How to encourage more water intake.

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Joey&Gizmo

Joey&Gizmo

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One of my boys Gizmo doesn't drink much water and i was wondering if there was anything that i could do to encourage him to drink more?

He does have watery veg daily and eats all of it, but he dosent seem to visit the water bottle very often, unlike Joey who will always has a drink every day.

Gizmo is recovering from a UTI and the vet suggested that i syringe him 10mls of water daily just to flush his urinary system out and he said it would be beneficial for Gizmo as he isnt a big drinker. But Gizmo isnt too keen on the syringing as i suppose he thinks its the horrible septrin coming his way, so any tips on how to encourage water intake if any would be much appreciated.:)
 
i have the same thing. my boys won't drink much but they do have quite watery veggies. can't help though but it would be great if someone had a reason.
 
You can't force a guinea pig to drink - there is such a variation in how much a piggy drinks, from nothing at all to going through a lot. AS long as he gets fesh veg, he won't be dehydrated!
 
Hi,

I'm having similar probs with Maisy and Daisy. Maisy drinks from a 500ml bottle and can drink up to half of that each day, all depends. Whereas Daisy, may not touch it from one week to the other. (Unless she slurps a bit when we don't know).

I'm having a bit of a stressful time at the mo with Daisy due to her having a hysterectomy and little stone in bladder removed. I have to give her 1ml syringe of vitamin C tablet dissolved in an egg cup. I've also tried to syringe water into her due to her not having enough fluid, so as to flush her system etc.

I am doing the same as a few others have mentioned, ie giving veg and a little fresh fruit rinsed in cold water, (trying to retain some fluid on the food) and giving the bits she prefers.

It is difficult though, as, with the syringing, piggies do not like their mouths being handled too often, but when you have to do things like this and hand feeding, you will do all you can to get them to eat and drink.

Sometimes, I dab my finger on the end of the water bottle and place my finger to her mouth for a few times. I know it's not much, but it all helps.

I have read that piggies don't need to drink much water, but not sure how true this is.

I think that so long as the veg and fruit have a little water on them and that your piggie eats the food, together with the water content in the food, he should be alright. Maybe trying the syringe method once or twice a week would help too, providing little piggie isn't too stressed by it.

Anyone with any other advice, I would be grateful to hear it too. :)
 
not sure

my guinea pigs' pee looks a bit milky. its white and i am not sure whether that matters or not or whether its just a normal thing. if anybody knows then please reply by quote to this post.
thnx
 
julia1 said:
my guinea pigs' pee looks a bit milky. its white and i am not sure whether that matters or not or whether its just a normal thing. if anybody knows then please reply by quote to this post.
thnx
Click to expand...

Milky urine is not uncommon in guinea pigs. The milkiness is just excess calcium leaving the body. This is nothing to worry about unless the urine has a gritty texture / feel to it :) Scroll down to the middle of this page and it explains more. I don't think you have anything to worry about http://www.guinealynx.info/normal.html
 
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