. He drinks out of a ceramic water bowl made for rabbits, and he drinks about 3-4 bowls a day. It’s funny cause when I first got him, he barely drank water! And whenever I go to refill his water dish, he’ll just hop over to me like I’m giving him a treat! So basically, he ADORES water. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but it seems a little unusual. He’s getting neutered on the 23rd, so I’ll mention it to his vet.

My only guess could be that it’s because he’s currently on a hay and pellet diet. Maybe the hay makes him thirsty? He used to be getting unlimited pellets, but I had to decrease it to only a 1/4 cup a day because it was causing him to overproduce cecotropes. I’m going to introduce him to veggies on Monday so hopefully that will help.

[Muchelle]

Young buns can drink A LOT, especially before they’re not on veggies yet. I was super scared at the time and my vet reassured me Once he’ll be on a mixed hay-pellet/veggies diet, his water intake will go significantly down, cause he will be getting hydration from the greens.

[mschoonover11]

Posted By Muchelle on 1/13/2018 12:59 PM
Young buns can drink A LOT, especially before they’re not on veggies yet. I was super scared at the time and my vet reassured me Once he’ll be on a mixed hay-pellet/veggies diet, his water intake will go significantly down, cause he will be getting hydration from the greens.

Thank you so much for responding!

I really hope the greens help. I heard that buns also start to eat less pellets when they eat greens. But I’m glad to hear that your bun was the same

[Bam]

A bun needs around 100 ml water per kilo body weight and day. If the bun is on a hay and pellet only diet, all the water has to be drunk. Veggies contain lots of water, so if a bun gets lots of veggies, it might not drink anything at all.

Drinking too much can be a sign of some health problem though, so you should mention it to the vet. Is he peeing floods or does it seem like he pees a normal amount? Does his inner thighs or butt get wet with pee?

When my Bam was on a hay and pellets only diet, he drank lots.

[Wick & Fable]

As bam says, sometimes it’s health related. Some rabbits raise water consumption to lubricate their mouth when their teeth are hurting them.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Boing]

Try to measure the amount of water so as to tell the vet an average daily amount. Cincinnati drinks a ton of water. Always has, and it is health related, though the vets cannot seem to determine, what, exactly, it is. They lean towards a liver issue… Anyway, good luck!

[mschoonover11]

Thanks for the responds!

Toby seems to be peeing normal. He binkies, plays, runs, licks, and eats normal. I’m pretty sure and hope it’s because of the hay/pellet diet. I’m introducing veggies for the first time tomorrow, so I’ll keep you guys posted if it helped or not. But I definitely will mention it to his vet.

And I have never felt a wet spot on his bottom. He’s always dry. But I also wanted to mention that his pee is usually the yellow normal color, but I’ve also seen a brown/dark orange pee. But I did read a forum about dark pee, and it says it’s totally normal. I’ve never seen chalky pee before. So his pees do look normal.

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