Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register

Water How much water should 2 piggies be drinking a day??

Cry1013

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Posts
25
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
25
I have 2 four month old piggies. I feel like they aren't getting enough water a day. They are only drinking about 2 oz a day between the both of them. Is that too little amount? How much water does your pigs drink a day? Maybe they are all diff? I just want to make sure they are getting plenty of water each day! Thanks :) (PS I refill it with fresh water each morning when I do the spot cleaning!)
 

PigPandemonium

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Posts
1,367
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,367
Make sure that they know how to find the water bottles, and that you don't have anything else but water in them (Like any vitamin drops) Other then that, it's different for every one. How much veggies are you giving your pigs? Veggies have lots of water in them so they are most likely getting a lot of the water they need just from those.
 

Cry1013

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Posts
25
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
25
I have the water bottle close to the hay and food. On the "kitchen" top floor of their cage. I usually give them quite a bit of fresh veggies each morning. I have Vitamin C drops I bought but haven't used yet. I hear them drinking from the water bottle and see them do it too, just not for very long. I was going to try the Vitamin C drops tomorrow. Why do you say not to give them to them in the water? Just curious. Thanks so much for your reply!
 

schavarry

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Posts
1,050
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
1,050
My piggies barely drink water but they get a cup of veggies each day, if not more so I'm pretty sure they're getting enough. Funny enough, my little boy Lightning won't drink the water if I don't have the Vitamin C drops in the bottle!

[MENTION=22467]Cry1013[/MENTION] - I think the reason people say not to put Vitamin C in the water is because it can taste funny to the GPs if you put too much, they should be getting Vitamin C through their pellets and veggies. Also the Vitamin C looses it's effectiveness over time, especially in sunlight in a water bottle so they are left with icky tasting water for no reason. If they're drinking the water with out the Vitamin C I'd leave it alone. Or buy a 2nd water bottle and only put Vitamin C in one of the bottles... Just me though.
 

Zuidy

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Posts
1,232
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,232
Guinea Pigs in general don't drink much water themselves.

However, sometimes my Piggies drink a whole bottle a day! I guess it's up to them.

Water down their Veggies nice and good, and don't worry about them getting hydrated. Don't get me wrong though-- Give them fresh water EVERY DAY no matter what! There could be that one day where the decide to drink, and they try to, and nothing comes out. That wouldn't be teaching them how to get water from the sipper bottle.

:)
 

PigPandemonium

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Posts
1,367
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,367
You can also buy Oxbow Vitamin C supplements that you can hand feed to them, crush over their veggies, or crush over their pellets, if you are worried that they are not getting enough vitamin C. I feed those to may pigs, just because only Ro Dah likes fruits, the rest of them don't so I will hand feed them the tablets to make sure they get enough vitamin C. As said above, just make sure you don't put the drops in their water because one: They make the water taste bad for piggies, and some won't drink it two: It won't even help your piggies, because vitamin C degrades fast in water, sunlight, and air. So by the time they take a drink all there will be is just some bad tasting water. I would also look into finding a new vet, if yours gave you these drops, because most good guinea pig vets would say not to put drops in the water. So this might lead to bigger problems if your vet doesn't know much about guinea pig care.
 

schavarry

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Posts
1,050
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
1,050
I would also look into finding a new vet, if yours gave you these drops, because most good guinea pig vets would say not to put drops in the water. So this might lead to bigger problems if your vet doesn't know much about guinea pig care.

I wasn't giving my GPs the drops in their water because foggycreek told me it was unnecessary and when the woman I acquired my GPs from nearly had a cow when she found out I wasn't using them! As I said above, my little boy Lightning usually doesn't drink his water if the drops aren't in there, Cinnamon doesn't hardly drink water either way. I always make sure they have plenty of wet veggies and I try to put crushed vitamin C on their veggies or pellets 2x a week. I couldn't find the Oxbow Vitamin C but I have 500mg that I cut into 8ths with a pill cutter and each gets 1/8th of a pill 2x a week.
 

PigPandemonium

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Posts
1,367
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,367
That's not the same for all guinea pigs though, some may stop drinking water if drops are put into it, they also do not help the animal at all since the vitamin C is most likely non existent by the time the guinea pig actually drinks the water. So they can't help, only hurt. You can also find the oxbow ones on amazon, or other places online.
 

schavarry

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Posts
1,050
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
1,050
That's not the same for all guinea pigs though, some may stop drinking water if drops are put into it, they also do not help the animal at all since the vitamin C is most likely non existent by the time the guinea pig actually drinks the water. So they can't help, only hurt. You can also find the oxbow ones on amazon, or other places online.

I fully understand what you're saying - and if a guinea pig is drinking water without the drops in it then I wouldn't add them either!! I just know mine was used to the drops and when I wasn't using them he didn't like the water so I'm stuck using them so he'll drink the water even though the drops are essentially pointless (and expensive)!
 

Zuidy

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Posts
1,232
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,232
Pardon me if I missed this and somebody already said it, but Vitamin C is best obtained through fresh Veggies such as Yellow Bell Pepper. The Yellow Bell has the highest Vitamin C on the Nutrition Charts.

:)
 

Cry1013

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Posts
25
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
25
I tried the drops in their water yesterday and they drank about the same amount as before I put the drops in it. So I don't think they minded them. But I will just give them water without the drops, and make sure they are getting plenty of Vitamin C through their pellets and fresh vegetables. :) P.S. My vet wasn't the one who told me to put the drops in their water. I saw the drops at the pet store and just bought some, before learning about all the other ways they get it. Thanks!
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

R
Replies
2
Views
561
RavenNomCheese
R
gpihgos
Replies
12
Views
1K
gpihgos
gpihgos
L
Replies
1
Views
559
bpatters
bpatters
rubberducky11
Replies
8
Views
692
bpatters
bpatters
Top