Pregnant rabbit drinking less water

mbella

Hatching
Jan 30, 2022
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Hi! I have a pregnant doe that is acting fully normal, except drinking less. This is a surprise pregnancy so we do not know the actual date she got pregnant. She started building nests in her potty on 1/21. We palpated her and found babies. We immediately gave her a nest box. She started pulling fur last night. All seems normal except that she is not drinking as much as she normally does. She normally drinks from a 32oz bottle. Two days ago we realized she is drinking significantly less (normally about 16oz per day-today only an ounce or two) So we made sure her bottle was working and was clean. We gave her a bowl of water and she sipped at it but wasn't crazy for it. We added some oats to the bowl to flavor it without giving her diarrhea. She ran to it, again took a few sips and left it. We also gave her a piece of celery and she ate it very quickly. She is eating her hay and pellets, also some black oil sunflower seeds. Her output looks a little smaller and darker than normal, so we gave her raisins and oats. We refreshed her litter box so that we can tell if she urinates, and she did. Because we use pine pellets, we can't really examine the urine. It looks normal from what we see. We also gave her a few tablespoons of her hay pellets soaked in water, and she ate most of that. We checked her front teeth and they look normal. Again, her behavior otherwise is fine. My question is, could this lack of drinking water be labor related or a dental issue? I am thinking that if she is eating hay normally and eating her hay pellets normally; could this possibly be a dental thing? Thanks for any advice you can give!
 
Hi! I have a pregnant doe that is acting fully normal, except drinking less. This is a surprise pregnancy so we do not know the actual date she got pregnant. She started building nests in her potty on 1/21. We palpated her and found babies. We immediately gave her a nest box. She started pulling fur last night. All seems normal except that she is not drinking as much as she normally does. She normally drinks from a 32oz bottle. Two days ago we realized she is drinking significantly less (normally about 16oz per day-today only an ounce or two) So we made sure her bottle was working and was clean. We gave her a bowl of water and she sipped at it but wasn't crazy for it. We added some oats to the bowl to flavor it without giving her diarrhea. She ran to it, again took a few sips and left it. We also gave her a piece of celery and she ate it very quickly. She is eating her hay and pellets, also some black oil sunflower seeds. Her output looks a little smaller and darker than normal, so we gave her raisins and oats. We refreshed her litter box so that we can tell if she urinates, and she did. Because we use pine pellets, we can't really examine the urine. It looks normal from what we see. We also gave her a few tablespoons of her hay pellets soaked in water, and she ate most of that. We checked her front teeth and they look normal. Again, her behavior otherwise is fine. My question is, could this lack of drinking water be labor related or a dental issue? I am thinking that if she is eating hay normally and eating her hay pellets normally; could this possibly be a dental thing? Thanks for any advice you can give!
If she's acting normal I wouldn't worry too much.
Sometimes when rabbits are taken to show they don't like the taste of their new water so we showman put jello into their water.
You've done a great job so far and unless she's hunching up, grinding her teeth, refusing her food, or feverish I would just allow her to make her nest and be alone for a little. My does take a little less water before labor and then drink a lot afterwards. If you could get ahold of some black oil sunflower seeds, calf manna, and oats a pinch of each over her food during milk production will help her keep weight and she wont be deficient in any essential minerals.
I doubt it's dental. Anything dental would be extremely painful and she would likely stop eating.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your bunny and I hope she kindles soon and gives you some healthy plump babies.
 
If she's acting normal I wouldn't worry too much.
Sometimes when rabbits are taken to show they don't like the taste of their new water so we showman put jello into their water.
You've done a great job so far and unless she's hunching up, grinding her teeth, refusing her food, or feverish I would just allow her to make her nest and be alone for a little. My does take a little less water before labor and then drink a lot afterwards. If you could get ahold of some black oil sunflower seeds, calf manna, and oats a pinch of each over her food during milk production will help her keep weight and she wont be deficient in any essential minerals.
I doubt it's dental. Anything dental would be extremely painful and she would likely stop eating.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your bunny and I hope she kindles soon and gives you some healthy plump babies.
Thank you so much! I am so happy to hear that your doe drinks less, this is scary for us, we have scoured the internet and could not find anyone that says that. We are giving her some celery soaked in water and some romaine lettuce soaked in water. And yes we are giving her the BOSS already and she loves her oats and I am sure will look forward to eating them with her pellets each day. I am praying that shortly after birth she will go back to drinking normally. From all the vegetables we have been giving her, even her output is getting back to normal, so hopefully in the next 24-48 hours I will be able to post pics showing all went well🙏 Thanks again for your response and expertise.
 
Thank you so much!
You're welcome😁
I am so happy to hear that your doe drinks less, this is scary for us, we have scoured the internet and could not find anyone that says that.
Well when you think about it, with so much to do and so much happening inside of that tiny body they kinda neglect to drink much and are more concerned with nest making. She'll probably be chugging as soon as the babies are born.
We are giving her some celery soaked in water and some romaine lettuce soaked in water. And yes we are giving her the BOSS already and she loves her oats and I am sure will look forward to eating them with her pellets each day.
Sounds great! Can't wait to hear about happy healthy babies:celebrate
 

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