Piggies not drinking any water

[PremierPig]

Hiya, my piggies are about 12 weeks old and they barely drink any water. They don't seem to have worked out the water bottle in the cage (I have shown them a few times), so I also have a very small ceramic water bowl. Sometimes there is a little water gone from the bowl, but most of it seems to be splashed on their platform where they've knocked it!

They have a bowl of vegetables morning and night, as well as pellets, and plenty of hay.

Is this okay? Should I be worried? They seem to be weeing clear (at least they do on the tiles when they have runaround time!)

The cage set up is below - you can see the water bottle and bowl. (It is a double-level cage btw but as the shops are closed I can't currently buy materials to make the ramp to the top safe, so we are only using the bottom).

Thank you!

 

[Piggies&buns]

They will only drink what they need and if they are getting veg, then that will mean they are getting water. If they are urinating, then I wouldn’t be concerned.

Keep their pellets limited to one tablespoon per piggy per day. Don’t let them have constant access to pellets. I sprinkle my piggies pellets (as I say, one tablespoon per piggy per day) in amongst hay so they can forage for them and after about 45 minutes if there are any pellets left, I remove them. They do not get any more pellets until the next day.

Regarding their cage. Piggies are ground roaming, they are not natural climbers and lots of them are scared of heights. There is no real benefit in having an upper level to a cage since it does not create extra space - due to the fact they are ground roaming upper levels don’t count towards the cage size. What is important is that the single level of their cage meets size requirements - that is a minimum of 120cm x 60cm for welfare standards. However, that is a basic minimum and the cage should ideally be bigger than that. If your piggies are two boys, then 120cm won’t be big enough and they require a minimum of 150cm x 60cm as lack of space for boys creates problems. Cage Size Guide

 

[Siikibam]

I’d also put in more hay for them. You could place the top level alongside the bottom to make it a bigger space for them. You can use a wooden bridge between so they can access both. I’d also remove that hide that comes with the cage and put in some boxes or similar.

 

[*kate*]

I've owned 5 piggies over the past few years and none of them have drunk water.

 

[PremierPig]

I’d also put in more hay for them. You could place the top level alongside the bottom to make it a bigger space for them. You can use a wooden bridge between so they can access both. I’d also remove that hide that comes with the cage and put in some boxes or similar.

Thanks - we are planning to build out their space, but at the moment only small supermarkets are open (in Spain) so we are very limited on getting new materials, etc. We bought the largest cage available from Amazon Spain, but have realised we will need to adapt it.

Also they are having ringworm treatment so they need to be medicated and have the cage completely cleaned out twice a week, so I had to throw away any wooden toys/bridges until the treatment is finished.

Although it would give more open space, they love the little platform, they go up there all the time to look around. They dont even climb, they literally jump from the bottom to the top!

 

[Siikibam]

Okay. Can you place the top level alongside the one they’re currently in? So they have more space that way for now?