Water Consumption

Status
Not open for further replies.
Talulah

Talulah

New Born Pup
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
63
Reaction score
78
Points
220
Location
Wakefield
my two piggies don't seem to be drinking much water, how much should they drink?
The bottle has gone down by 1cm each day at the most. They do have lots of fresh veg etc. I've tried different bottles but that hasn't made a difference
Neither seem dehydrated but I'm no expert.
What are your thoughts please?
 
I think it varies a lot. Mine are not big drinkers and one drinks much more than the others.
I make sure the get some cucumber each day for the water intake but that might be discouraging them to drink water - I don't know!
 
Our two girls don't drink very much at all. The water level in their bottle hardly goes down. One drinks a bit more than the other and both tend to drink in the evenings.
 
Are your piggies young/new? I found when I got my first two they didn't drink a lot at all for the first month or so.

I wouldn't be too worried, the veg probably helps with the water intake :)
 
Thanks all, you've made feel a bit better.
They're only a year old.
 
My two are 8 months old now and have never drank much water. It freaked me out when I first got them and thought they would die from dehydration but I have relaxed a little since then. I find that they will drink if it's a particularly hot day which we get a lot of here in summer but otherwise I think they get what they need from their veggie's. Don't worry they will drink when they need to.
 
I think it depends on the piggies and how much veg they get. At the moment, my piggies both drink TONS! They go through about a bottle and a half each day (350ml bottles) and always have done. With my previous pair, they drank barely anything, and were still healthy. If you are concerned, you can wetten the veg slightly before feeding and give extra cucumber.
 
I've never seen Hettie drink, I assume she gets all her water needs from veg, grass and dandelions.

She's getting it somewhere judging by the amount of wee she produces! :roll:
 
As long as they have clean water and a bottle that they can use, then they will drink what they need (unless they are sick).
Eddi and Oreo seem to drink twice the amount that Ruby and Lucy do, and they are all fed the same diet, etc.
I guess Eddi and/or Oreo are just bigger drinkers.
 
I usually only see my guys drinking after they've had a big feed of hay or pellets. I presume they get some hydration from eating their veg and grass. Some animals absorb moisture from their food rather than drinking. I know cats absorb something like 80% of their required fluid intake from their food (if moist), it might be the same for piggies :)
 
We have two sows who drink tons, but the piggies we have in the rescue vary from drinking loads to hardly any at all!
As long as the water is there if they want it, and they're getting plenty of fresh veg, then I wouldn't worry too much :)
 
my two females never drank a drop of water. I was really worried... until I talked with the lady volunteer of the shelter where I adopted them and she asked their vets who said that we must be worried only when pigs drink too much (they can have diabetes or stones or a wrong diet). The lady confirmed that all the pigs they have don't drink. Anyway we don't feed our pigs with pellets, I think that is the reason as they eat a lot of fresh food rich of water (pepper contains 95% of water...
 
the only necessary vitamin is C which is in many vegs, especially peppers. As my pigs learnt to eat peppers at the shelter, they would not need a supplement. But vit C into vegetables decrease more and more after the harvest, therefore it is not sure how much vit C is into their plate. Therefore I prefer giving them 2 drops of supplement for newborns (Cebion; you can buy it online). The possibly excess of Vit C is eliminated with urine. There is no need of other vitamins and pellets are made with a concentrated dry food not good for liver and digestive system. (And the volunteeer lady who had kept my pigs for some time has her own OLD pigs and rabbits... she also follows a pellets free diet and their pets seem to have a great health... coincidence? I don't think so... I don't believe in the industry of pet food, second as income after the industry of oil...)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top