They Don't Drink

2newfriends

2newfriends

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, I got 2 boars 2 weeks ago, they are now 11 weeks.

I've never seen them drink a single drop, and the water bottle amount has never changed (refilled with fresh water daily). I was using the water bottle that came with the cage, but I've since bought a smaller one too in case the nozzle was too big, or they were fussy with it.

They get plenty of fresh veg every day, is it normal for them not to drink anything at all?
 
My pigs never drink either, they are healthy and well fed so I guess they have enough liquids. I always keep a fresh bottle filled in the cage just in case.
 
My guinea pigs don't drink so I asked the vet and she said some don't drink because they get enough fluid from what they eat, so don't worry about that.
 
Some piggies drink a lot. Others drink little. Yours may well be getting enough water frommtheir veggies.

You can always drench their veg in water before feeding it to them if you want to make sure they are getting some water. Or, if you are concerned that they can't manage the water bottle, you could put in a small pottery bowl of water in the cage to see if that encourages them to drink.
 
My guinea pigs don't drink much as well. So through the day I feed them veggies with water in. They eat them. However I tried to fill a bowl with water, they did drink a bit more, but the only problem is they sit in it and do their business in it :doh:
 
it's been really weird for me getting used to how little my 2 young sows drink. My previous, elderly piggies included one that was diabetic, and as a result she was always thirsty and would go through a bottle a day or thereabouts. The present pair would probably last a week on the same bottle of water if i was mean enough to leave it there for that long. I too was worried because I change the water daily and could not figure how to tell how much if anything they used. So I bought a bottle with a millilitre gauge on it, and now it seems they drink about 30 mils a day between them. Not a lot, and one defo drinks more than the other. BUT things like cucumber, celery and peppers have a lot of fluid content and they are healthy piggies and still manage a fair amount of peeing... so I'm happy that they are getting enough.
 
My sows have never drunk a drop of water in 7 months, then they discovered the bottle and decided it was very good for building a pool for summer. Now they don't drink at all but are skilful to use the tongue for letting the water falling down so that they can lie down on the wet...
Conclusion: don't worry... piggies (and humans) get water from the food... (I also never drink, even in summer, but I often need a toilet... my diet is based of vegs and fruit, because I like them:D)
 
I learned this on the forum because I asked a similar question - baby piggies don't instinctively know how to use a water bottle. They learn it from their elders, so since they're young, they might not know how! It was suggested to me that you put a tiny bit of juice in their water and dab the end of the bottle to try to entice them, and also put a drip bowl underneath with some water in it so they at least have access to water if they haven't figured out the bottle. It worked for me - they now know how to use the bottle, but they still never drink.... waste of time really. lol
 
OMG I was so stressed about the piggies drinking no water in the first few weeks of getting them it's a wonder I didn't have a stroke from the stress. They have never been big water drinkers but one of mine drinks a lot more now that I have replaced their plastic bottle with a glass one but the other I never see drink but I guess she could be drinking when i'm not around. I think they get the majority of their fluids from their veggie's.
 
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